1950 Oscars 22nd Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 74 years ago March 23, 1950

1950 Oscars 22nd Academy Awards

Winners Announced: March 23, 1950
Held at: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California
Host: Paul Douglas
Eligibility Year: 1949

Winners Announced: March 23, 1950
Venue: RKO Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California
Host: Paul Douglas
Eligibility Year: Films released in 1949

Major Wins:

All the King’s Men scooped up Best Picture.
Best Actor went to Broderick Crawford for his performance in All the King’s Men.
Olivia de Havilland took home Best Actress for her role in The Heiress.

Directing & Screenplay:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz received the Best Director Oscar for A Letter to Three Wives.
Mankiewicz also clinched Best Adapted Screenplay for the same film.

Additional Info:

Dean Jagger got Best Supporting Actor for Twelve O’Clock High.
Mercedes McCambridge snagged Best Supporting Actress for her role in All the King’s Men.
The Heiress earned eight nominations, winning 4.
All the Kings Men earned seven nominations, winning 3
Twelve O’Clock High earned four nominations, winning 2.

Trivia:

This was the first year the Academy recognized Costume Design as a separate category.
It was a Mankiewicz family affair; Herman J. Mankiewicz, Joseph’s brother, was also nominated for co-writing The Third Man.
This was also the year when the Academy stopped giving out miniature Oscars to child actors. They introduced a new Juvenile Award but it didn’t last long and was eventually discontinued.
Take our 1950 Quiz!

1950 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Motion Picture:
All the King’s Men – Robert Rossen for Columbia Pictures (WINNER)
Battleground – Dore Schary for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Heiress – William Wyler for Paramount Pictures
A Letter to Three Wives – Sol C. Siegel for 20th Century Fox
Twelve O’Clock High – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox

Best Director:
Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives (WINNER)
Robert Rossen – All the King’s Men
William A. Wellman – Battleground
Carol Reed – The Fallen Idol
William Wyler – The Heiress

Best Actor:
Broderick Crawford – All the King’s Men as Willie Stark (WINNER)
Kirk Douglas – Champion as Midge Kelly
Gregory Peck – Twelve O’Clock High as Brigadier General Frank Savage
Richard Todd – The Hasty Heart as Cpl. Lachlan “Lachie” MacLachlan
John Wayne – Sands of Iwo Jima as Sgt. John M. Stryker

Best Actress:
Olivia de Havilland – The Heiress as Catherine Sloper (WINNER)
Jeanne Crain – Pinky as Patricia “Pinky” Johnson
Susan Hayward – My Foolish Heart as Eloise Winters
Deborah Kerr – Edward, My Son as Evelyn Boult
Loretta Young – Come to the Stable as Sister Margaret

Best Supporting Actor:
Dean Jagger – Twelve O’Clock High as Major Harvey Stovall (WINNER)
John Ireland – All the King’s Men as Jack Burden
Arthur Kennedy – Champion as Connie
Ralph Richardson – The Heiress as Dr. Austin Sloper
James Whitmore – Battleground as Sgt. Kinnie

Best Supporting Actress:
Mercedes McCambridge – All the King’s Men as Sadie Burke (WINNER)
Ethel Barrymore – Pinky as Miss Em
Celeste Holm – Come to the Stable as Sister Scholastica
Elsa Lanchester – Come to the Stable as Amelia Potts
Ethel Waters – Pinky as Dicey Johnson

Best Screenplay:
A Letter to Three Wives – Joseph L. Mankiewicz from Letter to Five Wives by John Klempner (WINNER)
All the King’s Men – Robert Rossen from All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Bicycle Thieves – Cesare Zavattini from The Bicycle Thief by Luigi Bartolini
Champion – Carl Foreman from “Champion” by Ring Lardner
The Fallen Idol – Graham Greene from “The Basement Room” by Graham Greene

Best Story and Screenplay:
Battleground – Robert Pirosh (WINNER)
Jolson Sings Again – Sidney Buchman
Paisan – Alfred Hayes, Federico Fellini, Sergio Amidei, Marcello Pagliero, and Roberto Rossellini
Passport to Pimlico – T. E. B. Clarke
The Quiet One – Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, and Sidney Meyers

