Film Data for 1950

The Film Daily's "Film Tops" of 1950

The Actor of the Year- William Holden

The Actress of the Year- Gloria Swanson

The Producer of the Year- Stanley Kramer

The Director of the Year- Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The Writer of the Year- Joseph L. Mankiewicz

The Cinematographer of the Year- Robert Krasker

The Drama of the Year- Sunset Boulevard

The Musical of the Year- Annie Get Your Gun

The Short Subject of the Year- Beaver Valley

The Advertising Campaign of the Year- Sunset Boulevard

The National Board of Review (voting results announced on December 20, 1950. Source: Tom O'Neil's Movie Awards)


The Top Ten Pictures (in order of preference)
1) Sunset Boulevard
2) All About Eve
3) The Asphalt Jungle
4) The Men
5) Edge of Doom
6) Twelve O'Clock High
7) Panic in the Streets
8) Cyrano de Bergerac
9) No Way Out
10) Stage Fright

Best Director
John Huston for The Asphalt Jungle

Best Actor
Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets

Best Actress
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard

Best Foreign Films (in order of preference)
The Titan- The Story of Michelangelo (Italy)
Tight Little Island (U.K.)
The Third Man (U.K.)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (U.K.)
Paris, 1900 (France)


The New York Film Critics Awards (Winners were announced on December 27,1950. Awards were presented on January 28, 1951. Source: Tom O'Neil's Movie Awards and Donald Lyons, "The Lights of New York," Film Comment, March-April, 1993)

Best Picture
All About Eve (11 votes on ballot I)
Runner-up: Sunset Boulevard (3 votes)
3rd Place: The Asphalt Jungle (1 vote)
                  The Devil's Doorway (1 vote)

Best Director
Joseph Mankiewicz for All About Eve (11 votes on ballot IV)
Runner-up: John Huston for The Asphalt Jungle (3 votes)
3rd Place: Billy Wilder for Sunset Boulevard (2 votes)

On ballot I, Mankiewicz and Wilder both received 5 votes, Huston received 3 votes, and Elia Kazan (Panic in the Streets), Carol Reed (The Third Man) and John Sturges (Right Cross) each received 1 vote.

Best Actor
Gregory Peck in Twelve O'Clock High (9 votes ballot VI)
Runner-up: Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac (6 votes)
3rd Place: Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1 vote)

On the ballot I, Peck and Ferrer both received 6 votes and Guinness received 4 votes.

Best Actress
Bette Davis in All About Eve (10 votes on ballot VI)
Runner-up: Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (6 votes)

On ballot I, Davis and Holliday both received 7 votes, and Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard) received 2 votes. On the ballot II Holliday led with 8 votes to Davis' 7, with Swanson receiving 1 vote. With only 1 vote, Swanson dropped out for ballot III.

Best Foreign Film
The Ways of Love (France/Italy)

The Golden Globe Awards (Nominations announced on February 9, 1951. Awards presented on February 28, 1951. Source: Tom O'Neil's Movie Awards)

Winners listed in bold print

Best Picture
All About Eve
Born Yesterday
Cyrano de Bergerac
Harvey
Sunset Boulevard

Best Picture Promoting International Understanding
The Big Life
Broken Arrow
The Next Voice You Hear

Best Director
George Cukor for Born Yesterday
John Huston for The Asphalt Jungle
Joseph L. Mankiewicz for All About Eve
Billy Wilder for Sunset Boulevard

Best Actor, Drama
Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee
Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac
James Stewart in Harvey

Best Actress, Drama
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical
Fred Astaire in Three Little Words
Dan Dailey in When Willie Comes Marching Home
Harold Lloyd in Mad Wednesday


Best Actress, Comedy or Musical
Spring Byington in Louisa
Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun

Best Supporting Actor
Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880
George Sanders in All About Eve
Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Boulevard

Best Supporting Actress
Judy Holliday in Adam's Rib
Josephine Hull in Harvey
Thelma Ritter in All About Eve

