1949 Film Year: Oscar Winners & Nominees
The AwardWentTo archive contains 108 Academy Award records for the 1949 film year, covering 61 films and including 28 wins.
Years follow the source film eligibility/dataset year, which may differ from the ceremony calendar year. Counts describe film-linked archive records, including historical and special-award context where supplied.
Best Picture result
5 Best Picture award records for this film year. See the full result · Best Picture history
Acting category results
Leading winning films
Ranked by winning records in this film-year selection.
- The Heiress
4 wins from 8 award records
- All the King's Men
3 wins from 7 award records
- Battleground
2 wins from 6 award records
- Twelve O'Clock High
2 wins from 4 award records
- A Letter to Three Wives
2 wins from 3 award records
- Champion
1 win from 6 award records
Category winners
Select a category to explore its history, or jump to this year's full records.
- ★ All the King's Men — Willie Stark
- ★ Twelve O'Clock High — Major Stovall
- ★ The Heiress — Catherine Sloper
- ★ All the King's Men — Sadie Burke
- ★ Champion
- ★ Neptune's Daughter — Baby, It's Cold Outside
- ★ Van Gogh
Nominations and award records by category
Showing 108 of 108 archive records. Gold stars mark winning records.
Best Picture
- ★ All the King's Men IMDB — Robert Rossen Productions
- Battleground IMDB — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- The Heiress IMDB — Paramount
- A Letter to Three Wives IMDB — 20th Century-Fox
- Twelve O'Clock High IMDB — 20th Century-Fox
Best Actor
- ★ All the King's Men IMDB — Broderick CrawfordWillie Stark
- Champion IMDB — Kirk DouglasMidge Kelly
- Twelve O'Clock High IMDB — Gregory PeckGeneral Savage
- The Hasty Heart IMDB — Richard ToddLachie
- Sands of Iwo Jima IMDB — John WayneSergeant John M. Stryker
Best Supporting Actor
- ★ Twelve O'Clock High IMDB — Dean JaggerMajor Stovall
- All the King's Men IMDB — John IrelandJack Burden
- Champion IMDB — Arthur KennedyConnie Kelly
- The Heiress IMDB — Ralph RichardsonDr. Austin Sloper
- Battleground IMDB — James WhitmoreKinnie
Best Actress
- ★ The Heiress IMDB — Olivia de HavillandCatherine Sloper
- Pinky IMDB — Jeanne CrainPinky
- My Foolish Heart IMDB — Susan HaywardEloise Winters
- Edward, My Son IMDB — Deborah KerrEvelyn Boult
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Loretta YoungSister Margaret
Best Supporting Actress
- ★ All the King's Men IMDB — Mercedes McCambridgeSadie Burke
- Pinky IMDB — Ethel BarrymoreMiss Em
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Celeste HolmSister Scholastica
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Elsa LanchesterMiss Potts
- Pinky IMDB — Ethel WatersGranny
Art Direction (Black-and-White)
- ★ The Heiress IMDB — Art Direction: Harry Horner, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox
- Madame Bovary IMDB — Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Richard A. Pefferle
Art Direction (Color)
- ★ Little Women IMDB — Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore
- The Adventures of Don Juan IMDB — Art Direction: Edward Carrere; Set Decoration: Lyle Reifsnider
- Saraband IMDB — Art Direction: Jim Morahan, William Kellner, Michael Relph
Cinematography (Black-and-White)
Cinematography (Color)
- ★ She Wore a Yellow Ribbon IMDB — Winton Hoch
- The Barkleys of Broadway IMDB — Harry Stradling
- Jolson Sings Again IMDB — William Snyder
- Little Women IMDB — Robert Planck, Charles Schoenbaum
- Sand IMDB — Charles G. Clarke
Costume Design (Black-and-White)
- ★ The Heiress IMDB — Edith Head, Gile Steele
- Prince of Foxes IMDB — Vittorio Nino Novarese
Costume Design (Color)
- ★ The Adventures of Don Juan IMDB — Leah Rhodes, Travilla, Marjorie Best
- Mother Is a Freshman IMDB — Kay Nelson
Best Director
Documentary Feature
- ★ Daybreak in Udi IMDB — Crown Film Unit
- Kenji Comes Home IMDB — Paul F. Heard, Producer
Documentary Short Subject
- ★ A Chance to Live IMDB — Richard de Rochemont, Producer
Source context
NOTE: A tie. The other winning film in this category was So Much for So Little.
- ★ So Much for So Little IMDB — Edward Selzer, Producer
Source context
NOTE: A tie. The other winning film in this category was A Chance to Live.
