1950 in film explained
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.__TOC__
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
See also: List of 1950 box office number-one films in the United States. The top ten 1950 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1950Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
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1 | Samson and Delilah | Paramount | $9,000,000[1] |
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2 | King Solomon's Mines | MGM | $5,047,000[2] |
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3 | Annie Get Your Gun | $4,708,000 |
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4 | Cheaper by the Dozen | 20th Century Fox | $4,425,000[3] |
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5 | Cinderella | RKO/Walt Disney | $4,275,000[4] |
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6 | Born Yesterday | Columbia | $4,100,000[5] |
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7 | Father of the Bride | MGM | $4,036,000 |
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8 | Broken Arrow | 20th Century Fox | $3,600,000[6] |
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9 | All About Eve | $3,100,000 |
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10 | Three Little Words | MGM | $3,019,000 | |
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Events
Awards
Top ten money making stars
Notable films released in 1950
US unless stated
A
- Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- The Admiral Was a Lady, starring Wanda Hendrix and Edmond O'Brien
- All About Eve, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Marilyn Monroe – winner of 6 Oscars
- Ambush, starring Robert Taylor and Arlene Dahl
- Annie Get Your Gun, starring Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern
- Armored Car Robbery, starring Charles McGraw and William Talman
- The Asphalt Jungle, directed by John Huston, starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Sam Jaffe, James Whitmore, Jean Hagen and Marilyn Monroe
- The Astonished Heart, starring Celia Johnson and Noël Coward – (GB)
- At War with the Army, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
B
- Babul (Father's House), starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis – (India)
- Backfire, starring Virginia Mayo and Gordon MacRae
- The Bandit Queen, starring Barbara Britton and Phillip Reed
- The Baron of Arizona, starring Vincent Price
- Beauty and the Devil (La Beauté du diable), directed by René Clair, starring Michel Simon – (France/Italy)
- Beqasoor, starring Madhubala – (India)
- The Big Lift, starring Montgomery Clift and Paul Douglas
- Bitter Springs, starring Tommy Trinder and Chips Rafferty – (Australia/GB)
- The Black Forest Girl, starring Sonja Ziemann and Rudolf Prack – (West Germany)
- The Black Rose, starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles – (GB/US)
- The Blue Lamp, starring Jack Warner and Dirk Bogarde – (GB)
- Born to Be Bad, starring Joan Fontaine and Robert Ryan
- Born Yesterday, directed by George Cukor, starring Broderick Crawford, Judy Holliday and William Holden
- The Breaking Point, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal
- Bright Leaf, starring Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal
- Broken Arrow, starring James Stewart and Jeff Chandler
C
- Café Paradis – (Denmark)
- Caged, starring Eleanor Parker
- Caiçara, directed by and starring Adolfo Celi – (Brazil)
- Captain Carey, U.S.A., starring Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix
- Captain China, starring John Payne and Gail Russell
- Champagne for Caesar, starring Ronald Colman, Celeste Holm, Vincent Price, Art Linkletter
- Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy
- Cinderella, a Disney animated film. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson, starring Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Rhoda Williams, James MacDonald, Luis van Rooten, Don Barclay, Mike Douglas, and Lucille Bliss
- Comanche Territory, starring Maureen O'Hara
- Convicted, starring Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
- Crisis, starring Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer
- Cyrano de Bergerac, starring José Ferrer
D
- D.O.A., starring Edmond O'Brien
- Dallas, starring Gary Cooper
- The Damned Don't Cry, starring Joan Crawford
- Dance Hall, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Diana Dors and Petula Clark – (GB)
- Darah dan Doa, directed and produced by Usmar Ismail – (Indonesia), first native-produced Indonesian film
