1946 in film

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The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• September 23 - Jean Cocteau's highly influential Beauty and the Beast is released.
• November 21 – William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.
• November - Monogram Pictures creates Allied Artists Productions to distribute its costlier films.
• December 20 – Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell opens in New York.
• Cinemagoing in the United Kingdom reaches an all-time peak, with 1,635 million admissions during the year.^[1]

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

(*) After theatrical re-issue(s)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives – Goldwyn, RKO Radio

Best Director: William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives

Best Actor: Fredric March – The Best Years of Our Lives

Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland – To Each His Own

Best Supporting Actor: Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Baxter – The Razor's Edge

Golden Globe Awards:

Best Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives

Best Director: Frank Capra – It's a Wonderful Life

Best Actor: Gregory Peck – The Yearling

Best Actress: Rosalind Russell – Sister Kenny

Best Film Promoting International Understanding: The Last Chance (Switzerland)

GRAND PRIX (Cannes Film Festival):

Portrait of Maria (María Candelaria), directed by Emilio Fernández, Mexico

The Turning Point (Великий перелом, Velikiy perelom), directed by Fridrikh Ermler, Soviet Union

La Symphonie pastorale, directed by Jean Delannoy, France

The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance), directed by Leopold Lintberg, Switzerland

Men Without Wings (Muži bez křídel), directed by František Čáp, Czechoslovakia

Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta), directed by Roberto Rossellini, Italy

Top Ten Money Making Stars

Notable films released in 1946

U.S.A. unless stated

A

• Abilene Town, starring Randolph Scott and Ann Dvorak
• Angel on My Shoulder, starring Paul Muni, Anne Baxter, Claude Rains
• Anmol Ghadi (Precious Time) (India)
• Anna and the King of Siam, starring Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell
• Appointment with Crime, starring William Hartnell

B

• Bad Bascomb, starring Wallace Beery and Margaret O'Brien
• The Bandit (Il Bandito), starring Anna Magnani
• La Bataille du rail (The Battle of the Rails), directed by René Clément
• The Beast with Five Fingers, starring Robert Alda and Peter Lorre
• Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête), directed by Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais and Josette Day (France)
• Bedlam, starring Boris Karloff
• The Best Years of Our Lives, directed by William Wyler, starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell – winner of 8 Oscars
• Beware, starring Louis Jordan
• The Big Sleep, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
• Black Angel, starring Dan Duryea
• The Blue Dahlia, starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Hugh Beaumont
• Blue Skies, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
• Boom in the Moon (El Moderno Barba Azul), starring Buster Keaton (Mexico)

C

• Canyon Passage, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews and Brian Donlevy
• The Captive Heart, starring Michael Redgrave, the first Prisoner of War film from World War II
• Centennial Summer, starring Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde
• The Chase, starring Robert Cummings and Michèle Morgan
• Cluny Brown, starring Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones
• Crack-Up, starring Pat O'Brien and Claire Trevor
• Crisis (Kris), directed by Ingmar Bergman
• Cross My Heart, starring Betty Hutton

D-F

• The Dark Corner, starring Lucille Ball and Mark Stevens
• The Dark Mirror, starring Olivia de Havilland
• Deception, starring Bette Davis and Paul Henreid
• Decoy, film noir starring Jean Gillie
• Devotion, starring Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland, and Paul Henreid
• The Diary of a Chambermaid, directed by Jean Renoir, starring Paulette Goddard
• Ditte, Child of Man (Ditte Menneskebarn)
• Doll Face, starring Vivian Blaine, Dennis O'Keefe, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda
• Dragonwyck, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Gene Tierney and Vincent Price
• Dressed to Kill, starring Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes), Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison
• Duel in the Sun, directed by King Vidor, starring Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish
• Enamorada, starring Pedro Armendáriz
• From This Day Forward, starring Joan Fontaine, Mark Stevens, Harry Morgan, Rosemary DeCamp

G

• Gallant Journey, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Glenn Ford and Janet Blair
• Gilda, directed by Charles Vidor, starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford
• God's Country, starring Robert Lowery and Buster Keaton
• Great Expectations, directed by David Lean, starring John Mills, Jean Simmons, Valerie Hobson – (GB)
• Green for Danger, starring Alastair Sim and Trevor Howard
• The Green Years, starring Charles Coburn and Hume Cronyn

H-J

• The Harvey Girls, directed by George Sidney, starring Judy Garland and John Hodiak
• The Hoodlum Saint, starring William Powell
• Humoresque, starring Joan Crawford and John Garfield
• If I'm Lucky, starring Vivian Blaine, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda
• I See a Dark Stranger, directed by Frank Launder, starring Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard
• It Rains on Our Love (Det regnar på vår kärlek), directed by Ingmar Bergman
• It's a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
• It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog, starring Carole Landis
• Janie Gets Married, starring Joan Leslie
• The Jolson Story, a biopic of Al Jolson starring Larry Parks

