1950 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

60 films were recognised at the 1950 Academy Awards, across 27 categories. 20 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was The Heiress, with 4 awards, ahead of All the King's Men with 3. The categories below run from Writing (Story and Screenplay), 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 (Story and Screenplay)

Battleground(1949)
Robert Pirosh
Winner
Jolson Sings Again(1949)
Sidney Buchman
Paisan(1946)
Alfred Hayes, Federico Fellini, Sergio Amidei, Marcello Pagliero, Roberto Rossellini
Paisan(1946)
Passport to Pimlico(1949)
T. E. B. Clarke
The Quiet One(1948)
Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, Sidney Meyers

Actor

All the King's Men(1949)
Broderick Crawford
Winner
Champion(1949)
Kirk Douglas
Sands of Iwo Jima(1949)
John Wayne
The Hasty Heart(1949)
Richard Todd
Twelve O'Clock High(1949)
Gregory Peck

Actor in a Supporting Role

Twelve O'Clock High(1949)
Dean Jagger
Winner
All the King's Men(1949)
John Ireland
Battleground(1949)
James Whitmore
Champion(1949)
Arthur Kennedy
The Heiress(1949)
Ralph Richardson

Actress

The Heiress(1949)
Olivia de Havilland
Winner
Come to the Stable(1949)
Loretta Young
Edward, My Son(1949)
Deborah Kerr
My Foolish Heart(1949)
Susan Hayward
Pinky(1949)
Jeanne Crain

Actress in a Supporting Role

All the King's Men(1949)
Mercedes McCambridge
Winner
Come to the Stable(1949)
Celeste Holm
Come to the Stable(1949)
Elsa Lanchester
Pinky(1949)
Ethel Barrymore
Pinky(1949)
Ethel Waters

Best Picture

All the King's Men(1949)
Robert Rossen Productions
Winner
A Letter to Three Wives(1949)
20th Century-Fox
Battleground(1949)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Heiress(1949)
Paramount
Twelve O'Clock High(1949)
20th Century-Fox

Cinematography (Black-and-White)

Battleground(1949)
Paul C. Vogel
Winner
Champion(1949)
Frank Planer
Come to the Stable(1949)
Joseph LaShelle
Prince of Foxes(1949)
Leon Shamroy
The Heiress(1949)
Leo Tover

Cinematography (Color)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon(1949)
Winton Hoch
Winner
Jolson Sings Again(1949)
William Snyder
Little Women(1949)
Robert Planck, Charles Schoenbaum
Sand(1949)
Charles G. Clarke
The Barkleys of Broadway(1949)
Harry Stradling

Directing

A Letter to Three Wives(1949)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
All the King's Men(1949)
Robert Rossen
Battleground(1949)
William A. Wellman
The Fallen Idol(1948)
Carol Reed
The Heiress(1949)
William Wyler

Film Editing

Champion(1949)
Harry Gerstad
Winner
All the King's Men(1949)
Robert Parrish, Al Clark
Battleground(1949)
John Dunning
Sands of Iwo Jima(1949)
Richard L. Van Enger
The Window(1949)
Frederic Knudtson

Music (Song)

Neptune's Daughter(1949)
Baby, It's Cold Outside in "Neptune's Daughter" Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Winner
Come to the Stable(1949)
Through A Long And Sleepless Night in "Come to the Stable" Music by Alfred Newman; Lyrics by Mack Gordon
It's a Great Feeling(1949)
It's A Great Feeling in "It's a Great Feeling" Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
My Foolish Heart(1949)
My Foolish Heart in "My Foolish Heart" Music by Victor Young; Lyrics by Ned Washington
So Dear to My Heart(1948)
Lavender Blue in "So Dear to My Heart" Music by Eliot Daniel; Lyrics by Larry Morey

Short Subject (One-reel)

Aquatic House Party(1950)
Jack Eaton, Producer
Winner
Roller Derby Girl(1949)
Justin Herman, Producer
So You Think You're Not Guilty(1950)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
Spills and Chills(1949)
Walton C. Ament, Producer
Water Trix(1949)
Pete Smith, Producer

Short Subject (Two-reel)

Van Gogh(1948)
Gaston Diehl and Robert Haessens, Producers
Winner
Chase of Death(1949)
Irving Allen, Producer
Snow Carnival(1949)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
The Boy and the Eagle(1949)
William Lasky, Producer
The Grass Is Always Greener(1950)
Gordon Hollingshead, Producer

Writing (Motion Picture Story)

The Stratton Story(1949)
Douglas Morrow
Winner
Come to the Stable(1949)
Clare Boothe Luce
It Happens Every Spring(1949)
Shirley W. Smith, Valentine Davies
Sands of Iwo Jima(1949)
Harry Brown
White Heat(1949)
Virginia Kellogg

Writing (Screenplay)

A Letter to Three Wives(1949)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Winner
All the King's Men(1949)
Robert Rossen
Bicycle Thieves(1948)
Cesare Zavattini
Champion(1949)
Carl Foreman
The Fallen Idol(1948)
Graham Greene

Documentary (Short Subject)

A Chance to Live(1949)
Richard de Rochemont, Producer
Winner
So Much for So Little(1949)
Edward Selzer, Producer
Winner
1848(1950)
French Cinema General Cooperative
The Rising Tide(1949)
St. Francis-Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Short Subject (Cartoon)

For Scent-imental Reasons(1949)
Edward Selzer, Producer
Winner
Hatch Up Your Troubles(1949)
Fred Quimby, Producer
The Magic Fluke(1949)
Stephen Bosustow, Producer
Toy Tinkers(1949)
Walt Disney, Producer

Art Direction (Black-and-White)

The Heiress(1949)
Art Direction: Harry Horner, John Meehan; Set Decoration: Emile Kuri
Winner
Come to the Stable(1949)
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler, Joseph C. Wright; Set Decoration: Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox
Madame Bovary(1949)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Richard A. Pefferle

Art Direction (Color)

Little Women(1949)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore
Winner
Adventures of Don Juan(1948)
Art Direction: Edward Carrere; Set Decoration: Lyle Reifsnider
Saraband for Dead Lovers(1948)
Art Direction: Jim Morahan, William Kellner, Michael Relph

Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

The Heiress(1949)
Aaron Copland
Winner
Beyond the Forest(1949)
Max Steiner
Champion(1949)
Dimitri Tiomkin

Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

On the Town(1949)
Roger Edens, Lennie Hayton
Winner
Jolson Sings Again(1949)
Morris Stoloff, George Duning
Look for the Silver Lining(1949)
Ray Heindorf

Sound Recording

Twelve O'Clock High(1949)
20th Century-Fox Studio Sound Department, Thomas T. Moulton, Sound Director
Winner
Once More, My Darling(1949)
Universal-International Studio Sound Department, Leslie I. Carey, Sound Director
Sands of Iwo Jima(1949)
Republic Studio Sound Department, Daniel J. Bloomberg, Sound Director