1948 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020

The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Hamlet - Two Cities Films

Best Director: John Huston - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Best Actor: Laurence Olivier - Hamlet

Best Actress: Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda

Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Best Supporting Actress: Claire Trevor - Key Largo

Golden Globe Awards:

Best Picture (tie): Johnny Belinda

Best Picture (tie): The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Best Director: John Huston - The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Best Actor: Laurence Olivier - Hamlet

Best Actress: Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival): not held

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival)

Hamlet, directed by Laurence Olivier (United Kingdom)

Best Actor: Ernst Deutsch in Der Prozess

Best Actress: Jean Simmons in Hamlet

Top ten money making stars

Notable films released in 1948

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 3 Godfathers, 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, starring Merle Oberon and Robert Ryan
• The Berliner (Berlin Balade), starring Gert Fröbe - (Germany)
• Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette), 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

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 and Fred Astaire
• 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-J

• 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
• Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman
• Johnny Belinda, starring Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres
• June Bride, starring Bette Davis

K-L

• 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
• Ladies of the Chorus, starring Marilyn Monroe
• 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 Man from Colorado, starring William Holden and Glenn Ford
• 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
• 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-Q

• Oliver Twist, directed by David Lean, starring Alec Guinness and Robert Newton - (GB)
• On Our Own Land (Na svoji zemlji) - (Yugoslavia)
• 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, starring Jennifer Jones
• 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 (in his film debut), Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, John Ireland
• The Red Shoes, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Moira Shearer and Anton Walbrook - (GB)
• 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 and Janis Paige and Doris Day (film debut)
• Rope, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger
• 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 - (USA/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)
• The Three Muskteers, starring Lana Turner and Gene Kelly
• The Time of Your Life, starring James Cagney
• Tragic Hunt (Caccia tragica) - (Italy)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston (Oscars for best director and best screenplay), starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston (best supporting actor)
• Treasured Earth (Talpalatnyi föld) - (Hungary)
• Los tres huastecos, starring Pedro Infante - (Mexico)

U-V

• Under the Sun of Rome (Sotto il sole di Roma), directed by Renato Castellani - (Italy)
• Unfaithfully Yours, starring Linda Darnell and Rex Harrison
• Up in Central Park, directed by William A. Seiter, starring Deanna Durbin and Vincent Price
• Ustedes los ricos (you the Rich), starring Pedro Infante - (Mexico)
• Vidya, starring Dev Anand - (India)

W-Z

• Waverley Steps: A Visit to Edinburgh - (GB) documentary
• Western Heritage, starring Tim Holt
• When My Baby Smiles at Me, starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey
• When You Come Home
• Whiplash, starring Alexis Smith and Dane Clark
• Whispering Smith, starring Alan Ladd and Robert Preston
• The Winslow Boy, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Robert Donat and Margaret Leighton - (GB)
• Yellow Sky, starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark
• You Gotta Stay Happy, starring Joan Fontaine and James Stewart
• The Young Guard (Molodaya Gvardiya) - (U.S.S.R.)

Serials

• G-Men Never Forget, starring Clayton Moore
• Dangers of the Canadian Mounted
• Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, starring Clayton Moore
• Superman, starring Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill
• Tex Granger
• Congo Bill

Short film series

• 1928 -- 1952 - Mickey Mouse
• 1930 -- 1964 - Terrytoons
• 1933 –- 1957 - Popeye
• 1934 –- 1959 - The Three Stooges
• 1936 –- 1956 - Donald Duck
• 1939 -- 1953 - Goofy
• 1940 –- 1958 - Tom and Jerry
• 1940 -- 1964 - Bugs Bunny
• 1941 -- 1950 - The Fox and the Crow
• 1941 -- 1949 - Woody Woodpecker
• 1942 -- 1955 - Mighty Mouse
• 1943 -- 1956 - Chip and Dale
• 1943 -- 1958 - Droopy
• 1945 -- 1964 - Yosemite Sam
• 1946—1948 - George and Junior
• 1947 -- 1949 - Blackie the Sheep

Births

• January 10 - William Sanderson, American actor
• January 14 - Carl Weathers, American actor and football player
• January 16 - John Carpenter, American director, producer and screenwriter
• January 29 - Marc Singer, Canadian actor
• February 5
  • Barbara Hershey, American actress
  • Tom Wilkinson, English actor
• February 20 - Jennifer O'Neill, American actress
• February 22 - John Ashton, American actor
• February 28
  • Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer
  • Mercedes Ruehl, American actress
  • Mike Figgis, English director and screenwriter
• March 11 - Dominique Sanda, French actress
• March 14 - Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian
• March 25 - Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
• March 28 - Dianne Wiest, American actress
• March 29 - Bud Cort, American actor
• May 3 - Chris Mulkey, American actor
• May 21 - Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born English actor
• June 28 - Kathy Bates, American actress
• July 13 - Catherine Breillat, French director
• July 30 - Jean Reno, French actor
• September 7 - Susan Blakely, American actress
• September 19 - Jeremy Irons, English actor
• October 2 - Persis Khambatta, Indian actress and model (died 1998)
• October 17 - Margot Kidder, Canadian actress
• November 11 - Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (died 2005)
• November 13 - Adelle Lutz, American model, actress, and costume designer
• November 14 - Robert Ginty, American actor and producer (d. 2009)
• November 28 - Agnieszka Holland, Polish director and screenwriter
• December 6 - JoBeth Williams, American actress and director
• December 21 - Samuel L. Jackson, American actor and producer
• December 27 - Gérard Depardieu, French actor and filmmaker

Deaths

• February 11 - Sergei Eisenstein, 50, Russian film director, Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, Ivan the Terrible, Part One, Ivan the Terrible, Part Two
• May 3 - Gideon Wahlberg, 58, Swedish actor, writer and film director
• May 12 - Dante Cappelli, 82, Italian actor, Macbeth, Love Everlasting, The Mysterious Mirror
• May 26 - Torsten Bergström, 51, Swedish actor and director, The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar, Trollebokungen, Ungdom
• July 5 - Carole Landis, 29, American actress, Topper Returns, I Wake Up Screaming, One Million B.C., Four Jills in a Jeep
• July 15 - William Selig, 84, American pioneer studio builder
• July 23 - David Wark Griffith, 73, American film director, The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Orphans of the Storm
• August 13 - Elaine Hammerstein, 51, American actress, Paint and Powder, The Midnight Express
• September 24 - Warren William, 53, American actor, Gold Diggers of 1933, The Wolf Man, Lady for a Day, Imitation of Life
• December 20 - C. Aubrey Smith, 85, English actor, A Bill of Divorcement, Madame Curie

Film debuts

• Beau Bridges - No Minor Vices
• Montgomery Clift - The Search
• Doris Day - Romance on the High Seas
• Laurence Harvey - House of Darkness
• Rock Hudson - Fighter Squadron
• Klaus Kinski - Morituri
• Irene Papas - Fallen Angels
• Debbie Reynolds - June Bride