The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1948 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1948 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1 The Red Shoes General Film $5,000,000 2Red River United Artists $4,506,825 3 The Paleface Paramount $4,500,000 4 Johnny Belinda Warner Bros. $4,266,000Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p 29 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551 5 Easter ParadeMGM $4,144,000. 6 The Three Musketeers $4,124,000 7 The Snake Pit20th Century Fox $4,100,000 8The Emperor Waltz Paramount $4,000,000 9 Homecoming MGM $3,699,000 10 Sitting Pretty 20th Century Fox $3,550,000"Top Grossers of 1948." Variety, January 5, 1949, p. 46.
Events May 3 – The Supreme Court of the United States decide in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. holding that the practice of block booking and ownership of theater chains by film studios constituted anti-competitive and monopolistic trade practices. Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.
Awards Category/Organization 6th Golden Globe AwardsMarch 16, 1949 21st Academy Awards March 24, 1949 Best Film Johnny BelindaThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre Hamlet Best Director John HustonThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre Best Actor Laurence OlivierHamlet Best Actress Jane WymanJohnny Belinda Best Supporting Actor Walter HustonThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre Best Supporting Actress Ellen CorbyI Remember Mama Claire TrevorKey Largo Best Screenplay, Adapted Richard SchweizerThe Search John HustonThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre Best Screenplay, Original Richard SchweizerThe Search Best Foreign Language Film Hamlet Monsieur Vincent
Top ten money making stars RankActor/Actress1.Bing Crosby2.Betty Grable3. (tie)Bud AbbottLou Costello4.Gary Cooper5.Bob Hope6.Humphrey Bogart7.Clark Gable8.Cary Grant9.Spencer Tracy10.Ingrid Bergman
Notable films released in 1948 United States unless stated
3 Godfathers, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne
A Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Act of Violence, starring Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh Adventures of Don Juan, starring Errol Flynn Albuquerque, starring Randolph Scott and Barbara Britton The Amazing Mr. X, starring Turhan Bey and Lynn Bari L'Amore, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Anna Magnani – (Italy) Anna Karenina, starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson – (GB) Another Part of the Forest, starring Fredric March April Showers, starring Ann Sothern and Jack Carson Arch of Triumph, starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton, Ruth Warrick
B B.F.'s Daughter, starring Barbara Stanwyck Berlin Express, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan The Berliner (Berlin Balade), starring Gert Fröbe – (Germany) Bicycle Thieves (), directed by Vittorio De Sica – (Italy) The Big Clock, starring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Maureen O'Sullivan Blanche Fury, starring Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger – (GB) Blonde Ice, starring Leslie Brooks Blood on the Moon, starring Robert Mitchum Bodyguard, starring Lawrence Tierney and Priscilla Lane The Boy with Green Hair, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Dean Stockwell and Robert Ryan The Bride Goes Wild, directed by Norman Taurog, starring June Allyson and Van Johnson Brighton Rock, a Boulting Brothers film, starring Richard Attenborough – (GB)
C Call Northside 777, starring James Stewart La calle sin sol (The Sunless Street) – (Spain) Campus Honeymoon, starring Lee and Lyn Wilde Canon City, starring Scott Brady Command Decision, starring Clark Gable Counterblast, directed by Paul L. Stein, starring Mervyn Johns – (GB) Cry of the City, starring Victor Mature and Richard Conte
D The Dark Past, starring William Holden, Lee J. Cobb, Nina Foch A Date with Judy, starring Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, Elizabeth Taylor and Carmen Miranda Dédée d'Anvers, starring Simone Signoret – (France) Drunken Angel (Yoidore tenshi), directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
E The Eagle with Two Heads (L'Aigle à deux têtes), directed by Jean Cocteau – (France) Easter Parade, starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Peter Lawford The Emperor Waltz, starring Bing Crosby Escape, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Rex Harrison – (GB/U.S.) Eva – (Sweden) Every Girl Should Be Married, starring Cary Grant
F The Fallen Idol, written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed, starring Ralph Richardson – (GB) Fighter Squadron, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Edmond O'Brien and Robert Stack Force of Evil, starring John Garfield A Foreign Affair, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich Fort Apache, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple Four Faces West, starring Joel McCrea and Frances Dee
G Germany Year Zero (Germania anno zero), directed by Roberto Rossellini – (Italy) God Reward You (Dios se lo pague), starring Arturo de Córdova – (Argentina) Good Sam, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Gary Cooper Good-Time Girl, starring Jean Kent and Dennis Price – (GB) Green Grass of Wyoming, starring Peggy Cummins and Charles Coburn The Green Promise, starring Marguerite Chapman and Walter Brennan The Guinea Pig, a Boulting Brothers film starring Richard Attenborough – (GB)
H Half Past Midnight, starring Kent Taylor and Peggy Knudsen Hamlet, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier, with Basil Sydney and Jean Simmons – (GB) He Walked by Night, starring Richard Basehart and Jack Webb A Hen in the Wind (Kaze no naka no mendori), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan) Hollow Triumph, starring Paul Henreid and Joan Bennett Homecoming, starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Anne Baxter, John Hodiak
