1949

Film Decades: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

• Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• The Accused, starring Loretta Young and Robert Cummings
• Act of Violence – directed by Fred Zinnermann, starring Van Helfin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, & Mary Astor
• Adam’s Rib – directed by George Cukor, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, David Wayne, Tom Ewell, Judy Holliday
• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad – narrated by Basil Rathbone & Bing Crosby
• Africa Screams, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Alexander Popov, starring Nikolai Cherkasov – (U.S.S.R.)
• Alias Nick Beal – directed by John Farrow, starring Ray Milland & Audrey Totter
• All the King’s Men – directed by Robert Rossen, starring Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge
• Always Leave Them Laughing, starring Milton Berle and Bert Lahr
• Andaz (Style), starring Dilip Kumar and Nargis – (India)
• Any Number Can Play – starring Clark Gable, Alexis Smith, Audrey Totter
• Aventurera – Mexico
• The Bad Lord Byron, starring Dennis Price
• Bagdad – directed by Charles Lamont, starring Maureen O’Hara, Paul Hubschmid, Vincent Price
• The Barkleys of Broadway – starring Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
• Barsaat (Rain), directed by and starring Raj Kapoor – (India)
• Battleground, starring Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy
• The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend – directed by Preston Sturges – starring Betty Grable
• Begone Dull Care, experimental animated film featuring music of Oscar Peterson – (Canada)
• Beyond the Forest – directed by King Vidor, starring Bette Davis
• The Big Cat, starring Lon McCallister, Preston Foster, Forrest Tucker, Peggy Ann Garner
• The Big Steal, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Patric Knowles
• Bitter Rice (Riso Amaro), starring Vittorio Gassman and Silvana Mangano – (Italy)
• The Blue Lagoon – starring Jean Simmons – UK
• The Blue Swords, directed by Wolfgang Schleif (East Germany)
• Border Incident – directed by Anthony Mann, starring Ricardo Montalbán
• Boys from the Streets (Gategutter) – (Norway)
• The Bribe – starring Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, John Hodiak
• Bride for Sale – starring Claudette Colbert & Robert Young
• Canadian Pacific – starring Randolph Scott & Jane Wyatt
• Caught, directed by Max Ophüls, starring Barbara Bel Geddes and Robert Ryan
• Chains (Catene) – (Italy)
• Champion – produced by Stanley Kramer, starring Kirk Douglas, Arthur Kennedy, Marilyn Maxwell
• Chicken Every Sunday, directed by George Seaton, starring Dan Dailey and Celeste Holm
• The Chiltern Hundreds, directed by John Paddy Carstairs – (GB)
• Christopher Columbus, directed by David MacDonald, starring Fredric March – (GB)
• Colorado Territory, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo
• Come to the Stable, starring Loretta Young and Celeste Holm
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, starring Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming
• Criss Cross, starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo
• The Crooked Way, starring John Payne and Sonny Tufts
• Crows and Sparrows (Wuya yu maque), directed by Zheng Junli – (China)
• Dancing in the Dark, starring William Powell and Betsy Drake
• A Dangerous Profession, starring George Raft and Ella Raines
• Distant Journey (Daleká cesta) – (Czechoslovakia)
• Down to the Sea in Ships – directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Richard Widmark & Lionel Barrymore
• East Side, West Side – starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, James Mason, Van Heflin, Nancy Davis
• Easy Living, starring Victor Mature and Lucille Ball
• Edward, My Son – directed by George Cukor, starring Spencer Tracy & Deborah Kerr – US/GB
• The Emperor of Capri (L’imperatore di Capri), directed by Luigi Comencini – (Italy)
• The Emperor’s Nightingale (Císařův slavík), an animated film narrated by Boris Karloff – (Czechoslovakia)
• The Fan – directed by Otto Preminger
• Father Was a Fullback – starring Fred MacMurray, Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, & Betty Lynn
• The Fighting Kentuckian – starring John Wayne & Oliver Hardy
• Flamingo Road – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet, David Brian
• Flaxy Martin, starring Virginia Mayo
• The Forbidden Street – starring Maureen O’Hara
• For Them That Trespass, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, starring Richard Todd – (GB)
• The Fountainhead – directed by King Vidor, starring Gary Cooper & Patricia Neal
• Give Us This Day, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Sam Wanamaker – (GB)