- Dark City, directed by William Dieterle, starring Charlton Heston (in his first studio film), Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger, Mike Mazurki, Ed Begley
- The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, starring June Haver and Gordon MacRae
- Death is a Caress (Døden er et kjærtegn) – (Norway)
- Deported, starring Jeff Chandler
- Destination Moon, starring John Archer
- The Devil Is a Woman (Doña Diabla) – (Mexico)
- Devil's Doorway, starring Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond
- Dial 1119, starring Marshall Thompson, Virginia Field, William Conrad
- Dieu a besoin des hommes (God Needs Man), directed by Jean Delannoy – (France)
E
F
- The Fall of Berlin (Padeniye Berlina) – (USSR)
- Fancy Pants, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
- Father Is a Bachelor, starring William Holden and Colleen Gray
- Father of the Bride, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor
- The File on Thelma Jordon, starring Barbara Stanwyck
- The Fireball, starring Mickey Rooney and Pat O'Brien
- The Flame and the Arrow, starring Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo
- The Flowers of St. Francis (Francesco, giullare di Dio), directed by Roberto Rossellini – (Italy)
- For Heaven's Sake, starring Clifton Webb and Joan Bennett
- Frenchie, starring Joel McCrea and Shelley Winters
- The Fuller Brush Girl, starring Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert
- The Furies, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Walter Huston
G
- Gabriela, directed by Géza von Cziffra, starring Zarah Leander – (West Germany)
- Gerald McBoing-Boing
- The Glass Menagerie, based on the play by Tennessee Williams, starring Jane Wyman, Kirk Douglas, Gertrude Lawrence and Arthur Kennedy
- Gone to Earth, starring Jennifer Jones – (GB)
- Guilty of Treason, starring Charles Bickford and Bonita Granville
- Gun Crazy (aka Deadly is the Female), starring John Dall and Peggy Cummins
- The Gunfighter, starring Gregory Peck
- Gunman in the Streets, starring Simone Signoret – (France)
H
I
J
K
L
- A Lady Without Passport, starring Hedy Lamarr and John Hodiak
- Last Holiday, starring Alec Guinness – (GB)
- The Lawless, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Macdonald Carey
- Let's Dance, starring Fred Astaire and Betty Hutton
- Life (Jeevitham), directed by A. V. Meiyappan, starring Vyjayanthimala in her Telugu film debut – (India)
- A Life of Her Own, starring Lana Turner and Ray Milland
- The Life of Wu Xun (Wu Xun zhuan) – (China)
- Louisa, starring Ronald Reagan
- Love Happy, starring the Marx Brothers and, in a small role, Marilyn Monroe
M
- The Magnificent Yankee, starring Louis Calhern
- The Man Who Cheated Himself, starring Lee J. Cobb and Jane Wyatt
- The Men, starring Marlon Brando in his film debut, with Teresa Wright, Everett Sloane, Jack Webb and, in a bit part, DeForest Kelley
- The Miniver Story, starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon and John Hodiak
- Mirror of Holland (Spiegel van Holland) – (Netherlands) winner of Short Film Palme d'Or
- Mister 880, starring Burt Lancaster and Edmund Gwenn
- Montana, starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith
- Morning Departure (aka Operation Disaster), starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough – (GB)
- Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone, starring Marjorie Main and James Whitmore
- The Mudlark, starring Irene Dunne and Alec Guinness – (GB/US)
- Mussorgsky – (USSR)
- My Blue Heaven, starring Betty Grable
- My Friend Irma Goes West, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
- Mystery Street, starring Ricardo Montalbán
N
- Nancy Goes to Rio, starring Ann Sothern, Jane Powell, Barry Sullivan, Carmen Miranda, Louis Calhern, and Scotty Beckett
- The Nevadan, starring Randolph Scott and Dorothy Malone
- Night and the City, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney – (GB)
- No Man of Her Own, starring Barbara Stanwyck
- No Peace Under the Olive Tree (Non c'è pace tra gli ulivi), starring Raf Vallone – (Italy)
- No Way Out, starring Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally and Sidney Poitier
O
P
Q
R
- Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune and Masayuki Mori – (Japan)
- Riding High, directed by Frank Capra, starring Bing Crosby
- Right Cross, starring June Allyson and Dick Powell
- Rio Grande, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara
- Rocketship X-M, starring Lloyd Bridges, Hugh O'Brian and Noah Beery Jr.
