Cineliteracy:
What You Need to Know about 1947 as Movie Year
Events
April 19 –
Monogram Pictures release their first film under their Allied Artists banner, It Happened on Fifth Avenue.
May 22 –
David Lean’s Great Expectations premieres in New York.
August 31 –
The first Edinburgh Film Festival opens at the Playhouse Cinema as part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts. Originally specializing in documentaries, it will become the world’s oldest continually running film festival.
November 24 –
The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the “Hollywood Ten”
November 25 –
The Waldorf Statement is released by the executives of the United States motion picture industry that marks the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist.
The first Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after 10 writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). These personalities were subpoenaed to appear before HUAC in October.
Box-Office Hits (In Millions of $)
The Best Years of Our Lives, 11.5
Duel in the Sun, 10.7
The Jolson Story, 8.0
Forever Amber, 8.0
Life with Father, 6.25
Welcome Stranger, 6.1
The Egg and I, 5.5
Unconquered, 5.3
Green Dolphin’s Street, 5.0
The Razor’s Edge, 5.0
The Yearling, 5.25
Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, 4.5
Road to Rio, 4.5
The Hucksters, 4.4
Mother Wore Tights, 4.1
Top-Grossing Films (from A to Z)
Bachelor and BobbySoxer $ 4.5
The Egg and I $ 5.5
Forever Amber $ 5.0
Green Dolphin’s Street $ 5.0
The Hucksters $ 4.4
Life with Father $
Mother Wore Tights $
101 Dalamations (61) animated (47–Top 100)
Road to Rio $
Unconquered $
Oscar: Best Picture Nominees
Bishop’s Wife, The
Crossfire
Gentleman’s Agreement (Winner)
Great Expectations
Miracle on 34th Street
Significant Films
Body and Soul
Boomerang!
Double Life, A
Farmer’s Daughter
Fugitive, The
Kiss of Death
Monsieur Verdoux
Odd Man Out
Out of the Past
Possessed
Smash-Up, Story of a Woman
Best Actress: Oscar, Critics, Globe, Festivals
Oscar: Loretta Young, The Farmer’s Daughter
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: Deborah Kerr, Black Narcissus; The Adventurers
NBR (National Board of Review): Celia Johnson, The Happy Breed
Venice Film Fest: Anna Magnani, Honorable Angelina
Cannes Film Fest: Not Awarded
Best Actor: Oscar, Critics, Globe, Festivals
Oscar: Ronald Colman, A Double Life
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: William Powell, Life With Father and The Senator Was Indiscreet
NBR (National Board of Review): Michael Redgrave, Mourning Becomes Electra
Venice Film Fest: Pierre Fresnay, Monsieur Vincent
Cannes Film Fest: Not Awarded
Top Ten Money Making Stars
Rank Actor/Actress
1. Bing Crosby
2. Betty Grable
3. Ingrid Bergman
4. Gary Cooper
5. Humphrey Bogart
6. Bob Hope
7. Clark Gable
8. Gregory Peck
9. Claudette Colbert
10. Alan Ladd
Oscar Awards in All Categories
Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives (Goldwyn, RKO), produced by Samuel Goldwyn
Director: William Wyler, The Best Years of Our Lives
Actor: Frederic March, The Best Years of Our Lives
Actress: Olivia de Havilland, To Each His Own
Supporting Actor: Harold Russell, The Best Years of Our Lives
Supporting Actress: Anne Baxter, The Razor’s Edge
Writing Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood, The Best Years of Our Lives
Writing Original Story: Clemence Dane, Vacation from Marriage
Writing Original Screenplay: Muriel Box and Sydney Box, The Seventh Veil
Cinematography b/w: Arthur Miller, Anna and the King of Siam
Cinematography color: Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith, Arthur Arling, The Yearling
Interior Decoration b/w: Anna and the King of Siam, Lyle Wheeler and William Darling; Thomas Little and Frank E. Hughes
Interior Decoration color: The Yearling, Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Edwin B. Willism
Sound Recording: The Jolson Story, John Livadary
Music: Song: On the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe (The Harvey Girls), music by Harry warren, lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Music: Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives, Hugo Friedhofer
Music Scoring of a Musical Picture: The Jolson Story, Morris Stoloff
Editing: The Best Years of Our Lives, Daniel Mandell
Special Effects: Blithe Spirit, Visual, Thomas Howard
Short Subjects: Cartoons: The Cat Concerto (MGM Tom & Jerry series), produced by Frederic Quimby
Short Subjects: One-Reel: Facing Your Danger (Warner Sports Parade), produced by Gordon Hollingshead
Short Subjects: Two-Reel: A Boy and His Dog (Warner Featurette)
Documentary Short: Seeds of Destiny (US War Department)
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: Samuel Gldwyn
Special Awards:
Laurence Olivier, for his outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen (Statuette).
Ernst Lubitsch, for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture (Scroll).
Claude Jarman, Jr., outstanding child actor of 1946 (Miniature Statuette)