• The Great Gatsby, starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Ruth Hussey
• The Great Madcap – directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Fernando Soler – Mexico
• Hardly a Criminal (Apenas un delincuente), directed by Hugo Fregonese – (Argentina)
• The Hasty Heart, starring Ronald Reagan and Patricia Neal – (U.S./GB)
• The Heiress – directed by William Wyler, starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Miriam Hopkins
• Holiday Affair, starring Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh
• Home of the Brave, starring Jeff Corey
• House of Strangers – directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Edward G. Robinson, Richard Conte, Susan Hayward
• I Married a Communist – directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Laraine Day, Robert Ryan, & John Agar – aka The Woman on Pier 13
• I Shot Jesse James – directed by Samuel Fuller, starring Preston Foster & John Ireland
• I Was a Male War Bride – directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant
• Impact – starring Brian Donlevy & Ella Raines
• In the Good Old Summertime – starring Judy Garland & Van Johnson
• In the Name of the Law – directed by Pietro Germi – Italy
• The Inspector General – directed by Henry Koster, starring Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, & Elsa Lanchester
• The Interrupted Journey, starring Richard Todd and Valerie Hobson – (GB)
• Intruder in the Dust, directed by Clarence Brown
• It Happens Every Spring, starring Ray Milland
• It’s a Great Feeling – directed by David Butler, starring Doris Day, Jack Carson, and Dennis Morgan, with uncredited cameos by David Butler, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Michael Curtiz, Sydney Greenstreet, Ray Heindorf, Danny Kaye, Patricia Neal, Eleanor Parker, Ronald Reagan, Edward G. Robinson, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, Jane Wyman
• It’s Not Cricket directed by Alfred Roome, starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne – (GB)
• Janika – (Hungary)
• Johnny Stool Pigeon – directed by William Castle, starring Shelley Winters & Howard Duff
• Jolson Sings Again, starring Larry Parks and Barbara Hale
• Jour de fête (Festival Day), directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
• Kind Hearts and Coronets – directed by Robert Hamer, starring Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson – UK
• A Kiss in the Dark, starring Jane Wyman and David Niven
• Knock on Any Door – directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart
• The Lady Takes a Sailor – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Jane Wyman
• Late Spring (Banshun), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
• Life (Vazhkai), directed by A. V. Meiyappan, starring Vyjayanthimala in her screen debut – (India)
• A Letter to Three Wives – directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas
• Little Women, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, June Allyson, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor
• Love Happy – starring the Marx Brothers, with Ilona Massey, Vera-Ellen, & Raymond Burr
• The Lucky Stiff – starring Dorothy Lamour & Claire Trevor
• Lust for Gold – starring Ida Lupino & Glenn Ford
• Ma and Pa Kettle, starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride
• Madame Bovary – directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Jennifer Jones & James Mason
• Mahal (The Mansion), starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala – (India)
• Malaya – directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Sydney Greenstreet, Valentina Cortese, John Hodiak, Richard Loo, Gilbert Roland, & DeForest Kelley
• La Malquerida (The Bad Mistress), starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
• The Man from Colorado – starring Glenn Ford & William Holden
• Manhandled, starring Dorothy Lamour, Dan Duryea, Sterling Hayden
• Manon – directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot – France
• The Marriage of Figaro – East Germany
• Mighty Joe Young, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, starring Terry Moore and Ben Johnson
• Miss Mink of 1949, starring Lois Collier
• Mother Is a Freshman, starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson
• My Dream Is Yours – directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Jack Carson, Doris Day, & Lee Bowman
• My Foolish Heart, starring Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews
• My Friend Irma, film debut of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Neptune’s Daughter, starring Esther Williams
• Never Fear – directed by Ida Lupino, starring Sally Forrest & Hugh O’Brian
• Night Unto Night – directed by Don Siegel, starring Ronald Reagan
• No Way Back, starring Terence De Marney, Eleanor Summerfield – (GB)
