1946 in film

The year 1946 in film involved some significant events, with The Best Years of Our Lives winning seven Academy Awards.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1946 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1946

Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	Duel in the Sun	Selznick International	$10,000,000[1]
2	The Best Years of Our Lives	RKO	$7,675,000[2]
3	The Jolson Story	Columbia	$7,600,000[1]
4	Blue Skies	Paramount	$5,700,000[1]
5	Saratoga Trunk	Warner Bros.	$5,148,000[3]
6	The Razor's Edge	20th Century Fox	$5,000,000[1]
7	Night and Day	Warner Bros.	$4,990,000[3]
8	Notorious	RKO	$4,850,000[2]
9	The Yearling	MGM	$4,768,000[4]
10	Till the Clouds Roll By		$4,748,000[4]

Events

• February 14 - Charles Vidor's Gilda starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford shows audiences one of the most famous scenes of the 20th century: Rita Hayworth singing "Put The Blame On Mame".

• April 22 - The Allies in Japan begin burning the prints of Japanese films banned for non-democratic or "feudal" content^[5].

• November 21 – William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.

• December 20 – Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, and Thomas Mitchell opens in New York.

Awards

Category/Organization	4th Golden Globe Awards February 26, 1947	19th Academy Awards March 13, 1947
Best Film	The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Director	Frank Capra It's a Wonderful Life	William Wyler The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Actor	Gregory Peck The Yearling	Fredric March The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Actress	Rosalind Russell Sister Kenny	Olivia de Havilland To Each His Own
Best Supporting Actor	Clifton Webb The Razor's Edge	Harold Russell The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Supporting Actress	Anne Baxter The Razor's Edge

1946 films releases

Notable films released in 1946

United States unless stated

A

• Angel on My Shoulder
• Anna and the King of Siam, starring Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison and Linda Darnell
• Aru yo no Tonosama

B

• Bad Bascomb, starring Wallace Beery, Margaret O'Brien and Marjorie Main
• The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, starring Cornel Wilde
• The Beast with Five Fingers, starring Robert Alda and Peter Lorre
• Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête), directed by Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais and Josette Day
• The Best Years of Our Lives, directed by William Wyler, starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell – winner of 8 Oscars
• Beware, directed by Bud Pollard, starring Louis Jordan
• The Big Sleep, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
• Black Beauty, starring Mona Freeman and Richard Denning
• The Blue Dahlia, starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake
• Blue Skies, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
• Boom in the Moon, starring Buster Keaton
• A Boy and His Dog, starring Harry Davenport

C

• The Captive Heart, the first Prisoner of War film from World War II
• Canyon Passage, starring Dana Andrews
• Centennial Summer
• The Chase
• Children of Paradise (U.S. release)
• Cloak and Dagger
• Cluny Brown, starring Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones

D

• The Dark Corner, starring Lucille Ball and Mark Stevens
• The Dark Mirror, starring Olivia de Havilland
• Deception
• Decoy, a film noir starring Jean Gillie
• Devotion
• The Diary of a Chambermaid
• Dragonwyck, starring Gene Tierney
• Dressed to Kill, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson (released in U.K. as Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code)
• Duel in the Sun, starring Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten and Lillian Gish

G

• Gallant Journey, directed by William A. Wellman
• Gilda, starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford
• Great Expectations, directed by David Lean, starring John Mills, Jean Simmons and Valerie Hobson
• Green for Danger, starring Alastair Sim and Trevor Howard
• The Green Years

H

• The Harvey Girls, directed by George Sidney, starring Judy Garland and John Hodiak
• Henry V (U.S. release)
• Humoresque, starring Joan Crawford and John Garfield

I

• I See a Dark Stranger
• It's a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore
• Ivan the Terrible

J

• The Jolson Story, a biopic of Al Jolson starring Larry Parks

K

• The Kid from Brooklyn
• The Killers, directed by Robert Siodmak, starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner

L

• Let There Be Light, documentary directed by John Huston
• Little Giant, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello

M

• Make Mine Music
• Magnificent Doll, starring Ginger Rogers and David Niven
• A Matter of Life and Death, written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, starring David Niven
• Monsieur Beaucaire, starring Bob Hope
• The Murderers Are Among Us (Die Mörder sind unter uns), starring Hildegard Knef
• My Darling Clementine, directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda and Linda Darnell