K-L

• The Kid from Brooklyn, starring Danny Kaye
• The Killers, directed by Robert Siodmak, starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner
• A Letter for Evie, starring Marsha Hunt
• Little Giant, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Little Iodine, directed by Reginald Le Borg
• The Locket, starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne and Robert Mitchum
• London Town, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Sid Field and Petula Clark – (GB)
• Love Laughs at Andy Hardy, starring Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Sara Haden, Bonita Granville

M

• Make Mine Music, starring Nelson Eddy, Dinah Shore, Benny Goodman
• The Man Who Dared, starring Leslie Brooks and Forrest Tucker
• Margie, directed by Henry King, starring Jeanne Crain, Alan Young, Glenn Langan, Conrad Janis, Barbara Lawrence
• A Matter of Life and Death, written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, starring David Niven
• Men Without Wings (Muži bez křídel) (Czech)
• Miss Susie Slagle's, starring Veronica Lake and Joan Caulfield
• Murderers Among Us (Die Mörder sind unter uns), starring Hildegard Knef – (Germany)
• My Darling Clementine, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, Linda Darnell
• My Reputation, starring Barbara Stanwyck and George Brent
• The Mysterious Mr. Valentine

N

• Neecha Nagar (Lowly City), directed by Chetan Anand – winner of Palme d'Or at the 1st Cannes Film Festival (India)
• Night and Day, starring Cary Grant
• A Night in Casablanca, with the Marx Brothers
• Night Editor, starring Janis Carter
• Night in Paradise, starring Merle Oberon and Gale Sondergaard
• No Regrets for Our Youth (Waga seishun ni kuinashi), directed by Akira Kurosawa (Japan)
• Nobody Lives Forever, starring John Garfield
• Notorious, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

O-Q

• The Others (La Otra), starring Dolores del Río (Mexico)
• The Overlanders, starring Chips Rafferty
• Paisan, directed by Roberto Rossellini
• Piccadilly Incident, starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding
• The Postman Always Rings Twice, directed by Tay Garnett, starring Lana Turner and John Garfield

R-S

• The Razor's Edge, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney
• The Return of Monte Cristo, starring Louis Hayward
• Road to Utopia, starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope
• A Scandal in Paris, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring George Sanders and Carole Landis
• School for Secrets, directed by Peter Ustinov, starring Ralph Richardson
• The Secret of the Whistler, starring Richard Dix
• She-Wolf of London, starring June Lockhart
• She Wrote the Book, starring Joan Davis
• Shock, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Vincent Price and Lynn Bari
• Shoeshine (Sciuscià), directed by Vittorio De Sica
• Sister Kenny, starring Rosalind Russell
• Smithy (Australia)
• Somewhere in Berlin (Irgendwo in Berlin) (East Germany)
• Somewhere in the Night, starring John Hodiak
• Song of the South by Walt Disney, combines animation and live action
• The Spiral Staircase, starring Dorothy McGuire
• A Stolen Life, starring Bette Davis
• The Stone Flower (Kamennyy tsvetok) (Soviet Union)
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, directed by Lewis Milestone, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas
• The Stranger, directed by and starring Orson Welles, with Loretta Young, Edward G. Robinson
• Swing Parade of 1946, starring The Three Stooges and Gale Storm
• La Symphonie Pastorale, directed by Jean Delannoy, starring Michèle Morgan

T-V

• Tangier, starring Maria Montez
• Terror by Night, starring Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) and Nigel Bruce
• Theirs Is the Glory (Britain)
• Those Who Make Tomorrow, directed by Akira Kurosawa
• Three Strangers, starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre
• Till the Clouds Roll By, starring Judy Garland, June Allyson, Lena Horne
• The Time of Their Lives, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• To Each His Own, starring Olivia de Havilland
• Tomorrow Is Forever, starring Claudette Colbert and Orson Welles
• The Trap, aka Charlie Chan in the Trap, starring Sidney Toler (in his final film)
• Two Smart People, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Lucille Ball and John Hodiak
• Two Years Before the Mast, starring Alan Ladd and Brian Donlevy
• Utamaro and His Five Women (Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
• The Verdict, directed by Don Siegel, starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre

W-Z

• Wake Up and Dream, starring June Haver
• The Walls Came Tumbling Down, starring Marguerite Chapman
• Wanted for Murder (aka A Voice in the Night), starring Eric Portman and Dulcie Gray – (GB)
• The Well-Groomed Bride, starring Olivia de Havilland
• Where Words Fail (Donde mueren las palabras) (Spain)
• The Wife of Monte Cristo, starring John Loder and Lenore Aubert
• Wife Wanted, starring Kay Francis
• Without Reservations, starring Claudette Colbert and John Wayne
• The Yearling, starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman
• The Years Between, starring Michael Redgrave and Valerie Hobson

Serials

• Daughter of Don Q
• Chick Carter, Detective
• The Crimson Ghost
• Hop Harrigan
• King of the Forest Rangers
• Lost City of the Jungle
• The Mysterious Mr. M
• The Phantom Rider, starring Robert Kent and Peggy Stewart
• The Scarlet Horseman
• Son of the Guardsman

