1949 in film

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In television 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 In radio 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
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The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• 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.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Actors	Gross
1.	Samson and Delilah	Paramount	Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury	$28,800,000
2.	Battleground	MGM	Van Johnson, John Hodiak	$5,051,000
3.	Jolson Sings Again Sands of Iwo Jima	Columbia Republic	Larry Parks John Wayne	$5,000,000
5.	I Was a Male War Bride	20th Century Fox	Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan	$4,100,000
6.	Twelve O'Clock High	20th Century Fox	Gregory Peck, Dean Jagger, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe	$4,025,000
7.	A Letter to Three Wives	20th Century Fox	Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas	$3,800,000
8.	The Heiress	Paramount	Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Miriam Hopkins	$3,700,000
9.	Pinky	20th Century Fox	Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters	$3,600,000
10.	All the King's Men	Columbia	Broderick Crawford. John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru	$3,500,000
11.	Little Women	MGM	June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh	$3,500,000
12.	Look for the Silver Lining	20th Century Fox	June Haver, Ray Bolger	$3,250,000

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: All the King's Men - Rossen, Columbia

Best Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz - A Letter to Three Wives

Best Actor: Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men

Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress

Best Supporting Actor: Dean Jagger - Twelve O'Clock High

Best Supporting Actress: Mercedes McCambridge - All the King's Men

Golden Globe Awards:

Best Picture: All the King's Men

Best Director: Robert Rossen – All the King's Men

Best Actor: Broderick Crawford – All the King's Men

Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland – The Heiress

Best Foreign Language Film: The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette), Italy

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival):

The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, United Kingdom

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)

Manon, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, France

Top ten money making stars

Rank	Actor/Actress
1.	Bob Hope
2.	Bing Crosby
3. (tie)	Bud Abbott Lou Costello
4.	John Wayne
5.	Gary Cooper
6.	Cary Grant
7.	Betty Grable
8.	Esther Williams
9.	Humphrey Bogart
10.	Clark Gable

Notable films released in 1949

U.S.A. 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 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, starring Jean Simmons - (GB)
• 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
• 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

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)

F

• Father Was a Fullback, starring Fred MacMurray
• Flamingo Road, starring Joan Crawford
• Flaxy Martin, starring Virginia Mayo
• 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-H

• 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)
• 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-L

• 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
• 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 Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, June Allyson, Margaret O'Brien, 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)
• 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-O

• 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)
• 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-Q

• 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)
• 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)
• Sons of Matthew (aka The Rugged O'Riordans) - (Australia)
• Sorrowful Jones, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• South of St. Louis, starring Joel McCrea and Alexis Smith
• The Stratton Story, starring James Stewart and June Allyson
• Stray Dog (Nora inu), directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune - (Japan)
• Streets of Laredo, starring William Holden, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix
• The Sun Comes Up, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Lloyd Nolan, Lassie

T-V

• Take One False Step, starring Shelley Winters and William Powell
• Tension, starring Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse
• That Dangerous Age, starring Myrna Loy and Peggy Cummins - (GB)
• That Forsyte Woman, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
• That Midnight Kiss, starring Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza
• They Live by Night, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell
• Thieves' Highway, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Richard Conte
• The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles - (GB)
• Too Late for Tears, starring Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea
• Train of Events, starring Valerie Hobson, Jack Warner, Peter Finch - (GB)
• Tulsa, starring Susan Hayward and Robert Preston
• Twelve O'Clock High, starring Gregory Peck
• Under Capricorn, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ingrid Bergman - (GB)
• The Undercover Man, starring Glenn Ford and Nina Foch

