1947 in film

The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1947 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Events

• April 19 – Monogram Pictures release their first film under their Allied Artists banner, It Happened on Fifth Avenue.
• May 22 – Great Expectations is premiered in New York.
• August 31 – The first Edinburgh International Film Festival opens at the Playhouse Cinema, presented by the Edinburgh Film Guild as part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts. Originally specialising in documentaries, it will become the world's oldest continually running film festival.^[5]
• November 24 – The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".
• November 25 – The Waldorf Statement is released by the executives of the United States motion picture industry that marks the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist.

Awards

Top Ten Money Making Stars

Notable films released in 1947

United States unless stated

#

• 13 Rue Madeleine, starring James Cagney

A

• Admiral Nakhimov – (USSR)
• Along the Songhua River (Songhua-jiang shang) – (China)
• Angel and the Badman, starring John Wayne and Gail Russell

B

• The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, starring Cary Grant, Shirley Temple, Myrna Loy
• Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, starring Hildegard Knef – (Germany)
• The Big Fix, starring Sheila Ryan
• The Bishop's Wife, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven
• Black Narcissus, written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Deborah Kerr, Sabu, Jean Simmons – (GB)
• Body and Soul, directed by Robert Rossen, starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer
• Boomerang, starring Dana Andrews
• Born to Kill, starring Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney
• The Brasher Doubloon, starring George Montgomery
• Brighton Rock, a Boulting Brothers film, starring Richard Attenborough – (GB)
• Brute Force, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Burt Lancaster
• Buck Privates Come Home, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Bury Me Dead, starring June Lockhart and Hugh Beaumont

C

• Captain Boycott, directed by Frank Launder, starring Stewart Granger – (GB)
• Captain from Castile, starring Tyrone Power
• Carnegie Hall, starring Marsha Hunt
• Cass Timberlane, starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner
• Cinderella (Zolushka) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Copacabana, starring Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda
• Crossfire, starring Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame
• Cynthia (film), starring Elizabeth Taylor and George Murphy

D

• Daisy Kenyon, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews
• Dancing with Crime, starring Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim – (GB)
• Dark Passage, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall'
• Dead Reckoning, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lizabeth Scott
• Deep Valley, directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Ida Lupino
• Desert Fury, starring John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott
• Desperate, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Steve Brodie and Raymond Burr
• Devil in the Flesh (Diable au corps) – (France)
• The Devil Thumbs a Ride, starring Lawrence Tierney
• Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, starring Boris Karloff and Ralph Byrd
• Driftwood, starring Walter Brennan and Natalie Wood
• A Double Life, starring Ronald Colman and Shelley Winters
• Down to Earth, starring Rita Hayworth and Larry Parks
• Dreams That Money Can Buy, directed by Hans Richter

E

• The Egg and I, starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray
• Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon (Ba qian li lu yun he yue) – (China)
• Escape Me Never, starring Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, Errol Flynn
• The Exile, directed by Max Ophuls, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Maria Montez

F

• Fame is the Spur, a Boulting Brothers film, with Michael Redgrave – (GB)
• Far Away Love, directed by Chen Liting, starring Zhao Dan and Qin Yi – (China)
• The Farmer's Daughter, starring Loretta Young
• Fear in the Night, starring DeForest Kelley
• Fireworks, directed by Kenneth Anger
• The Flame, starring Vera Ralston and Broderick Crawford
• Flesh Will Surrender (Il delitto di Giovanni Episcopo), starring Aldo Fabrizi – (Italy)
• Forever Amber, starring Linda Darnell
• The Foxes of Harrow, starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O'Hara – (GB/U.S.)
• Framed, starring Glenn Ford
• Frieda, directed by Basil Dearden, starring David Farrar, Glynis Johns, Mai Zetterling – (GB)
• The Fugitive, starring Henry Fonda and Dolores del Río
• Fun and Fancy Free, an animated film from Disney and RKO

G

• The Garcias Return! (¡Vuelven los Garcia!), starring Pedro Infante – (Mexico)
• Gentleman's Agreement, starring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Celeste Holm, John Garfield
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison
• Golden Earrings, starring Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrich
• Good News, starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford
• Green Dolphin Street, starring Lana Turner and Donna Reed
• The Guilt of Janet Ames, starring Rosalind Russell
• The Guilty, starring Bonita Granville