- Rocky Mountain, starring Errol Flynn and Patrice Wymore
- Rogues of Sherwood Forest, starring John Derek
- La Ronde (The Merry-Go-Round), directed by Max Ophüls, starring Simone Signoret and Anton Walbrook – (France)
- Room to Let, directed by Godfrey Grayson
S
- Scandal (Sukyandaru), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
- The Second Face, starring Ella Raines
- The Secret Fury, starring Claudette Colbert and Robert Ryan
- September Affair, starring Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten
- Seven Days to Noon, directed by the Boulting Brothers, starring Barry Jones – (GB)
- Shadow on the Wall, starring Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Nancy Davis
- Side Street, starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell
- Sierra, starring Wanda Hendrix and Audie Murphy
- The Sleeping City, starring Richard Conte
- So Long at the Fair, starring Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde – (GB)
- The Sound of Fury, starring Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges
- Stage Fright, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Michael Wilding and Richard Todd – (GB)
- Stars in My Crown, starring Joel McCrea
- State Secret, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Jack Hawkins – (GB)
- Story of a Love Affair (Cronaca di un amore), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni – (Italy)
- Stromboli, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman – (Italy/US)
- Summer Stock, starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, with Phil Silvers
- Sunday in August (Domenica d'agosto) – (Italy)
T
- También de Dolor se Canta (They Also Sing from Sadness), starring Pedro Infante – (Mexico)
- Tea for Two, starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae
- Tension, starring Richard Basehart and Audrey Totter
- This Life of Mine (Wo zhe yi bei zi) – (China)
- Three Came Home, starring Claudette Colbert
- Three Little Words, starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton
- Three Secrets, starring Eleanor Parker, Patricia Neal, Ruth Roman
- A Ticket to Tomahawk, starring Anne Baxter and Dan Dailey
- , award-winning documentary by Robert J. Flaherty
- To Joy (Till glädje), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
- To Please a Lady, starring Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck
- The Toast of New Orleans, starring Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza
- Tomorrow Is Too Late (Domani è troppo tardi), starring Pier Angeli and Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
- The Trap (Past), directed by Martin Frič – (Czechoslovakia)
- Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton – (GB/US)
- Trio, starring Nigel Patrick, Wilfred Hyde-White, Jean Simmons – (GB)
- Tripoli, starring Maureen O'Hara and John Payne
- Two Flags West, starring Joseph Cotten and Linda Darnell
- Two Weeks with Love, starring Jane Powell and Ricardo Montalbán
U
V
W
- Wabash Avenue, starring Betty Grable (a remake of Grable's 1943 film Coney Island)
- Wagon Master, directed by John Ford, starring Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru and Ward Bond
- Watch the Birdie, starring Red Skelton, Arlene Dahl and Ann Miller
- The West Point Story, starring James Cagney and Doris Day
- When Willie Comes Marching Home, starring Dan Dailey
- Where Danger Lives, starring Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue in her film debut
- Where the Sidewalk Ends, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney
- Winchester '73, starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Stephen McNally, Dan Duryea, and with early appearances by Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis
- The Woman in Question, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Jean Kent and Dirk Bogarde – (GB)
- Woman in Hiding, starring Ida Lupino, Howard Duff and Stephen McNally
- Woman on the Run, starring Ann Sheridan and Dennis O'Keefe
- The Wooden Horse, starring Leo Genn and Anthony Steel – (GB)
Y
Z
Serials
Short film series
Births
- January 1 – Gerard McSorley, Irish actor
- January 6 - Richard Norton, Australian martial artist, actor and stunt performer
- January 7 – Erin Gray, American model and actress
