Starting off my first introduction to films of 1948 was when I wanted to see at least all the best picture winners with Hamlet being one of these. Also as a lifelong Shakespeare fanatic I knew that I had to watch Olivier's version of Hamlet even if it is not the truest adaptation of the play. Hamlet the film is OK if not a bit stiff and stagy, Olivier and Simmons are truly spectacular with Jean Simmons especially shining through even more on a second viewing. The other best picture nominees from 1948 were Johnny Belinda, The Red Shoes, The Snake Pit and my choice of the years greatest John Huston's timeless The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
The thing that makes Sierra Madre stand above all the other films from this year is how it magnificently tracks the descent into madness of man, Also the way men react to one another. Huston probably made his greatest film with this one. Bogart and John's father Walter Huston give winning performances adding the perfection of the film. From the other nominees for best picture it's clear that the academy early was trying to cover multiple genres. Whether it was the melodramatic feel good disabled film Johnny Belinda, the high art ballet drama The Red Shoes and the mental diseased female centric The Snake Pit. Of the other nominees The Red Shoes is the only other film that I love however the other two along with the eventual winner Hamlet are rather dated and in retrospective are rather obvious.
Now that I've discussed what the academy choose to reward in 1948 let me talk about what I would've chosen as some of the greatest film achievements of 1948. Above is a photo of Max Ophüls's spellbinding and romantic Letter from an Unknown Women. The attention to detail alone in this film is gorgeous to behold. Led by Joan Fontaine in a performance that was overlooked is truly a marvel to behold. Also great from that year is Howard Hawk's Red River one of the greatest westerns to ever be filmed. Starring Montgomery Clift in one of his first breakout roles it's Hawks yet again showing his talent for variety in cinema. Rounding out my best picture lineup would've been Alfred Hitchcock's Rope which was one of the first films to film in long takes and even today is a great affect. Also Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil would've made my list.
1948 was a good film year with truly stupendous films like Sierra Madre and Letter from an... but overall the consistency of films wasn't as strong as I would've wanted it to be which is why I overall don't mind the choices made by the academy that year because clearly they weren't given the greatest amount of longtime great films. Below is my list of what my nominees and winners from that year would've looked like from the 25 films I have seen released in the untied states of america in 1948.
OUTSTANDING PICTURE:
1. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Produced by Henry Blanke)
2. Rope (Produced by Alfred Hitchcock)
3. Red River (Produced by Howard Hawks)
4. Force of Evil (Produced by Bob Roberts)
5. Hamlet (Produced by Laurence Olivier)
6. Letter from an Unknown Woman
7. All My Sons
8. The Lady from Shanghai
9. Key Largo
10. The Naked City
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:
Howard Hawkes for Red River
Alfred Hitchcock for Rope
John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Laurence Olivier for Hamlet
Abraham Polonsky for Force of Evil
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:
Humphrey Bogart as Fred C Dobbs in "THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE"
Montgomery Clift as Matthew "Matt" Garth in "RED RIVER"
Laurence Olivier as Hamlet in "HAMLET"
Edward G. Robinson as Joe Keller in "ALL MY SONS"
James Stewart as Rupert Cadell in "ROPE"
OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:
Olivia de Havilland as Virginia Stuart Cunningham in "THE SNAKE PIT"
Irene Dunne as Mama in "I REMEMBER MAMA"
Joan Fontaine as Lisa Berndie in "LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN"
Moira Shearer as Victoria Page in "THE RED SHOES"
Jane Wyman as Belinda McDonald in "JOHNNY BELINDA"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Glenn Anders as George Grisby in "THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI"
Walter Brennan as Nadine Groot in "RED RIVER"
Marius Goring as Julian Craster in "THE RED SHOES"
Walter Huston as Howard in "THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE"
Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco in "KEY LARGO"
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Mady Christians as Kate Keller in "ALL MY SONS"
Ann Miller as Nadine Hale in "EASTER PARADE"
Beatrice Pearson as Doris Lowry in "FORCE OF EVIL"
Jean Simmons as Ophelia in "HAMLET"
Claire Trevor as Gaye Dawn in "KEY LARGO"
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Written by Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett for Easter Parade