- 1848 IMDB — French Cinema General Cooperative
- The Rising Tide IMDB — St. Francis-Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Film Editing
- ★ Champion IMDB — Harry Gerstad
- All the King's Men IMDB — Robert Parrish, Al Clark
- Battleground IMDB — John Dunning
- Sands of Iwo Jima IMDB — Richard L. Van Enger
- The Window IMDB — Frederic Knudtson
Original Score
Original Song
- ★ Neptune's Daughter IMDB — Music and Lyrics by Frank LoesserBaby, It's Cold Outside
- It's a Great Feeling IMDB — Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy CahnIt's A Great Feeling
- So Dear to My Heart IMDB — Music by Eliot Daniel; Lyrics by Larry MoreyLavender Blue
- My Foolish Heart IMDB — Music by Victor Young; Lyrics by Ned WashingtonMy Foolish Heart
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Music by Alfred Newman; Lyrics by Mack GordonThrough A Long And Sleepless Night
Music (Original Song Score or Adaptation Score)
- ★ On the Town IMDB — Roger Edens, Lennie Hayton
- Jolson Sings Again IMDB — Morris Stoloff, George Duning
- Look for the Silver Lining IMDB — Ray Heindorf
Animated Short Film
- ★ For Scent-Imental Reasons IMDB — Edward Selzer, Producer
- Canary Row IMDB — Edward Selzer, Producer
Source context
NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. Nomination withdrawn by producer.
- Hatch Up Your Troubles IMDB — Fred Quimby, Producer
- The Magic Fluke IMDB — Stephen Bosustow, Producer
- Toy Tinkers IMDB — Walt Disney, Producer
Short Subject (One-Reel)
- ★ Aquatic House-Party IMDB — Jack Eaton, Producer
- Roller Derby Girl IMDB — Justin Herman, Producer
- So You Think You're Not Guilty IMDB — Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
- Spills and Chills IMDB — Walton C. Ament, Producer
- Water Trix IMDB — Pete Smith, Producer
Short Subject (Two-Reel)
- ★ Van Gogh IMDB — Gaston Diehl and Robert Haessens, Producers
- The Boy and the Eagle IMDB — William Lasky, Producer
- Chase of Death IMDB — Irving Allen, Producer
- The Grass Is Always Greener IMDB — Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
- Snow Carnival IMDB — Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Sound Recording
- ★ Twelve O'Clock High IMDB — 20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
- Once More, My Darling IMDB — Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
- Sands of Iwo Jima IMDB — Republic Studio Sound Department, Daniel J. Bloomberg, Sound Director
Special Foreign Language Film Award
- ★ The Bicycle Thief IMDB
Source context
To The Bicycle Thief - voted by the Academy Board of Governors as the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1949.
Visual Effects
Adapted Screenplay
Original Screenplay
- ★ Battleground IMDB — Robert Pirosh
- Jolson Sings Again IMDB — Sidney Buchman
- Paisan IMDB — Alfred Hayes, Federico Fellini, Sergio Amidei, Marcello Pagliero, Roberto Rossellini
- Passport to Pimlico IMDB — T. E. B. Clarke
- The Quiet One IMDB — Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, Sidney Meyers
Writing (Original Story)
- ★ The Stratton Story IMDB — Douglas Morrow
- Come to the Stable IMDB — Clare Boothe Luce
- It Happens Every Spring IMDB — Shirley W. Smith, Valentine Davies
- Sands of Iwo Jima IMDB — Harry Brown
- White Heat IMDB — Virginia Kellogg
Nominated films and other recorded entries
61 films represented in the 1949 archive selection.
- 1848
- A Chance to Live
- A Letter to Three Wives
- All the King's Men
- Aquatic House-Party
- Battleground
- Beyond the Forest
- Canary Row
- Champion
- Chase of Death
- Come to the Stable
- Daybreak in Udi
- Edward, My Son
- For Scent-Imental Reasons
- Hatch Up Your Troubles
- It Happens Every Spring
- It's a Great Feeling
- Jolson Sings Again
- Kenji Comes Home
- Little Women
- Look for the Silver Lining
- Madame Bovary
- Mighty Joe Young
- Mother Is a Freshman
- My Foolish Heart
- Neptune's Daughter
- On the Town
- Once More, My Darling
- Paisan
- Passport to Pimlico
- Pinky
- Prince of Foxes
- Roller Derby Girl
- Sand
- Sands of Iwo Jima
- Saraband
- She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
- Snow Carnival
- So Dear to My Heart
- So Much for So Little
- So You Think You're Not Guilty
- Spills and Chills
- The Adventures of Don Juan
- The Barkleys of Broadway
- The Bicycle Thief
- The Boy and the Eagle
- The Fallen Idol
- The Grass Is Always Greener
- The Hasty Heart
- The Heiress
- The Magic Fluke
- The Quiet One
- The Rising Tide
- The Stratton Story
- The Window
- Toy Tinkers
- Tulsa
- Twelve O'Clock High
- Van Gogh
- Water Trix
- White Heat
About these award records
This independent archive groups film-linked award records by film, credited name, category and eligibility year. The film year can differ from the year the ceremony took place. Ceremony numbers are shown where supplied by the records.
Each distinct performance, song or award credit remains a separate record, even when it belongs to the same film. Shared credits stay together. A person's page covers the name shown, without combining aliases or shared credits into a complete career total.
Totals can include honorary, special and historical awards alongside competitive nominations. Awards without a linked film are outside these page totals. Source notes and uncertain records are retained; category comparisons omit groups with unresolved notes, ties or conflicting identities.
For the official record, search the Academy Awards Database (opens in a new tab). Award Went To is an independent exploration tool and is not affiliated with the Academy.