- January 9 - David Johansen, American singer-songwriter and actor
- January 16 - Debbie Allen, American actress, singer, director and producer
- January 23 – Richard Dean Anderson, American actor
- January 24 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor
- January 27 - Alex Norton, Scottish actor
- January 30
- January 31 - Robert Grubb, Australian actor
- February 3 - Morgan Fairchild, American actress
- February 5 – Jonathan Freeman, American actor, voice actor, singer and puppeteer
- February 12 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor
- February 16 - R. D. Call, American actor (d. 2020)
- February 17 – Prunella Gee, English actress
- February 18
- February 19 - Johan Leysen, Belgian actor (d. 2023)
- February 21 – Larry Drake, American actor and comedian (d. 2016)
- February 22 – Julie Walters, English actress
- February 23 – Mary Pat Gleason, American actress (d. 2020)
- February 25 – Neil Jordan, Irish director
- February 26 - Don Shanks, American actor and stuntman
- March 2 – Matthew Laurance, American actor and comedian
- March 3 – Laura Ziskin, American producer (d. 2011)
- March 11 – Jerry Zucker, American director and producer
- March 13 – William H. Macy, American actor
- March 18 – Brad Dourif, American actor
- March 20
- March 23 – Corinne Cléry, French actress
- March 26
- March 29 – Barry Pearl, American actor
- March 30 – Robbie Coltrane, Scottish actor (d. 2022)[7]
- April 2 - Allan Corduner, British actor
- April 4 – Christine Lahti, American actress
- April 11 - Bill Irwin, American actor, clown and comedian
- April 12 – David Cassidy, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2017)
- April 13
- April 15 – Josiane Balasko, French actress, writer and director
- April 16 – David Graf, American actor (d. 2001)
- April 18 - Kenny Ortega, American filmmaker
- April 22 – Thierry Zéno, Belgian director (d. 2017)
- April 23 - Henry Goodman, British actor
- April 28 – Jay Leno, American comedian, actor, writer, producer and late-night television host
- April 29 – Phillip Noyce, Australian director
- May 1 – John Diehl, American character actor
- May 7 - Randall "Tex" Cobb, American actor and martial artist
- May 8 – Robert Mugge, American director and producer
- May 9 – Marcheline Bertrand, American actress (d. 2007)
- May 12 – Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor
- May 13 – Joe Johnston, American director, writer and visual effects artist
- May 15 – Nicholas Hammond, American-born Australian actor and writer
- May 18
- May 22 – Peter Wildman, Canadian actor
- June 1 – John M. Jackson, American film and television actor
- June 3 - Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter (d. 2015)
- June 5 – Daniel von Bargen, American character actor (d. 2015)
- June 6 – Chantal Akerman, Belgian-born director (d. 2015)
- June 8 – Kathy Baker, American actress
- June 13 – Belinda Bauer, Australian actress
- June 14 - Jeremy Sinden, English actor (d. 1996)
- June 17 – Lee Tamahori, New Zealand filmmaker
- June 19 – Daria Nicolodi, Italian actress and screenwriter (d. 2020)
- June 24 – Nancy Allen, American actress
- June 25 – Thomas Jefferson Byrd, American actor (d. 2020)
- June 26 – Michael Paul Chan, American actor
- July 6 - Geraldine James, English actress
- July 17 – Barbara Rosenblat, British actress
- July 20 – Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
- July 24 - Johnny Lee Davenport, American actor (d. 2020)
- July 27 - Nigel Plaskitt, English actor and producer
- July 28 - Lani Minella, American voice actress, voice director and producer
- July 29 – Mike Starr, American character actor
- August 2 - Kathryn Harrold, American retired actress
- August 3 - John Landis, American filmmaker and actor
- August 5 – Holly Palance, American actress
- August 6 – Dorian Harewood, American actor
- August 10 - Rémy Girard, Canadian actor
- August 11
- August 12 – Jim Beaver, American actor
- August 13 – Jane Carr, English actress
- August 14 – Peter Guinness, English actor
- August 15 - Tess Harper, American actress
- August 16 - Marshall Manesh, Iranian-American actor
- August 20 – Skip O'Brien, American actor (d. 2011)
- August 27 – Charles Fleischer, American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and musician