N

• Night and Day
• A Night in Casablanca with the Marx Brothers
• No Regrets for Our Youth (Waga seishun ni kuinashi)
• Nobody Lives Forever
• Notorious, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman

O

• The Outlaw (re-release)
• The Overlanders

P

• Paisan, directed by Roberto Rossellini (Italy)
• Patrie, directed by Louis Daquin (France)
• People Are Funny, starring Jack Haley
• The Postman Always Rings Twice, starring Lana Turner and John Garfield

R

• The Razor's Edge, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney
• Renegade Girl, starring Ann Savage
• The Return of Monte Cristo, starring Louis Hayward
• Road to Utopia, starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope

S

• The Seventh Veil (U.S. release)
• She-Wolf of London. starring June Lockhart
• Shoeshine (Sciuscià), directed by Vittorio De Sica
• Shock, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Vincent Price and Lynn Bari
• Sister Kenny, starring Rosalind Russell
• Somewhere In The Night, starring John Hodiak
• Song of the South by Walt Disney, combines animation and live action.
• The Spiral Staircase, starring Dorothy McGuire
• A Stolen Life, starring Bette Davis
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, starring Barbara Stanwyck
• The Strange Woman, starring Hedy Lamarr and George Sanders
• The Stranger, directed by and starring Orson Welles, Loretta Young and Edward G. Robinson

T

• Terror by Night, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson
• Theirs Is the Glory
• Three Strangers
• Three Wise Fools, starring Margaret O'Brien and Lionel Barrymore
• The Time of Their Lives, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• To Each His Own, starring Olivia de Havilland
• Tomorrow Is Forever, starring Orson Welles
• Two Sisters from Boston, starring Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante and Peter Lawford.

U

• Utamaro and His Five Women (Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna)

V

• The Verdict

W

• Wake Up and Dream
• Wanted for Murder
• The Wife of Monte Cristo, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
• Without Reservations

Y

• The Yearling, starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman

Serials

• Daughter of Don Q
• Chick Carter, Detective
• The Crimson Ghost
• Hop Harrigan
• King of the Forest Rangers, starring Larry Thompson
• Lost City of the Jungle
• The Mysterious Mr. M
• The Phantom Rider, starring Robert Kent and Peggy Stewart
• The Scarlet Horseman
• Son of the Guardsman

Short film series

• Shirley Temple (1932–1946)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Popular Science (1935–1950)

Animated short film series

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1952)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1936–1956)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Screwball Squirrel (1944–1946)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
• George and Junior (1946–1948)