Most Promising Newcomer
Gene Nelson in Tea for Two
Mala Powers
Debbie Reynolds

Best Screenplay
Joseph L. Mankiewicz for All About Eve
John Huston and Ben Maddow for The Asphalt Jungle
Charles Brackett, D.M. Marshman, Jr. and Billy Wilder for Sunset Boulevard

Best Cinematography, Black and White
Frank Planer for Cyrano de Bergerac

Best Cinematography, Color
Robert Surtees for King Solomon's Mines

Best Original Score
Franz Waxman for Sunset Boulevard

World Film Favorites
Gregory Peck
Jane Wyman

The Academy Awards (Nominations announced on February 12, 1951. Awards presented on March 29, 1951. Sources: Tom O'Neil's Movie Awards and Mason Wiley and Damien Bona's Inside Oscar)

Best Picture
All About Eve
Born Yesterday
Father of the Bride
King Solomon's Mines
Sunset Boulevard

Best Director
George Cukor for Born Yesterday
John Huston for The Asphalt Jungle
Joseph L. Mankiewicz for All About Eve
Carol Reed for The Third Man
Billy Wilder for Sunset Boulevard

Best Actor
Louis Calhern in The Magnificent Yankee
Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac
William Holden in Sunset Boulevard
James Stewart in Harvey
Spencer Tracy in Father of the Bride

Best Actress
Anne Baxter in All About Eve
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday
Eleanor Parker in Caged
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard

Best Supporting Actor
Jeff Chandler in Broken Arrow
Edmund Gwenn in Mister 880
Sam Jaffe in The Asphalt Jungle
George Sanders in All About Eve
Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Boulevard

Best Supporting Actress
Hope Emerson in Caged
Celeste Holm in All About Eve
Josephine Hull in Harvey
Nancy Olson in Sunset Boulevard
Thelma Ritter in All About Eve

Best Motion Picture Story
Giuseppe De Santis and Carlo Lizzani for Bitter Rice
William Bowers and Andre de Toth for The Gunfighter
Leonard Spigelgass for Mystery Street
Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt for Panic in the Streets
Sy Gomberg for When Willie Comes Marching Home

Best Screenplay
Joseph L. Mankiewicz for All About Eve
Ben Maddow and John Huston for The Asphalt Jungle
Albert Mannheimer for Born Yesterday
Michael Blankfort for Broken Arrow
Frances Goodrich and ALbert Hackett for Father of the Bride

Best Story and Screenplay
Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin for Adam's Rib
Virginia Kellogg and Bernard C. Schoenfeld for Caged
Carl Foreman for The Men
Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels for No Way Out
Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman, Jr. for Sunset Boulevard

Best Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Milton Krasner for All About Eve
Harold Rosson for The Asphalt Jungle
Victor Milner for The Furies
John F. Seitz for Sunset Boulevard
Robert Krasker for The Third Man


Best Cinematography (Color)
Charles Rosher for Annie Get Your Gun
Ernest Palmer for Broken Arrow
Ernest Haller for The Flame and the Arrow
Robert Surtees for King Solomon's Mines
George Barnes for Samson and Delilah

Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Black-and-White)
Lyle Wheeler and George Davis, Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott for All About Eve
Cedric Gibbons and Hans Peters; Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt for The Red Danube
Hans Dreier and John Meehan; Sam Comer and Ray Moyer for Sunset Boulevard

Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Color)
Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Edwin B. Willis and Richard A. Pefferle for Annie Get Your Gun
Ernst Fegte; George Sawley for Destination Moon
Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler; Sam Comer and Ray Moyer for Samson and Delilah

Best Sound Recording
All About Eve 20th Century-Fox Sound Department
Cinderella Disney Sound Department
Louisa Universal-International Sound Department
Our Very Own Goldwyn Sound Department
Trio Paramount (British)

Best Song
"Be My Love" from The Toast of New Orleans. Music by Nicholas Brodszky. Lyrics by Sammy Cahn.
"Bibbidy-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella. Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston.
"Mona Lisa" from Captain Carey, USA. Music and lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.
"Mule Train" from Singing Guns. Music and lyrics by Fred Glickman, Hy Heath and Johnny Lange.
"Wilhelmina" from Wabash Avenue. Music by Josef Myrow. Lyrics by Mack Gordon.

Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Alfred Newman for All About Eve
Max Steiner for The Flame and the Arrow
George Duning for No Sad Songs for Me
Victor Young for Samson and Delilah
Franz Waxman for Sunset Boulevard

Best Scoring of a Musical Picture
Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens for Annie Get Your Gun
Oliver Wallace and Paul J. Smith for Cinderella
Lionel Newman for I'll Get By
Andre Previn for Three Little Words
Ray Heindorf for The West Point Story

Best Film Editing
Barbara McLean for All About Eve
James E. Newcom for Annie Get Your Gun
Ralph E. Winters and Conrad A. Nervig for King Solomon's Mines
Arthur Schmidt and Doane Harrison for Sunset Boulevard
Oswald Hafenrichter for The Third Man

Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)Edith Head and Charles LeMaire for All About Eve
Jean Louis for Born Yesterday
Walter Plunkett for The Magnificent Yankee

Best Costume Design (Color)
Michael Whittaker for The Black Rose
Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele and Gwen Wakeling for Samson and Delilah
Walter Plunkett and Valles for That Forsyte Woman

Best Special Effects
Destination Moon Pal. Eagle-Lion
Samson and Delilah DeMille. Paramount

Best Short Subject Cartoon
Gerald McBoing-Boing Stephen Bosustow, executive producer
Jerry's Cousin Fred Quimby, producer
Trouble Indemnity Stephen Bosustow, executive producer

Best One-Reel Short Subject
Blaze Busters Robert Youngson, producer
Grandad of Races Gordon Hollingshead, producer
Wrong Way Butch Pete Smith, producer

Best Two-Reel Short Subject
Grandma Moses Falcon Films, Inc., producer
In Beaver Valley Walt Disney, producer
My Country 'Tis of Thee Gordon Hollingshead, producer

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Fight: Science Against Cancer National Film Board of Canada in cooperation with the Medical Film Institute of the Association of American Medical Colleges
The Stairs Film Documents, Inc.
Why Korea? 20th Century-Fox Movietone. Edmund Reek, producer

Best Documentary Feature
The Titan: Story of Michelangelo Robert Snyder, producer
With These Hands Jack Arnold and Lee Goodman, producers

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
Darryl F. Zanuck

Honorary Awards
George Murphy for his services in interpreting the film industry to the country at large (statuette)
Louis B. Mayer for distinguished service to the motion picture industry (statuette)
The Walls of Malapaga (Franco-Italian) voted by the Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States in 1950 (statuette)

Time Magazine's "Ten Best" of 1950 (in chronological order)
1) Tight Little Island
2) The Titan
3) The Third Man
4) The Hasty Heart
5) Cinderella
6) The Men
7) Sunset Boulevard
8) The Breaking Point
10) All About Eve

The New York Times' "Ten Best" of 1950 (in chronological order)
1) The Titan- The Story of Michelangelo
2) Twelve O'Clock High
3) Father of the Bride
4) The Asphalt Jungle
5) Destination Moon
6) The Men
7) Sunset Boulevard
8) Trio
9) All About Eve
10) Born Yesterday

The Top Box-Office Hits of 1950 (According to Variety, January 3, 1951. Includes actual and estimated domestic rentals to theaters in U.S. and Canada, not box-office takes, which would be higher. If the final first-run rental take for films gaining $4,000,000 or more in rentals varies from the total originally listed in 1951, I'm showing that figure after the 1951 total. Final first-run rentals data comes from Variety Weekly's January 13, 1954 "All-Time Top Film Grosses" list (only films taking $4,000,000 or more in rentals were mentioned on the "All-Time" list; unfortunately, I have no data for films with a final gross under $4,000,000 that may have ended up with a higher take than shown below). Ocassionally a film will end up on the "All-Time" list with a lower rental box-office take than when the film originally appeared on the yearly list of top box-office films. This is due to the estimated rentals, which were sometimes revised to a lower amount for the All-Time list).


