1947 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

55 films were recognised at the 1947 Academy Awards, across 24 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was The Best Years of Our Lives, with 8 awards, ahead of Perfect Strangers (Vacation from Marriage) with 2. The categories below run from Writing (Original Motion Picture Story), Actor and Actor in a Supporting Role to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

Writing (Original Motion Picture Story)

Perfect Strangers (Vacation from Marriage)(1945)
Clemence Dane
Winner
Perfect Strangers (Vacation from Marriage)(1945)
Vacation from Marriage
Winner
The Dark Mirror(1946)
Vladimir Pozner
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers(1946)
Jack Patrick
The Stranger(1946)
Victor Trivas
To Each His Own(1946)
Charles Brackett

Actor

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Fredric March
Winner
Henry V(1944)
Laurence Olivier
It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
James Stewart
The Jolson Story(1946)
Larry Parks
The Yearling(1946)
Gregory Peck

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Harold Russell
Winner
Notorious(1946)
Claude Rains
The Green Years(1946)
Charles Coburn
The Jolson Story(1946)
William Demarest
The Razor's Edge(1946)
Clifton Webb

Actress

To Each His Own(1946)
Olivia de Havilland
Winner
Brief Encounter(1945)
Celia Johnson
Duel in the Sun(1946)
Jennifer Jones
Sister Kenny(1946)
Rosalind Russell
The Yearling(1946)
Jane Wyman

Actress in a Supporting Role

The Razor's Edge(1946)
Anne Baxter
Winner
Anna and the King of Siam(1946)
Gale Sondergaard
Duel in the Sun(1946)
Lillian Gish
Saratoga Trunk(1945)
Flora Robson
The Spiral Staircase(1946)
Ethel Barrymore

Best Picture

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Winner
Henry V(1944)
J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films
It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
Liberty Films
The Razor's Edge(1946)
20th Century-Fox
The Yearling(1946)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Directing

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
William Wyler
Winner
Brief Encounter(1945)
David Lean
It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
Frank Capra
The Killers(1946)
Robert Siodmak
The Yearling(1946)
Clarence Brown

Documentary (Short Subject)

Seeds of Destiny(1946)
United States Department of War
Winner
Atomic Power!(1946)
The March of Time
Life at the Zoo(1946)
Artkino
Paramount News Issue #37(1946)
Paramount
Traffic with the Devil(1946)
Herbert Morgan, Producer

Film Editing

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Daniel Mandell
Winner
It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
William Hornbeck
The Jolson Story(1946)
William Lyon
The Killers(1946)
Arthur Hilton
The Yearling(1946)
Harold Kress

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Hugo Friedhofer
Winner
Anna and the King of Siam(1946)
Bernard Herrmann
Henry V(1944)
William Walton
Humoresque(1946)
Franz Waxman
The Killers(1946)
Miklos Rozsa

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

The Jolson Story(1946)
Morris Stoloff
Winner
Blue Skies(1946)
Robert Emmett Dolan
Centennial Summer(1946)
Alfred Newman
Night and Day(1946)
Ray Heindorf, Max Steiner
The Harvey Girls(1946)
Lennie Hayton

Music (Song)

The Harvey Girls(1946)
On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe in "The Harvey Girls" Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Winner
Blue Skies(1946)
You Keep Coming Back Like A Song in "Blue Skies" Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Canyon Passage(1946)
Ole Buttermilk Sky in "Canyon Passage" Music by Hoagy Carmichael; Lyrics by Jack Brooks
Centennial Summer(1946)
All Through The Day in "Centennial Summer" Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
The Dolly Sisters(1945)
I Can't Begin To Tell You in "The Dolly Sisters" Music by James Monaco; Lyrics by Mack Gordon

Short Subject (Cartoon)

The Cat Concerto(1947)
Frederick Quimby, Producer
Winner
John Henry and the Inky-Poo(1946)
George Pal, Producer
Musical Moments from Chopin(1946)
Walter Lantz, Producer
Squatter's Rights(1946)
Walt Disney, Producer
Walky Talky Hawky(1946)
Edward Selzer, Producer

Short Subject (One-reel)

Facing Your Danger(1946)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Winner
Dive-Hi Champs(1946)
Jack Eaton, Producer
Golden Horses(1946)
Edmund Reek, Producer
Smart as a Fox(1946)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Sure Cures(1946)
Pete Smith, Producer

Writing (Original Screenplay)

The Seventh Veil(1945)
Muriel Box, Sydney Box
Winner
Children of Paradise(1945)
Jacques Prevert
Notorious(1946)
Ben Hecht
Road to Utopia(1946)
Norman Panama, Melvin Frank
The Blue Dahlia(1946)
Raymond Chandler

Writing (Screenplay)

The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Robert E. Sherwood
Winner
Anna and the King of Siam(1946)
Talbot Jennings, Sally Benson
Brief Encounter(1945)
David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame
Rome, Open City(1945)
Sergio Amidei, F. Fellini
The Killers(1946)
Anthony Veiller

Short Subject (Two-reel)

A Boy and His Dog(1946)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Winner
College Queen(1946)
George B. Templeton, Producer
Hiss and Yell(1946)
Jules White, Producer
The Luckiest Guy in the World(1947)
Jerry Bresler, Producer

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Anna and the King of Siam(1946)
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, William Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes
Winner
Kitty(1946)
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler; Interior Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer
The Razor's Edge(1946)
Art Direction: Richard Day, Nathan Juran; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox

Art Direction (Color)

The Yearling(1946)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis
Winner
Caesar and Cleopatra(1945)
John Bryan
Henry V(1944)
Art Direction: Paul Sheriff, Carmen Dillon

Sound Recording

The Jolson Story(1946)
Columbia Studio Sound Department, John Livadary, Sound Director
Winner
It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
RKO Radio Studio Sound Department, John Aalberg, Sound Director
The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon Sawyer, Sound Director

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Anna and the King of Siam(1946)
Arthur Miller
Winner
The Green Years(1946)
George Folsey

Cinematography (Color)

The Yearling(1946)
Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith, Arthur Arling
Winner
The Jolson Story(1946)
Joseph Walker

Special Award

Henry V(1944)
Special Award
Winner
The Best Years of Our Lives(1946)
Special Award
Winner

Special Effects

Blithe Spirit(1945)
Special Visual Effects by Thomas Howard
Winner
A Stolen Life(1946)
Special Visual Effects by William McGann; Special Audible Effects by Nathan Levinson