Births

• January 1 - Rick Hurst, American actor (d. 2025)
• January 5 – Diane Keaton, American actress, producer and director
• January 6 – Cheng Pei-Pei, Chinese actress (d. 2024)
• January 7 – Arnis Līcītis, Latvian actor (d. 2022)
• January 16 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
• January 19 – Dolly Parton, American country singer and actress
• January 20 – David Lynch, American director (d. 2025)
• January 26
  • Christopher Hampton, British director and screenwriter
  • Gene Siskel, film critic, Siskel and Ebert (d. 1999)
• February 2
  • Blake Clark, American stand-up comedian, actor and voice actor
  • J. E. Freeman, American actor (d. 2014)
• February 4 – Ivano Marescotti, Italian actor (d. 2023)
• February 5 – Charlotte Rampling, English actress
• February 7 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
• February 8 – Alex Diakun, Canadian actor
• February 13 – Joe Estevez, American actor, director and producer
• February 20 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
• February 21
  • Tyne Daly, American actress
  • Anthony Daniels, English actor, voice actor and mime artist
  • Alan Rickman, English actor (d. 2016)^[6]
• March 1 – Lana Wood, American actress and producer
• March 6 – Martin Kove, American actor and martial artist
• March 7
  • Dan Grimaldi, American actor
  • John Heard, American actor (d. 2017)
• March 9 – Alexandra Bastedo, British actress (d. 2014)
• March 12
  • Dean Cundey, American cinematographer and filmmaker
  • Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
  • Frank Welker, American actor, voice actor and former stand-up comedian
• March 14 – Steve Kanaly, American actor
• March 21 – Timothy Dalton, British actor
• March 27 – Carl Weintraub, American actor
• March 28 – Dianne Wiest, American actress
• March 29 – Paul Herman, American actor (d. 2022)
• April 3 – Nicholas Jones, English character actor
• April 5
  • Jane Asher, English actress
  • Björn Granath, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
• April 12 – Ed O'Neill, American actor and comedian
• April 15
  • Bob DeSimone, American actor
  • Michael Tucci, American actor
• April 18 – Hayley Mills, English actress
• April 19 – Tim Curry, English actor and singer
• April 20 – Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Japanese actor
• April 22 – John Waters, American filmmaker, writer and actor
• April 23 – Blair Brown, American actress
• April 25
  • Andrzej Seweryn, Polish actor and director
  • Talia Shire, American actress
• April 29 – Wayne Robson, Canadian actor (d. 2011)
• May 1 – Joanna Lumley, British actress
• May 2 – David Suchet, English actor
• May 9 – Candice Bergen, American actress
• May 11 – Ago Roo, Estonian actor
• May 13 – Tim Pigott-Smith, English actor (d. 2017)
• May 18 – Andreas Katsulas, American actor (d. 2006)
• May 19 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler and actor (d. 1993)
• May 20 – Cher, American singer and actress
• May 22 – Jack Kehler, American character actor (d. 2022)
• May 23 – Anthony May, English actor (d. 2021)
• June 1 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
• June 3 – Penelope Wilton, English actress
• June 5 – John Bach, British-born New Zealand actor
• June 8 – Alan Scarfe, British-Canadian actor (d. 2024)
• June 12 – Jack Thibeau, American actor
• June 15
  • Angela Down, English actress
  • Roy Holder, English actor (d. 2021)
• June 26
  • Ricky Jay, American actor and writer (d. 2018)
  • Leo Rossi, American actor, writer and producer
• June 28
  • Bruce Davison, American actor and director
  • Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (d. 1989)
• July 2 – Ron Silver, American actor (d. 2009)
• July 6 – Sylvester Stallone, actor and director
• July 10 – Sue Lyon, actress (d. 2019)
• July 13 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
• July 14 – Vincent Pastore, American actor
• July 16
  • Dave Goelz, American puppeteer and actor
  • Richard LeParmentier, American actor (d. 2013)
• July 17 – Alun Armstrong, English actor
• July 18 – Dicken Ashworth, English actor
• July 20 – Randal Kleiser, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
• July 22 – Danny Glover, actor and director
• July 27 – Rade Šerbedžija, Croatian actor, director and musician
• August 6 – Peter Simonischek, Austrian actor (d. 2023)
• August 9 – Alain Dorval, French voice actor of Sylvester Stallone, from 1976 to 2024 (d 2024).
• August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress and singer
• August 19
  • Ti Lung, Hong Kong actor
  • Christopher Malcolm, Scottish actor, director and producer (d. 2014)
• August 24 – BP Fallon, Irish actor
• August 26 – Alison Steadman, English actress
• August 29 – Lindy Davies, Australian actress and director
• August 30 – Peggy Lipton, American actress, model and singer (d. 2019)
• September 1 – Susan Backlinie, American actress and stuntwoman (d. 2024)
• September 5 – Dennis Dugan, American director, actor, writer and comedian
• September 13 – Frank Marshall, American producer and director
• September 15
  • Tommy Lee Jones, actor
  • Oliver Stone, director and producer
• September 18
  • Struan Rodger, British actor
  • Gailard Sartain, American actor (d. 2025)
• September 19 – Michael Elphick, English actor (d. 2002)
• September 22 – John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer and screenwriter
• September 25
  • Mary Beth Hurt, retired American actress
  • Drew Snyder, American actor
• September 26 – Togo Igawa, Japanese character actor
• September 28
  • Peter Egan, British actor
  • Jeffrey Jones, American actor
• October 2 – Dale Soules, American actress
• October 4 – Susan Sarandon, American actress
• October 6 – John Hostetter, American actor and visual artist (d. 2016)
• October 10
  • Charles Dance, English actor
  • Ben Vereen, American actor
• October 14 – Katy Manning, British actress
• October 15 – John Getz, American actor
• October 16 – Suzanne Somers, American actress and singer (d. 2023)
• October 22 – Richard McGonagle, American actor
• October 27 – Ivan Reitman, Slovakian-born Canadian director and producer (d. 2022)
• October 31 – Stephen Rea, Northern Irish actor
• November 3
  • Michael Champion, American singer, musician and actor (d. 2021)
  • Tom Savini, American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and director
• November 4 – John Callen, English-born New Zealand actor and director
• November 6 – Sally Field, American actress
• November 7 – John Aylward, American actor (d. 2022)
• November 10 - Alaina Reed Hall, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
• November 16 – Dan Shor, American actor, director and writer
• November 20
  • Sullivan Walker, Trinidadian actor (d. 2012)
  • Samuel E. Wright, American actor and singer (d. 2021)
• November 21 – Andrew Davis, American director, producer and writer
• November 22 – Paul A. Partain, American actor (d. 2005)
• November 26 – Mark L. Lester, American director, screenwriter and producer
• December 1 – Maggie Steed, English actress and comedian
• December 3 – Charlotte Zagorski, American actress (d. 2024)
• December 8
  • Frank Pesce, American actor (d. 2022)
  • John Rubinstein, American actor, composer and director
• December 14
  • Patty Duke, American actress (d. 2016)
  • Lynne Marie Stewart, American actress (d. 2025)
• December 16 – Charles Dennis, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter
• December 17
  • Jayne Eastwood, Canadian actress and comedian
  • Eugene Levy, Canadian actor
• December 18 – Steven Spielberg, American director and producer
• December 19 – Robert Urich, American actor and producer (d. 2002)
• December 20 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
• December 21 – Josh Mostel, American actor
• December 24 – Daniel Beretta, French voice actor and singer (d. 2024).
• December 25 – Stuart Wilson, English actor
• December 29 – Marianne Faithfull, British actress and singer (d. 2025)
• December 31 – Margaret Travolta, American actress
• unknown – Omar Al-Shammaa, Lebanese actor, voice actor