• Obsession, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Robert Newton – (GB)
• Oh, You Beautiful Doll, starring June Haver
• On the Town – directed by Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, starring Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Vera-Ellen, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett
• The Passionate Friends – directed by David Lean, starring Ann Todd & Claude Rains – UK
• Passport to Pimlico – starring Stanley Holloway and Margaret Rutherford – UK
• Pinky – directed by Elia Kazan, starring Jeanne Crain
• Prince of Foxes – directed by Henry King, starring Tyrone Power & Orson Welles
• Prison – directed by Ingmar Bergman – Sweden
• The Queen of Spades – starring Anton Walbrook and Edith Evans – UK
• The Quiet Duel – directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune – Japan
• The Reckless Moment, starring James Mason and Joan Bennett
• Red, Hot and Blue – directed by John Farrow, starring Betty Hutton & Victor Mature
• Red Light, starring George Raft and Virginia Mayo
• The Red Pony, starring Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum
• The Rocking Horse Winner, starring Valerie Hobson and John Howard Davies – (GB)
• Rope of Sand, starring Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
• Rotation (Sowjetische Zone) – (East Germany)
• A Run for Your Money, starring Donald Houston, Moira Lister, Alec Guinness – UK
• Rustlers, starring Tim Holt and Martha Hyer
• Samson and Delilah – directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Hedy Lamarr & Victor Mature
• Sands of Iwo Jima – directed by Allan Dwan, starring John Wayne
• The Secret Garden, starring Margaret O’Brien and Herbert Marshall
• The Set-Up – directed by Robert Wise, starring Robert Ryan
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, Ben Johnson
• Shockproof – directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Cornel Wilde
• Une si jolie petite plage (Such a Pretty Little Beach), directed by Yves Allégret – (France)
• The Silence of the Sea – directed by Jean-Pierre Melville – France
• Slattery’s Hurricane, starring Richard Widmark, Veronica Lake, Linda Darnell
• The Small Back Room – directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger – UK
• Sons of Matthew – Australia
• Sorrowful Jones, starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• South of St. Louis, starring Joel McCrea and Alexis Smith
• The Stratton Story – directed by Sam Wood, starring James Stewart & June Allyson
• Stray Dog – directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune – Japan
• Streets of Laredo – starring William Holden, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix
• The Sun Comes Up, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Lloyd Nolan, Lassie
• Take One False Step, starring Shelley Winters and William Powell
• Tension, starring Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse
• That Dangerous Age – starring Myrna Loy & Peggy Cummins – UK
• That Forsyte Woman, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
• That Midnight Kiss, starring Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza
• Thieves’ Highway, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Richard Conte
• The Third Man – directed by Carol Reed, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles – UK
• Too Late for Tears, starring Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea
• Train of Events, starring Valerie Hobson, Jack Warner, Peter Finch – (GB)
• Tulsa, starring Susan Hayward and Robert Preston
• Twelve O’Clock High – directed by Henry King, starring Gregory Peck
• Under Capricorn – directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ingrid Bergman – UK
• The Undercover Man, starring Glenn Ford and Nina Foch
• Undertow – directed by William Castle
• Waga koi wa moenu (Flame of My Love), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi – (Japan)
• The Walls of Malapaga (Au-delà des grilles), directed by René Clément, starring Jean Gabin – (France/Italy)
• We Were Strangers – directed by John Huston, starring Jennifer Jones & John Garfield
• Whisky Galore! – directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Basil Radford and Joan Greenwood – UK
• White Heat, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien
• The Window, starring Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy
• Without Honor – directed by Irving Pichel, starring Bruce Bennett, Laraine Day, Dane Clark, Agnes Moorehead, & Franchot Tone
• Women Side by Side, directed by Chen Liting, starring Shangguan Yunzhu and Zhao Dan – (China)
• You, the Rich (Ustedes los ricos), starring Pedro Infante – (Mexico)
• You’re My Everything, directed by Walter Lang, starring Dan Dailey and Anne Baxter