1) Samson and Delilah $11,000,000 (final first-run rentals of $9,000,000)
2) Battleground $4,550,000 (final first-run rentals of $4,700,000)
3) King Solomon's Mines $4,400,000 (final first-run rentals of $4,825,000)
4) Cheaper by the Dozen $4,325,000 (final first-run rentals of $4,425,000)
5) Annie Get Your Gun $4,200,000 (final first-run rentals of $4,650,000)
6) Cinderella $4,150,000 (final first-run rentals of $4,275,000)
    Father of the Bride $4,150,000
8) Sands of Iwo Jima $3,900,000
9) Broken Arrow $3,550,000
10) Twelve O'Clock High $3,225,000
11) All About Eve $2,900,000
      The Flame and the Arrow $2,900,000
      Francis $2,900,000
      On the Town $2,900,000
15) Adam's Rib $2,750,000
16) Three Little Words $2,700,000
17) The Black Rose $2,650,000
18) The Great Lover $2,625,000
19) The Duchess of Idaho $2,600,000
Fancy Pants $2,600,000
21) Prince of Foxes $2,550,000
Summer Stock $2,550,000
23) I'll Get By $2,450,000
24) All the King's Men $2,400,000
      My Friend Irma Goes West $2,400,000
      Let's Dance $2,400,000
      Tea for Two $2,400,000
28) Riding High $2,350,000
      Sunset Boulevard $2,350,000
30) The Heiress $2,300,000
31) An American Guerilla in the Philippines $2,275,000
      My Blue Heaven $2,275,000
33) The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady $2,250,000
      Rio Grande $2,250,000
     Winchester '73 $2,250,000
36) Key to the City $2,240,000


37) Copper Canyon $2,200,000
      The Inspector General $2,200,000
      Pagan Love Song $2,200,000
40) The Kettles Go to Town $2,175,000
41) The Third Man $2,150,000
42) Montana $2,100,000
43) Our Very Own $2,050,000
     Wabash Avenue $2,050,000
45) Ambush $1,975,000
46) The Gunfighter $1,950,000
Oh, You Beautiful Doll $1,950,000
48) Breakthrough $1,900,000
      Malaya $1,900,000
     Three Came Home $1,900,000
     To Please a Lady $1,900,000

The Top Ten Box Office Stars of 1950 (according to Quigley Publishing's annual poll found in The Motion Picture Herald)
1) John Wayne
2) Bob Hope
3) Bing Crosby
4) Betty Grable
5) James Stewart
6) Abbott & Costello
7) Clifton Webb
8) Esther Williams
9) Spencer Tracy
10) Randolph Scott

The Next Fifteen:
11) Gary Cooper
12) Gregory Peck
13) Clark Gable
14) June Allyson
15) Betty Hutton
16) Burt Lancaster
17) Red Skelton
18) Van Johnson
19) Roy Rogers
20) Cary Grant
21) Dan Dailey
22) Barbara Stanwyck
23) Joel McCrea
24) Doris Day
25) Judy Garland

Britain's Top Ten British Box-Office Stars of 1950 (according to Quigley Publishing's poll of Britain's film exhibitors)
1) Anna Neagle
2) Jean Simmons
3) Jack Warner
4) John Mills
5) Robert Newton
6) Michael Wilding
7) Richard Todd
8) Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford
9) Jean Kent
10) Trevor Howard

Britain's Top Ten International Box-Office Stars of 1950 (according to Quigley Publishing's poll of Britain's film exhibitors)
1) Bob Hope
2) Abbott & Costello
3) Anna Neagle
4) Jean Simmons
5) Jack Warner
6) John Mills
7) James Stewart
8) Alan Ladd
9) Larry Parks
10) Robert Newton