Oscar History: Academy Award Winning Movies and Actors of 1948

A look at Oscar winners and nominees, behind the scenes on the decisions for best picture, actor, etc for 1948, Olivier's Hamlet gets top honors.

1948

Best Picture

NOMINEES: Johnny Belinda, The Red Shoes, Hamlet, The Snake Pit, Treasure of Sierra Madre

THE WINNER: Hamlet (British; Universal-International)

DIRECTOR: Laurence Olivier

PLAYERS: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons

Best Actor

NOMINEES: Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda); Montgomery Clift (The Search); Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles at Me); Laurence Olivier (Hamlet); Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty)

THE WINNER: Laurence Olivier

Best Actress

NOMINEES: Ingrid Bergman (Joan of Arc); Olivia De Havilland (The Snake Pit); Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama); Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry, Wrong Number); Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda)

THE WINNER: Jane Wyman

Behind the Oscar

A feisty evening. Many fans expected Olivia De Havilland to win best actress honors, but Jane Wyman took the Oscar. Few doubted that the best picture would be either Johnny Belinda or The Snake Pit--so the best picture turned out to be Laurence Olivier's Hamlet. Walter Wanger, furious that his film Joan of Arc hadn't even been nominated, was offered the consolation of a special Oscar for it--but turned it down.