W-Z

• Waga koi wa moenu (Flame of My Love), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi - (Japan)
• The Walls of Malapaga (Au-delà des grilles), directed by René Clément, starring Jean Gabin - (France/Italy)
• We Were Strangers, starring Jennifer Jones and John Garfield
• Whirlpool, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney
• Whisky Galore!, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Basil Radford and Joan Greenwood - (GB)
• White Heat, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien
• The Window, starring Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy
• Without Honor, starring Laraine Day
• Women Side by Side, directed by Chen Liting, starring Shangguan Yunzhu and Zhao Dan - (China)
• You, the Rich (Ustedes los ricos), starring Pedro Infante - (Mexico)
• You're My Everything, directed by Walter Lang, starring Dan Dailey and Anne Baxter

Serials

• Adventures of Sir Galahad, starring George Reeves and Charles King
• Batman and Robin, starring Robert Lowery
• Bruce Gentry, starring Tom Neal
• Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc, starring Kirk Alyn and Rosemary LaPlanche
• Ghost of Zorro, starring Clayton Moore and Pamela Blake
• The James Brothers of Missouri, starring Keith Richards and Noel Neill
• King of the Rocket Men, starring Tristram Coffin and Mae Clarke
• Radar Patrol vs Spy King, starring Kirk Alyn

Short film series

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1952)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934-1949)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Donald Duck (1934–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Andy Panda (1939-1949)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941-1949)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Blackie the Sheep (1947-1949)
• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943-1949)
• Jan Wickman Shorts (1949-1994)
• Noveltoons (1943–1967)

Births

• January 12 - Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-born director
• January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan, American director and screenwriter
• January 16 - Caroline Munro, English actress and model
• January 17 - Andy Kaufman, American actor and comedian (died 1984)
• January 24 - John Belushi, American actor and comedian (died 1982)
• January 27 - Zbigniew Rybczyński, Polish film and video cinematographer and director
• February 8 - Brooke Adams, American actress
• March 12 - Rob Cohen, American director, producer and writer
• March 16 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor
• March 22 - Fanny Ardant, French actress
• April 14 - John Shea, American actor
• April 20
  • Jessica Lange, American actress
  • Veronica Cartwright, English-born actress
• May 24 - Jim Broadbent, English actor
• May 26 - Pam Grier, American actress
• May 31 - Tom Berenger, American actor
• June 15 - Jim Varney, American actor and comedian (died 2000)
• June 22 - Meryl Streep, American actress
• July 7 - Shelley Duvall, American actress
• August 17 - Julian Fellowes, British actor, writer, director and screenwriter
• August 23 - Shelley Long, American actress
• August 31 - Richard Gere, American actor
• September 1 - Luminița Gheorghiu, Romanian actress
• September 16 - Ed Begley, Jr., American actor
• September 25 - Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish director
• October 4 - Armand Assante, American actor
• October 8 - Sigourney Weaver, American actress
• October 10 - Jessica Harper, American actress
• December 4 - Jeff Bridges, American actor
• December 14 - Dee Wallace, actress
• December 25 - Sissy Spacek, American actress

Deaths

• January 6 – Victor Fleming, 59, American director and producer, The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Captains Courageous, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• April 15 – Wallace Beery, 64, American actor, Grand Hotel, The Champ, Robin Hood, Viva Villa!
• April 18 – Will Hay, 60, English comedian, actor and film director
• April 22 – Charles B. Middleton, American actor (born 1874)
• September 4 – Olof Ås, Swedish actor, stage manager (born 1892)
• September 14 – Romuald Joubé, French actor (born 1876)
• September 18 – Frank Morgan, American actor (born 1890)
• September 20 – Richard Dix, American actor (born 1893)
• October 14 – Fritz Leiber, Sr., American actor (born 1882)
• November 25 – Bill Robinson, American dancer and actor (born 1878)
• December 16 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian-born American film director (born 1873)

Film Debuts

• Julie Andrews - The Singing Princess
• Yul Brynner - Port of New York
• Richard Burton - Women of Dolwyn
• Tony Curtis - City Across the River
• Jerry Lewis - My Friend Irma
• Liza Minnelli - In the Good Old Summertime
• Jeanne Moreau - Last Love
• Philippe Noiret - Gigi
• Max von Sydow - Only a Mother