Best Motion Picture Story:
The Stratton Story – Douglas Morrow (WINNER)
Come to the Stable – Clare Boothe Luce
It Happens Every Spring – Shirley W. Smith and Valentine Davies
Sands of Iwo Jima – Harry Brown
White Heat – Virginia Kellogg

Best Animated Short Film:
For Scent-imental Reasons (WINNER)
Canary Row
Hatch Up Your Troubles
The Magic Fluke
Toy Tinkers

Best Documentary Feature:
Daybreak in Udi (WINNER)
Kenji Comes Home

Best Documentary Short Subject:
A Chance to Live (WINNER)
So Much for So Little
1848
The Rising Tide

Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel:
Aquatic House Party – Jack Eaton (WINNER)
Roller Derby Girl – Justin Herman
So You Think You’re Not Guilty – Gordon Hollingshead
Spills and Chills – Walton C. Ament
Water Trix – Pete Smith

Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel:
Van Gogh – Gaston Diehl and Robert Hessens (WINNER)
The Boy and the Eagle – William Lasky
Chase of Death – Irving Allen
The Grass Is Always Greener – Gordon Hollingshead
Snow Carnival – Gordon Hollingshead

Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture:
The Heiress – Aaron Copland (WINNER)
Beyond the Forest – Max Steiner
Champion – Dimitri Tiomkin

Best Scoring of a Musical Picture:
On the Town – Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton (WINNER)
Jolson Sings Again – Morris Stoloff and George Duning
Look for the Silver Lining – Ray Heindorf

Best Original Song:
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” from Neptune’s Daughter – Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser (WINNER)
“It’s a Great Feeling” from It’s a Great Feeling – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
“Lavender Blue” from So Dear to My Heart – Music by Eliot Daniel; Lyrics by Larry Morey
“My Foolish Heart” from My Foolish Heart – Music by Victor Young; Lyrics by Ned Washington
“Through a Long and Sleepless Night” from Come to the Stable – Music by Alfred Newman; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Best Sound Recording:
Twelve O’Clock High – Thomas T. Moulton (WINNER)
Once More, My Darling – Leslie I. Carey
Sands of Iwo Jima – Daniel J. Bloomberg

Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Black-and-White:
The Heiress – Art Direction: John Meehan and Harry Horner; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri (WINNER)
Come to the Stable – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Paul S. Fox
Madame Bovary – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle

Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Color:
Little Women – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Jack D. Moore (WINNER)
Adventures of Don Juan – Art Direction: Edward Carrere; Set Decoration: Lyle Reifsnider
Saraband for Dead Lovers – Art Direction and Set Direction: Jim Morahan, William Kellner and Michael Relph

Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:
Battleground – Paul C. Vogel (WINNER)
Champion – Franz Planer
Come to the Stable – Joseph LaShelle
The Heiress – Leo Tover
Prince of Foxes – Leon Shamroy

Best Cinematography, Color:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – Winton C. Hoch (WINNER)
The Barkleys of Broadway – Harry Stradling
Jolson Sings Again – William Snyder
Little Women – Robert Planck and Charles Schoenbaum
Sand – Charles G. Clarke

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White:
The Heiress – Edith Head and Gile Steele (WINNER)
Prince of Foxes – Vittorio Nino Novarese

Best Costume Design, Color:
Adventures of Don Juan – Leah Rhodes, Travilla and Marjorie Best (WINNER)
Mother Is a Freshman – Kay Nelson

Best Film Editing:
Champion – Harry W. Gerstad (WINNER)
All the King’s Men – Robert Parrish and Al Clark
Battleground – John Dunning
Sands of Iwo Jima – Richard L. Van Enger
The Window – Frederic Knudtson

Best Special Effects:
Mighty Joe Young – Arko Production; RKO Radio (WINNER)
Tulsa – Walter Wagner; Eagle Lion

Academy Honorary Awards:
Fred Astaire “for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures.”

Cecil B. DeMille “distinguished motion picture pioneer for 37 years of brilliant showmanship.”

Jean Hersholt “in recognition of his service to the Academy during four terms as president.”

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Bicycle Thief (Italy)

Academy Juvenile Award:
Bobby Driscoll

Oscar® and Academy Awards® and Oscar® design mark are the trademarks and service marks and the Oscar© statuette the copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Pop Culture Madness is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.