The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1949 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1949 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1Jolson Sings Again Columbia $5,000,000 2 Battleground MGM $4,722,000. 3 I Was a Male War Bride 20th Century Fox $4,100,000 4 Sands of Iwo Jima Republic $4,000,000 5 The Stratton Story MGM $3,831,000 6 Pinky20th Century Fox $3,800,000 7 The Heiress $3,700,000 8 Mr. Belvedere Goes to College $3,700,000 9 Neptune's DaughterMGM $3,477,000 10 Little Women $3,425,000
Events April 26 – June 21 – Ealing comedies Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore! and Kind Hearts and Coronets are released in the UK, leading to 1949 being remembered as one of the peak years of the Ealing comedies. November 15 – Following the prior year's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., Paramount Pictures is split into two separate companies with the creation of Paramount Pictures Corporation for production-distribution and United Paramount Theaters for the theater operations. December 21 – Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah, starring Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, and Henry Wilcoxon, receives its televised world premiere at the Paramount and Rivoli theatres in New York City. The film opens in Los Angeles on January 13, 1950, and becomes a massive commercial success. At the 23rd Academy Awards, the film wins the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
Awards Category/Organization 7th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 23, 1950 22nd Academy Awards March 23, 1950 Best Film All the King's Men Best Director Robert RossenAll the King's Men Joseph L. MankiewiczA Letter to Three Wives Best Actor Broderick CrawfordAll the King's Men Best Actress Olivia de HavillandThe Heiress Best Supporting Actor James WhitmoreBattleground Dean JaggerTwelve O'Clock High Best Supporting Actress Mercedes McCambridgeAll the King's Men Best Screenplay, Adapted Robert PiroshBattleground Joseph L. MankiewiczA Letter to Three Wives Best Screenplay, Original Robert PiroshBattleground Best Foreign Language Film Bicycle Thieves
Top ten money making stars RankActor/Actress1.Bob Hope2.Bing Crosby3. (tie)Bud AbbottLou Costello4.John Wayne5.Gary Cooper6.Cary Grant7.Betty Grable8.Esther Williams9.Humphrey Bogart10.Clark Gable
Notable films released in 1949 United States unless stated
A Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello The Accused, starring Loretta Young and Robert Cummings Adam's Rib, directed by George Cukor, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, David Wayne, Tom Ewell, Judy Holliday The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, narrated by Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby Africa Screams, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Alexander Popov, starring Nikolai Cherkasov – (U.S.S.R.) Alias Nick Beal, starring Ray Milland and Audrey Totter All the King's Men, directed by Robert Rossen, starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge Always Leave Them Laughing, starring Milton Berle and Bert Lahr Andaz (Style), starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis – (India) Any Number Can Play, starring Clark Gable, Alexis Smith, Audrey Totter Aventurera (Adventuress) – (Mexico)
B The Bad Lord Byron, starring Dennis Price The Barkleys of Broadway, the last of 10 films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Barsaat (Rain), directed by and starring Raj Kapoor – (India) Battleground, starring Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, starring Betty Grable Begone Dull Care, experimental animated film featuring music of Oscar Peterson – (Canada) Beyond the Forest, starring Bette Davis The Big Cat, starring Lon McCallister, Preston Foster, Forrest Tucker, Peggy Ann Garner The Big Steal, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Patric Knowles Bitter Rice (Riso Amaro), starring Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano – (Italy) The Blue Lagoon, directed by Frank Launder, starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston – (GB) The Blue Swords, directed by Wolfgang Schleif (East Germany) Border Incident, starring Ricardo Montalbán Boys from the Streets (Gategutter) – (Norway) The Bribe, starring Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak Bride for Sale, starring Claudette Colbert and Robert Young
C Canadian Pacific, starring Randolph Scott and Jane Wyatt Caught, directed by Max Ophüls, starring Barbara Bel Geddes and Robert Ryan Chains (Catene) – (Italy) Champion, starring Kirk Douglas, Arthur Kennedy, Marilyn Maxwell Chicken Every Sunday, directed by George Seaton, starring Dan Dailey and Celeste Holm The Chiltern Hundreds, directed by John Paddy Carstairs – (GB) Christopher Columbus, directed by David MacDonald, starring Fredric March – (GB) Colorado Territory, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo Come to the Stable, starring Loretta Young and Celeste Holm A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, starring Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming Criss Cross, starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo The Crooked Way, starring John Payne and Sonny Tufts Crows and Sparrows (Wuya yu maque), directed by Zheng Junli – (China)
D Dancing in the Dark, starring William Powell and Betsy Drake A Dangerous Profession, starring George Raft and Ella Raines Distant Journey (Daleká cesta) – (Czechoslovakia) Down to the Sea in Ships, starring Richard Widmark and Lionel Barrymore Dulari, starring Madhubala and Geeta Bali (India)
E East Side, West Side, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, James Mason, Van Heflin, Nancy Davis Easy Living, starring Victor Mature and Lucille Ball Edward, My Son, directed by George Cukor, starring Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr – (U.S./GB) The Emperor of Capri (L'imperatore di Capri), directed by Luigi Comencini – (Italy) The Emperor's Nightingale (Císařův slavík), an animated film narrated by Boris Karloff – (Czechoslovakia) Everybody Does It, starring Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell
F Father Was a Fullback, starring Fred MacMurray The Fighting Kentuckian, starring John Wayne and Oliver Hardy Flamingo Road, starring Joan Crawford Flaxy Martin, starring Virginia Mayo The Flirtation of Girls, directed by Anwar Wagdi, starring Naguib El-Rihani and Leila Mourad – (Egypt) The Forbidden Street, starring Maureen O'Hara For Them That Trespass, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, starring Richard Todd – (GB) The Fountainhead, directed by King Vidor, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal
G Give Us This Day, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Sam Wanamaker – (GB) The Great Gatsby, starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Ruth Hussey The Great Madcap (El Gran Calavera), directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Fernando Soler – (Mexico)
H Hardly a Criminal (Apenas un delincuente), directed by Hugo Fregonese – (Argentina) The Hasty Heart, starring Ronald Reagan and Patricia Neal – (U.S./GB) The Heiress, directed by William Wyler, starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Miriam Hopkins Holiday Affair, starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh Home of the Brave, starring Jeff Corey House of Strangers, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Edward G. Robinson, Richard Conte, Susan Hayward
I I Married a Communist, starring Laraine Day and Robert Ryan I Shot Jesse James, starring Preston Foster and John Ireland I Was a Male War Bride, starring Cary Grant Impact, starring Brian Donlevy and Ella Raines In the Good Old Summertime, starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson In the Name of the Law (In nome della legge), directed by Pietro Germi – (Italy) The Inspector General, starring Danny Kaye The Interrupted Journey, starring Richard Todd and Valerie Hobson – (GB) Intruder in the Dust, directed by Clarence Brown It Happens Every Spring, starring Ray Milland It's Not Cricket directed by Alfred Roome, starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne – (GB)
J Janika – (Hungary) Johnny Stool Pigeon, starring Shelley Winters and Howard Duff Jolson Sings Again, starring Larry Parks and Barbara Hale Jour de fête (Festival Day), directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
K Kind Hearts and Coronets, directed by Robert Hamer, starring Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson – (GB) A Kiss in the Dark, starring Jane Wyman and David Niven Knock on Any Door, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart
L Late Spring (Banshun), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan) Life (Vazhkai), directed by A. V. Meiyappan, starring Vyjayanthimala in her screen debut – (India) A Letter to Three Wives, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas Little Women, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor Love Happy, starring the Marx Brothers The Lucky Stiff, starring Dorothy Lamour and Claire Trevor Lust for Gold, starring Ida Lupino and Glenn Ford
M Ma and Pa Kettle, starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride Madame Bovary, starring Jennifer Jones and James Mason Mahal (The Mansion), starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala – (India) Malaya, starring Spencer Tracy and James Stewart La Malquerida (The Bad Mistress), starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico) The Man from Colorado, starring Glenn Ford and William Holden Manhandled, starring Dorothy Lamour, Dan Duryea, Sterling Hayden Manon, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot – (France) The Marriage of Figaro (Figaros Hochzeit) – (East Germany) Mighty Joe Young, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Terry Moore and Ben Johnson Miss Mink of 1949, starring Lois Collier Mother Is a Freshman, starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson My Foolish Heart, starring Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews My Friend Irma, film debut of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
N Neptune's Daughter, starring Esther Williams Never Fear, directed by Ida Lupino, starring Sally Forrest and Hugh O'Brian Night Unto Night, directed by Don Siegel, starring Ronald Reagan No Way Back, starring Terence De Marney, Eleanor Summerfield – (GB)
O Obsession, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Robert Newton – (GB) Oh, You Beautiful Doll, starring June Haver On the Town, starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Vera-Ellen, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett
P The Passionate Friends, directed by David Lean, starring Ann Todd and Claude Rains – (GB) Passport to Pimlico, starring Stanley Holloway and Margaret Rutherford – (GB) Pinky, starring Jeanne Crain Prince of Foxes, starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles Prison (Fängelse), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
Q The Queen of Spades, starring Anton Walbrook and Edith Evans – (GB) The Quiet Duel (Shizukanaru Ketto), starring Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
R The Reckless Moment, starring James Mason and Joan Bennett Red, Hot and Blue, starring Betty Hutton and Victor Mature Red Light, starring George Raft and Virginia Mayo The Red Pony, starring Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum The Rocking Horse Winner, starring Valerie Hobson and John Howard Davies – (GB) Rope of Sand, starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains Rotation (Sowjetische Zone) – (East Germany) A Run for Your Money, starring Donald Houston, Moira Lister, Alec Guinness – (GB) Rustlers, starring Tim Holt and Martha Hyer
S Samson and Delilah, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature Sands of Iwo Jima, directed by Allan Dwan, starring John Wayne The Secret Garden, starring Margaret O'Brien and Herbert Marshall The Set-Up, starring Robert Ryan She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, starring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, Ben Johnson Shockproof, starring Cornel Wilde Une si jolie petite plage (Such a Pretty Little Beach), directed by Yves Allégret – (France) Le Silence de la mer, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville – (France) Slattery's Hurricane, starring Richard Widmark, Veronica Lake, Linda Darnell The Small Back Room, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – (GB)