H

• Heaven Only Knows, starring Robert Cummings
• Hi-De-Ho, starring Cab Calloway
• High Barbaree, starring Van Johnson and June Allyson
• High Wall, starring Robert Taylor
• Honeymoon, starring Shirley Temple
• The Hucksters, starring Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr
• Hue and Cry, the first Ealing comedy, directed by Charles Crichton – (GB)
• The Humpbacked Horse (Konyok Gorbunok) – (U.S.S.R.)
• Hungry Hill, starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price – (GB)

I

• An Ideal Husband, directed by Alexander Korda, starring Michael Wilding and Paulette Goddard – (GB)
• If Winter Comes, starring Deborah Kerr, Walter Pidgeon, Angela Lansbury
• The Imperfect Lady, starring Ray Milland and Teresa Wright
• In Those Days (In jenen Tagen) – (Germany)
• It Always Rains on Sunday, starring Googie Withers and Jack Warner – (GB)
• It Happened in Brooklyn, starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, and Jimmy Durante
• It Happened on Fifth Avenue, starring Victor Moore, Don DeFore, Gale Storm, Charlie Ruggles

J

• Jenny and the Soldier (Soldaten og Jenny) – (Denmark)
• Johnny O'Clock, starring Dick Powell

K

• Killer Dill, starring Stuart Erwin and Anne Gwynne
• Kiss of Death, starring Victor Mature and Richard Widmark

L

• The Lady from Shanghai, directed by and starring Orson Welles, with Rita Hayworth
• Lady in the Lake, directed by and starring Robert Montgomery
• Last of the Redskins, starring Michael O'Shea
• The Last Stage (Ostatni etap) – (Poland)
• The Late George Apley, starring Ronald Colman
• Law of the Lash, starring Lash LaRue
• Life with Father, starring William Powell and Elizabeth Taylor
• A Likely Story, starring Barbara Hale and Bill Williams
• Living in a Big Way, starring Gene Kelly and Marie McDonald
• The Long Night, starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Bel Geddes
• Lost Honeymoon, starring Franchot Tone and Ann Richards
• The Lost Moment, starring Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward
• Lost Youth (Gioventù perduta), directed by Pietro Germi – (Italy)
• Love from a Stranger, starring John Hodiak
• Lured, starring George Sanders and Lucille Ball

M

• The Macomber Affair, starring Gregory Peck and Joan Bennett
• The Man I Love, starring Ida Lupino and Robert Alda
• The Mark of Cain, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst (GB)
• Marriage in the Shadows (Ehe im Schatten) – (East Germany)
• Mine Own Executioner, starring Burgess Meredith – (GB)
• Miracle on 34th Street, starring Edmund Gwenn, John Payne, Maureen O'Hara
• Monsieur Verdoux, directed by and starring Charles Chaplin
• Monsieur Vincent, starring Pierre Fresnay – (France)
• Moss Rose, starring Peggy Cummins and Victor Mature
• Mother Wore Tights, starring Betty Grable
• Mourning Becomes Electra, starring Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave
• My Favourite Brunette, starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour
• My Wild Irish Rose, a biopic starring Dennis Morgan (as Chauncey Olcott)

N

• Neel Kamal (Blue Lotus), first film of Madhubala and Raj Kapoor in adult roles – (India)
• Nicholas Nickleby, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, starring Stanley Holloway – (GB)
• Nightmare Alley, starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell
• Nora Prentiss, starring Ann Sheridan
• The October Man, starring John Mills and Joan Greenwood – (GB)

O

• Odd Man Out, directed by Carol Reed, starring James Mason and Robert Newton – (GB)
• One Wonderful Sunday (Subarashiki Nichiyōbi), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
• L'onorevole Angelina (Parliamentarian Angelina), directed by Luigi Zampa, starring Anna Magnani – (Italy)
• Out of the Blue, starring Virginia Mayo and George Brent
• Out of the Past, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas

P

• The Paradine Case, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Gregory Peck, Alida Valli, Ann Todd, Louis Jourdan, Charles Laughton
• The Pearl (La Perla), starring Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
• The Perils of Pauline, starring Betty Hutton
• Pirates of Monterey, starring Rod Cameron and Maria Montez
• Possessed, starring Joan Crawford and Van Heflin
• Pursued, starring Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright

Q

• Quai des Orfèvres, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Louis Jouvet – (France)

R

• Railroaded!, directed by Anthony Mann, starring John Ireland and Hugh Beaumont
• Ramrod, starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake
• The Record of a Tenement Gentleman (Nagaya shinshiroku), directed by Yasujirō Ozu – (Japan)
• The Red House, starring Edward G. Robinson and Judith Anderson
• Repeat Performance, starring Louis Hayward and Joan Leslie
• Ride the Pink Horse, directed by and starring Robert Montgomery
• Riffraff, starring Pat O'Brien and Anne Jeffreys
• Road to Rio, starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope
• The Romance of Rosy Ridge, starring Van Johnson, Thomas Mitchell, Janet Leigh
• The Root of All Evil, starring Phyllis Calvert and Michael Rennie – (GB)
• Roses Are Red, starring Peggy Knudsen

S

• Scared to Death, starring Bela Lugosi and George Zucco
• School for Postmen (L'École des facteurs), a comedy short directed by and starring Jacques Tati – (France)
• The Sea of Grass, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
• Secret Agent (Podvig razvedchika), directed by Boris Barnet – (U.S.S.R.)
• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo
• The Senator Was Indiscreet, starring William Powell
• A Ship to India (Skepp till India land), directed by Ingmar Bergman – (Sweden)
• The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, starring Betty Grable
• Sinbad the Sailor
• Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman, starring Susan Hayward
• Snow Trail (Ginrei no hate), starring Toshiro Mifune – (Japan)
• So Well Remembered, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring John Mills and Martha Scott – (GB)
• Something in the Wind, starring Deanna Durbin and Donald O'Connor
• Song of Scheherazade, starring Yvonne De Carlo, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Brian Donlevy
• Song of the Thin Man, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
• The Spring River Flows East (Yi jiang chun shui xiang dong liu) – (China)
• Story of a Bad Woman (Historia de una mala mujer) – (Argentina)

T

• T-Men, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Dennis O'Keefe
• Temptation Harbour, starring Robert Newton and Simone Simon – (GB)
• They Made Me a Fugitive, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, starring Trevor Howard – (GB)
• They Won't Believe Me, starring Robert Young and Susan Hayward
• This Time for Keeps, starring Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante
• The Three Garcias (Los tres García), starring Pedro Infante – (Mexico)
• To Live in Peace (Vivere in pace) – (Italy)
• The Two Mrs. Carrolls, starring Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith
• Trail Street, starring Randolph Scott

U

• Uncle Silas, starring Jean Simmons – (GB)
• Unconquered, starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard
• The Unfaithful, starring Ann Sheridan and Lew Ayres
• The Unsuspected, starring Claude Rains and Joan Caulfield

V

• The Voice of the Turtle, starring Ronald Reagan

W

• The Web, starring Ella Raines and Edmond O'Brien
• Welcome Stranger, starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald
• Whispering City, starring Paul Lukas – (Canada)
• The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• The Woman on the Beach, starring Joan Bennett and Robert Ryan
• Wyoming, starring Wild Bill Elliott

Serials

• The Black Widow, starring Bruce Edwards
• Brick Bradford, starring Kane Richmond
• Jack Armstrong
• Jesse James Rides Again, starring Clayton Moore and Linda Stirling
• The Sea Hound, starring Buster Crabbe
• Son of Zorro, starring George Turner and Peggy Stewart
• The Vigilante, starring Ralph Byrd

Short film series

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1952)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Donald Duck (1934–1956)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943–1949)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• George and Junior (1946–1948)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)