Short film series

• Shirley Temple (1932–1946)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Popular Science (1935–1950)

Short films

• The Story of Menstruation, Walt Disney, 10-minute educational film

Animated Short Film Series

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1952)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1936–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Screwball Squirrel (1943–1946)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• George and Junior (1946–1948)

Births

• January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, producer and director
• January 19 – Dolly Parton, American country singer and actress
• January 20 – David Lynch, American director
• January 26 – Gene Siskel, American film critic, Siskel and Ebert (d. 1999)
• February 5 – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
• February 7 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
• February 20
  • Brenda Blethyn, English actress
  • Sandy Duncan, American actress, comedian, dancer, and singer
• February 21
  • Alan Rickman, English actor (d. 2016)
  • Anthony Daniels, English actor
• March 12
  • Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
  • Frank Welker, American actor and voice actor
• March 21 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor
• April 18 – Hayley Mills, English actress and singer
• April 19 – Tim Curry, English actor and singer
• April 21 – Claire Denis, French director
• April 25 – Talia Shire, American actress
• May 9 – Candice Bergen, American actress and model
• May 20 – Cher, American singer and actress
• June 1 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
• June 14 - Donald Trump, Actor, President of the United States
• June 15 – Brigitte Fossey, French actress
• June 28 - Bruce Davison, American actor
• July 6 – Sylvester Stallone, American actor, screenwriter and director
• July 13 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
• July 16 – Richard LeParmentier, American actor (d. 2013)
• July 22 – Danny Glover, American actor and director
• August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress and singer
• August 19 – Christopher Malcolm, Scottish television and film actor, director and producer (d. 2014)
• September 15
  • Oliver Stone, American director and producer
  • Tommy Lee Jones, American actor
• September 19 – Michael Elphick, English actor (d. 2002)
• September 28 – Jeffrey Jones, American actor
• October 4 – Susan Sarandon, American actress
• October 15 – John Getz, American actor
• October 27 – Ivan Reitman, Slovakian-born director and producer
• October 31 – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor
• November 6 – Sally Field, American actress and singer
• December 10 – Douglas Kenney, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1980)
• December 14 – Patty Duke, American actress (d. 2016)
• December 17 – Eugene Levy, Canadian actor, comedian and director
• December 18 – Steven Spielberg, American director and producer

Deaths

• January 5 – Slim Summerville, 53, American actor and comedian, All Quiet on the Western Front, Captain January, Niagara Falls, Charlie Chan in Reno
• January 25 - Otto Brower, 55, American director, Paramount on Parade, The Phantom Empire
• February 1 – Jenő Törzs, 58, Hungarian actor, Secret of St. Job Forest, Alraune, Oliver Twist, Number 111
• February 5 - George Arliss, 77, British actor, Disraeli, The House of Rothschild, Alexander Hamilton
• February 6 – Justus D. Barnes, 84, American actor, The Great Train Robbery
• April 1 – Noah Beery, Sr., 64, American actor, She Done Him Wrong, The Trail Beyond, The Mark of Zorro, Mystery Liner
• April 20 - Mae Busch, 54, Australian actress, The Unholy Three, Love 'em and Weep
• June 8 - Svend Melsing, 57, Danish actor, Hotel Paradis, De kloge og vi gale
• June 23 – William S. Hart, 81, American actor, The Narrow Trail, The Silent Man, The Money Corral, The Return of Draw Egan
• July 2 – Mary Alden, 63, American actress, The Birth of a Nation, The Plastic Age, Brown of Harvard, Strange Interlude
• August 9 – Léon Gaumont, 82, French film pioneer
• August 13 – H. G. Wells, 79, British science fiction writer, The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The Island of Dr. Moreau
• August 20 - Rags Ragland, 40, American actor, Du Barry Was a Lady, Whistling in the Dark
• August 26 – Jeanie MacPherson, 59, American actress and screenwriter, Dynamite, Manslaughter, The Godless Girl, The Captive
• August 28 – Florence Turner, 61, American actress, The Chinese Parrot
• September 21 – Olga Engl, 75, Austrian actress, Phantom, Frauenmoral
• October 31 – Gabriel Gabrio, 59, French actor, Pépé le Moko, Wooden Crosses, Lucrezia Borgia, Gigolette
• November 18 – Donald Meek, 68, American actor, Stagecoach, You Can't Take It with You, Captain Blood, State Fair
• December 12 – Renée Jeanne Falconetti, 54, French actress, The Passion of Joan of Arc
• December 25 – W. C. Fields, 66, American comedian and actor, The Bank Dick, It's a Gift, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, My Little Chickadee

Film debuts

• Kirk Douglas – The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
• Burt Lancaster – The Killers
• Celeste Holm – Three Little Girls in Blue
• Dean Martin – Film Vodvil: Art Mooney and Orchestra
• Yves Montand – Star Without Light

References