I I Remember Mama, directed by George Stevens, starring Irene Dunne I Walk Alone, starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas The Iron Curtain, directed by William Wellman, starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, June Havoc Isn't It Romantic?, starring Veronica Lake
J Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman Johnny Belinda, starring Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres Julia Misbehaves starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford and Elizabeth Taylor June Bride, starring Bette Davis
K Key Largo, directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor Kiss the Blood off My Hands, starring Joan Fontaine and Burt Lancaster The Kissing Bandit, starring Kathryn Grayson and Frank Sinatra Krakatit, directed by Otakar Vávra (Czechoslovakia)
L La Terra Trema, directed by Luchino Visconti (Italy) Ladies of the Chorus, starring Marilyn Monroe Lal Dupatta, starring Madhubala (India) The Lame Devil (Le Diable boiteux), directed by and starring Sacha Guitry – (France) Letter from an Unknown Woman, directed by Max Ophüls, starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan London Belongs to Me, starring Richard Attenborough and Alastair Sim – (GB) Louisiana Story, documentary by Robert J. Flaherty The Loves of Carmen, starring Rita Hayworth The Luck of the Irish, starring Tyrone Power and Anne Baxter Luxury Liner, starring Jane Powell and George Brent
M Macbeth, directed by and starring Orson Welles The Mating of Millie, starring Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford Mela, starring Dilip Kumar – (India) Melody Time, starring Roy Rogers & Trigger and The Andrews Sisters Mexican Hayride, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Michurin, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko – (U.S.S.R.) Miranda, directed by Ken Annakin, starring Glynis Johns – (GB) Miss Tatlock's Millions, starring Wanda Hendrix, Barry Fitzgerald, John Lund The Monkey's Paw, starring Milton Rosmer – (GB) Moonrise, directed by Frank Borzage, starring Gail Russell and Dane Clark Morituri – (Germany) Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy My Dear Secretary, starring Kirk Douglas, Laraine Day Myriad of Lights (Wanjia denghuo) – (China) The Mysterious Apartment (Den hemmelighetsfulle leiligheten) – (Norway)
N The Naked City, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Barry Fitzgerald Night Has a Thousand Eyes, starring Edward G. Robinson No Orchids for Miss Blandish – (GB) No Room at the Inn, starring Freda Jackson and Hermione Baddeley – (GB) Noose, starring Carole Landis The Noose Hangs High, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Nosotros los Pobres (We the Poor), starring Pedro Infante – (Mexico)
O On an Island with You starring Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse, and Jimmy Durante One Sunday Afternoon, starring Dennis Morgan One Touch of Venus, starring Robert Walker and Ava Gardner Oliver Twist, directed by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness and Robert Newton – (GB) On Our Own Land (Na svoji zemlji) – (Yugoslavia)
P The Paleface, starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell Les Parents terribles, directed by Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais – (France) The Pirate, starring Gene Kelly and Judy Garland Pitfall, starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr Port of Call (Hamnstad), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden) Portrait of Jennie, directed by William Dieterle, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten
Q Quartet, starring Mai Zetterling – (GB)
R Race Street, starring George Raft and William Bendix Rachel and the Stranger, starring Loretta Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum Raw Deal, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, Raymond Burr Red River, directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, John Ireland The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Moira Shearer and Anton Walbrook – (GB) Relentless, starring Robert Young The Return of October, starring Glenn Ford Road House, starring Ida Lupino Rogues' Regiment, directed by Robert Florey and starring Dick Powell, Märta Torén, Vincent Price Romance on the High Seas, starring Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Doris Day (film debut) Rope, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart Ruthless, starring Zachary Scott and Diana Lynn
S Saigon, the final of 4 films starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake The Sainted Sisters, starring Veronica Lake and Joan Caulfield Saraband for Dead Lovers, starring Stewart Granger and Joan Greenwood – (GB) Scott of the Antarctic, starring John Mills – (GB) Sealed Verdict, starring Ray Milland The Search, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Montgomery Clift – (US/Switzerland) Secret Beyond the Door, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave Senza pietà (Without Pity) – (Italy) Shaheed, starring Dilip Kumar – (India) Silver River, starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan Sitting Pretty, starring Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara Sleep, My Love, starring Claudette Colbert Sleeping Car to Trieste, starring Jean Kent – (GB) Smart Girls Don't Talk, starring Virginia Mayo The Snake Pit, starring Olivia de Havilland So Evil My Love, starring Ray Milland, Ann Todd, Geraldine Fitzgerald – (GB) A Song Is Born, starring Danny Kaye Sorry, Wrong Number, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster Spring in a Small Town (Xiǎochéng zhī chūn), directed by Fei Mu – (China) Spring in Park Lane, starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding – (GB) State of the Union, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn Station West, starring Dick Powell and Jane Greer The Street with No Name, starring Richard Widmark
T Tap Roots, starring Van Heflin and Susan Hayward La Terra Trema (The Earth Will Tremble), directed by Luchino Visconti – (Italy) They Live by Night, directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell The Three Musketeers, starring Lana Turner and Gene Kelly The Time of Your Life, starring James Cagney Tragic Hunt (Caccia tragica) – (Italy)