Births

• January 8 – David Bowie, English singer, songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
• January 15 – Andrea Martin, Canadian-American actress
• January 18 – Takeshi Kitano, Japanese writer-director, actor, comedian, author and video game creator
• January 31 – Jonathan Banks, American actor
• February 2 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (d. 2009)
• February 7 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (d. 2009)
• February 24 – Edward James Olmos, American actor
• February 28 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress
• March 6 – Rob Reiner, American actor, comedian, producer and director
• March 19
  • Glenn Close, American actress
  • Dermot Crowley, Irish stage, film and television actor
• March 23 – Kim Hee-ra, South Korean movie actor
• March 26 – John Morton, American movie actor, stuntman and writer
• April 6 – John Ratzenberger, American actor
• April 11 – Meshach Taylor, American actor (d. 2014)
• April 15 – Lois Chiles, American actress
• April 18 – James Woods, American actor
• April 23 – Blair Brown, American actress
• May 4 – Richard Jenkins, American actor
• May 25 – Jacki Weaver, Australian actress
• June 1 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor
• June 6 – Robert Englund, American actor
• June 20 – Candy Clark, American actress
• June 22 - David Lander, American character actor, comedian, musician and baseball scout (d. 2020)
• June 24 – Peter Weller, American actor
• June 30 - Tõnis Rätsep, Estonian actor
• July 9 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
• July 22 – Albert Brooks, American actor, comedian and director
• July 30
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-born American actor, bodybuilder and 38th Governor of California
  • William Atherton, American actor
• July 31 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
• August 22 – Cindy Williams, American actress
• August 24 – Anne Archer, American actress
• August 27 – Barbara Bach, American actress
• September 14 – Sam Neill, New Zealand actor
• September 21 – Stephen King, American author
• September 27 – Denis Lawson, Scottish actor and director
• October 1 – Stephen Collins, American actor
• October 17
  • Simi Garewal, Indian actress and talk show host
  • Michael McKean, American actor and comedian
• October 24 – Kevin Kline, American actor
• October 26 – Ene Järvis, Estonian actress
• October 29 – Richard Dreyfuss, American actor
• November 13 – Joe Mantegna, American actor
• November 24 – Dwight Schultz, American actor and voice actor
• November 30 – Stuart Baird, English editor, producer and director
• December 4 – Tõnu Kark, Estonian actor
• December 8 – Bruce Kimmel, American actor, director, writer
• December 11 – Teri Garr, American actress and comedian
• December 16 – Ben Cross, English actor (d. 2020)
• December 17 - Wes Studi, Cherokee American actor and film producer
• December 29 – Ted Danson, American actor
• December 31 – Tim Matheson, American actor, director and producer

Deaths

• January 26 – Grace Moore, 48, American opera singer and actress, One Night of Love, The King Steps Out, When You're in Love
• February 12 – Sidney Toler, 72, American actor, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, The Chinese Cat, Black Magic, The Jade Mask
• March 8 – Victor Potel, 57, American actor and comedian, Sullivan's Travels, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Palm Beach Story, The Egg and I
• May 31 – Adrienne Ames, 39, American actress, The Death Kiss, You're Telling Me!, Slander House, Gigolette
• June 1 – Anna Hofman-Uddgren, 79, Swedish director, actress
• June 5 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, 63, Swedish actor, director
• August 30 – Gunnar Sommerfeldt, 56, Danish actor and director
• September 21 – Harry Carey, 69, American actor, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Angel and the Badman, Red River, Beyond Tomorrow
• October 1 – Olive Borden, 41, American actress, 3 Bad Men, Half Marriage, Leave It to Me
• October 17 – John Halliday, 67, American actor, The Philadelphia Story, Intermezzo
• October 24 – Dudley Digges, 68, Irish actor, The Maltese Falcon, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Fight for Life
• December 21 – Mark Hellinger, 47, American producer, High Sierra, They Drive By Night, The Two Mrs. Carrolls

Film debuts

• Anouk Aimée – La maison sous la mer
• George Chakiris – Song of Love
• Arlene Dahl – My Wild Irish Rose
• Mel Ferrer – The Fugitive
• DeForest Kelley – Fear in the Night
• Janet Leigh – The Romance of Rosy Ridge
• Toshiro Mifune – Snow Trail
• Marilyn Monroe – The Shocking Miss Pilgrim
• Sidney Poitier – Sepia Cinderella
• Denver Pyle – The Guilt of Janet Ames
• Richard Widmark – Kiss of Death

References