Screenplay by Albert Maltz & Malvin Wald; Story by Malvin Wald for The Naked City
Screenplay by Borden Chase & Charles Schnee; Story by Borden Chase for Red River
Written by Hans Christian Andersen, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger & Keith Winter; Based on The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen The Red Shoes
OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Screenplay by Laurence Olivier; Based on Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Screenplay by Richard Brooks & John Huston; Based on Key Largo (play) 1939 play by Maxwell Anderson, Key Largo
Written by Hume Cronyn; Screenplay by Arthur Laurents; Based on Rope (1929) by Patrick Hamilton, Rope
Screenplay by Millen Brand & Frank Partos; Based on The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward, The Snake Pit
Screenplay by John Huston; Based on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:
Art Direction by Carmen Dillon for Hamlet
Art Direction by Leo K. Kuter; Set Decoration by Fred M. MacLean for Key Largo
Art Direction by Alexander Golitzen; Set Decoration by Russell A. Gausman & Ruby R. Levitt for Letter from an Unknown Woman
Production Design by Hein Heckroth; Art Direction by Arthur Lawson for The Red Shoes
Art Direction by Perry Ferguson; Set Decoration by Howard Bristol & Emile Kurl for Rope
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:
Barbara Bel Geddes (I Remember Mama)
Montgomery Clift (Red River)
Louisa Horton (All My Sons)
Beatrice Pearson (Force of Evil)
Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes)
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Charles Lawton Jr. for The Lady from Shanghai
Jack Cardiff for The Red Shoes
Russell Harlan for Red River
William V. Skall & Joseph A. Valentine for Rope
Ted D. McCord for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:
Elizabeth Hennings for Hamlet
Jean Louis for The Lady from Shanghai
Travis Banton for Letter from an Unknown Woman
Tom Keogh for The Pirate
Hein Heckroth for The Red Shoes
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE:
All My Sons (Edward G. Robinson, Burt Lancaster, Louisa Horton, Mady Christians, Frank Conroy, Howard Duff, Lloyd Gough, Arlene Francis, Harry Morgan, Elisabeth Fraser)
Hamlet (Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Laurence Olivier, Norman Wooland, Terence Morgan, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight, Anthony Quayle, Niall MacGinnis, Harcourt Williams, Patrick Troughton, Tony Tarver, Peter Cushing, Stanley Holloway, Russell Thorndike)
Johnny Belinda (Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, Jan Sterling, Rosalind Ivan, Dan Seymour, Mabel Paige, Alan Napier, Barbara Bates, Monte Blue)
Key Largo (Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor, Thomas Gomez, Harry Lewis, John Rodney, Marc Lawrence, Dan Seymour, Monte Blue, William Haade)
Rope (James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Joan Chandler, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick, Edith Evanson)
OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:
Art Seid for Force of Evil
Viola Lawrence for The Lady from Shanghai
Christian Nyby for Red River
William H. Ziegler for Rope
Owen Marks for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:
William Walton for Hamlet
Heinz Rosemheld for The Lady from Shanghai
Leenie Hayton & Conrad Salinger for The Pirate
Brian Easdale for The Red Shoes
Alfred Newman for The Snake Pit
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:
The Lady from Shanghai, "Please Don't Kiss Me" (Music and Lyrics by Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher)
The Paleface, "Buttons and Bows" (Music and Lyrics by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans)
The Pirate, "Be a Clown" (Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER:
Humphrey Bogart (Key Largo, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
Montgomery Clift (Red River, The Search)
Judy Garland (Easter Parade, The Pirate, Words and Music)
Edward G. Robinson (All My Sons, Key Largo)
Claire Trevor (The Babe Ruth Story, Key Largo, Raw Deal)
OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:
Dolph Thomas for Key Largo
Lodge Cunningham for The Lady from Shanghai
Leslie I. Carey & Vernon W. Kramer for The Naked City
Richard DeWeese for Red River
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL EFFECTS:
The Pirate
Hans F. Koenekamp & William C. McGann for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Come Back next time were I'll travel a decade later but still in the past to 1958 when Vincente Minnelli's Gigi came in and won everything it was up for beating some other films that like the eventual winner are not really considered the best that 1958 had to offer in film.
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