Deaths

• January 13 – Enid Stamp Taylor, English actress
• February 5 – George Arliss, English actor
• April 1 – Noah Beery Sr., American actor
• June 23 – William S. Hart, American actor
• July 10 - Slim Summerville, American actor and director
• August 8 – Paul Porcasi, Italian actor
• August 10 – Léon Gaumont, French film pioneer
• August 12 – Egon Brecher, Austrian actor, director
• August 13 – H. G. Wells, British science fiction writer
• August 26 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter
• August 28 – Florence Turner, American actress
• September 21 – Olga Engl, Austrian actress
• October 8 – John St. Polis, American actor
• November 2 – Gabriel Gabrio, French actor
• November 18 – Donald Meek, Scottish-American actor
• December 12 – Renée Jeanne Falconetti, French actress
• December 25 – W. C. Fields, American comedian and actor

Film debuts

• Rodolfo Acosta – Soy un prófugo
• Patricia Barry – Her Kind of Man
• Raymond Burr – Without Reservations
• Eddie Byrne – I See a Dark Stranger
• Hamilton Camp – Bedlam
• Gianna Maria Canale – The Black Eagle
• Paul Carpenter – This Man Is Mine
• Adolfo Celi – A Yank in Rome
• Kirk Douglas – The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
• William Fawcett – Stars Over Texas
• John Hoyt – O.S.S.
• Martha Hyer – The Locket
• Erland Josephson – It Rains on Our Love
• Sam Kydd – The Captive Heart
• Burt Lancaster – The Killers
• Norman Leavitt – The Harvey Girls
• Gina Lollobrigida – The Black Eagle
• Lois Maxwell – A Matter of Life and Death
• Michael Medwin – Piccadilly Incident
• Slim Pickens – Smoky
• Liam Redmond – I See a Dark Stranger
• Enrico Maria Salerno – Unknown Man of San Marino
• Yvonne Sanson – The Black Eagle
• Emil Sitka – One Exciting Week
• José Luis López Vázquez – María Fernanda la Jerezana
• Yves Vincent – Devil and the Angel
• Georges Wilson – Martin Roumagnac