1936 – Bonita Granville
These Three
Wow. Given half a chance, I might have voted for this young lady. She did fantastic job, and really ed us what a wonderful little actress she was. She played the part of Mary Tilford, the worst spoiled little brat to ever hit the big screen. She was just awful! You could practically see the devil horns on her head. Granville really played the part with energy and commitment. I imagine working with child actors must be difficult, but rarely are they this good.
Mary Tilford was the child with no siblings who always got her own way. She lived with her rich grandmother who always believed everything she said without questioning anything. As a result, she was a habitual liar, a bully to her classmates, and remorseless terror to adults. She complained about being mistreated by the nicest people, and threw fantastic tantrums when they didn’t believe her lies. There was crying, kicking, screaming, and thrashing about. And to reinforce her web of life-destroying lies, she physically and mentally tortures her poor classmate into corroborating her falsehoods.
And then, in the end, when her lies are finally exposed, and the grumpy old maid, played by the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, no less, slaps her across the face, the look of incredulity and terror in her eyes is priceless. Granville really sold the character, and yet, her performance wasn’t so over-the-top that she overshadowed the three leads of the film. The character was written to be explosive and horrible. It was part of the plot, but Granville did it with a small air of restraint which, to her credit, made the character even more believable.
One of the most horrifying scenes of the film was when she went to her classmate, Rosalie, and demanded that she hand over her all her money. When Rosalie refused, the little hellion attacked her and twisted her arm behind her back. In another scene, she made Rosalie swear to be her vassal and to obey her every demand, or else she would tattle about Rosalie’s little indiscretion of thievery, screaming that the police would come and take her away to prison for the rest of her life. Such a terrifying little bully! Beautifully done, Granville.