14. BETTE DAVIS
Of Human Bondage (1934)

With hair bleached a garish blond and her saucer eyes rolling insolently at sensitive Philip (Leslie Howard) and his endearments, Davis plays W. Somerset Maugham's caustic cockney waitress at full throttle and without an iota of warmth. It's a turn that invites us to hiss the character while thrilling to the actress' nervy bravado. And though playing a bitch earned Davis accolades, she was snubbed by Oscar. The uproar forced the Academy to allow a special write-in ballot. She still lost, but nabbed the gold the next year for Dangerous, a win that Davis herself considered a consolation prize.