In 1948 movie news, a Supreme Court decision forced studios to divest themselves of their theater chains. Block booking, the system by which an exhibitor was forced to buy a whole line of films (both popular films and B films) from a studio was also deemed illegal. This marked the beginning of the end of the studio system, and was partially responsible for a major slump in business for all the studios in the late 1940s.
Maverick film producer, aviator, and eccentric industrialist Howard Hughes purchased RKO Studios. He led RKO during a long period of decline until the mid-1950s. Bela Lugosi (as Count Dracula) and Lon Chaney, Jr. (as The Wolf Man) portrayed their iconic horror characters for the last time in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Hamlet was the first non-American film to win the Best Picture Oscar and the only film adapted from one of William Shakespeare’s plays to receive the award.
In U.S. news, Harry S. Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican nominee, in the biggest presidential election upset in the country’s history. Earlier in the year Truman ended racial segregation in the U.S. armed forces by executive order. The Supreme Court outlawed religious instruction in public schools. Alger Hiss was indicted for treason. The first monkey astronaut was launched into space. Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature and Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire won for Drama. “Buttons and Bows” as sung by Dinah Shore topped the Billboard charts for 10 weeks. The song would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song.
On January 12, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi began a fast in an effort to stop communal violence in the Partition of India. He would be assassinated on January 30 by a militant Hindu nationalist. War raged between the State of Israel and a military coalition of Arab states and Palestinian Arab forces. Daniel François Malan was elected President of South Africa ushering in the era of apartheid. The Berlin Blockade began. The Olympics were held in London after an eight year haitus due to World War II.
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I have previously reviewed the following 1948 releases on this site: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and .
The list of films that I will select from can be found here and here. Based on my current ratings of this very strong year, I would guess my top ten favorites to be, in no particular order: The Red Shoes; Oliver Twist; Hamlet; Red River; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; Raw Deal; Bicycle Thieves; The Fallen Idol; Drunken Angel; and Force of Evil. I’m looking forward to seeing how these stand up to re-watches and against the “new” films available for the year.
Montage of stills of 1948 Oscar Winners