- September 2 - Rosanna DeSoto, American actress
- September 7 – Julie Kavner, American film and television actress, voice actress and comedian
- September 11 – Amy Madigan, American actress
- September 12 – Bruce Mahler, American actor, producer and writer
- September 14 – Howard Deutch, American director
- September 19 - Rudy Ramos, American actor and musician
- September 21 – Bill Murray, American actor and comedian
- September 24
- September 27 - Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Japanese-born American actor, producer and martial artist
- September 28 – John Sayles, American director and screenwriter
- September 30 – Vondie Curtis-Hall, American actor, screenwriter and director
- October 1 – Randy Quaid, American actor
- October 2 – Ian McNeice, English actor
- October 4 – Alan Rosenberg, American actor
- October 5 – Jeff Conaway, American actor and singer (d. 2011)
- October 10 - Jerry Tondo, Japanese-American actor
- October 17 – Howard Rollins, American actor (d. 1996)
- October 18 – Om Puri, Indian actor (d. 2017)
- October 25 - Mark L. Taylor, American actor
- October 31 – John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (d. 1994)
- November 13 – Jules Sylvester, British wild animal trainer, actor and television presenter
- November 16 – David Leisure, American actor
- November 18 – Eric Pierpoint, American actor
- November 28 – Ed Harris, American actor
- December 2 - Dennis Christopher, American actor
- December 4 – Obba Babatundé, American actor
- December 10 – Gregg Berger, American voice actor
- December 12 – Duane Chase, American actor
- December 13
- December 16 - Peter Van Norden, American actor
- December 21
- December 22 – Jeris Lee Poindexter, American actor, comedian and musician
- December 29 - Jon Polito, American character actor (d. 2016)
Deaths
- January 2 – Emil Jannings, 65, Swiss-born German actor, The Blue Angel, The Last Laugh
- January 12 – John M. Stahl, 63, American film director and producer, Leave Her to Heaven, Imitation of Life
- January 22
- March 10 – Marguerite De La Motte, 47, American actress, The Mark of Zorro, The Iron Mask
- March 18 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, 74, American writer, creator of Tarzan
- March 25 – Frank Buck, 66, American actor and animal expert, Bring 'Em Back Alive, Africa Screams
- April 7 – Walter Huston, 67, American Academy Award-winning actor, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Dodsworth
- April 26 – Hobart Cavanaugh, 63, American actor, I Cover the Waterfront, A Letter to Three Wives
- May 1 – Ernst Laemmle, 49, German director and screenwriter, The Phantom of the Opera, The Palm Beach Story
- June 22 – Jane Cowl, 66, American actress, No Man of Her Own, Payment on Demand
- July 17 – Antonie Nedošinská, 65, Czech actress, Falešná kočička aneb Když si žena umíní, Capek's Tales
- September 13 – Sara Allgood, 69, Irish actress, How Green Was My Valley, The Lodger
- October 23 – Al Jolson, 64, Lithuanian-born American actor, singer, entertainer, The Jazz Singer, Rhapsody in Blue, The Singing Fool
- October 29 – Maurice Costello, 73, American actor, Du Barry Was a Lady, Tin Pan Alley
- December 4 – James Kevin McGuinness, 56, Irish-American producer and screenwriter, Madame X, Rio Grande
- December 28 – William Garwood, 66, American silent-film actor and director, The Cowboy Millionaire, Proxy Husband
Film debuts
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Finler, Joel Waldo . 2003 . The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 978-1-903364-66-6 . 356–357.
- 'The Eddie Mannix Ledger', Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles
- News: Variety. All-Time Top Grosses. January 4, 1961. 49. April 24, 2019.
- All-Time Top Grossers. 10. Variety. January 13, 1954. February 27, 2018.
- Book: Finler, Joel Waldo . 2003 . The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 978-1-903364-66-6 . 358–359.
- Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20080615023703/http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1950.shtml . 2008-06-15 . Top 20 Films of 1950 by Domestic Revenue . boxofficereport.com.
- Web site: Robbie Coltrane obituary . the Guardian . 15 October 2022 . en . 14 October 2022.