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21st Academy Awards (1949)
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Oscars 1949 Winners & Nominees

The 21st Academy Awards (1949) took place on March 24, 1949. Hamlet won Best Motion Picture and 3 more awards. Every winner and nominee in all 16 categories is below.

All 16 categories Most wins
categories
16
nominations
26
films nominated
7
winners
10
Held on
Best Motion Picture
Hamlet
Headline winners

Oscars 1949: The Winners

Hamlet won Best Motion Picture against 2 other nominees. John Huston (Best Director), Laurence Olivier (Best Actor) and Walter Huston (Best Supporting Actor) took the main individual prizes.

Hamlet (1948) movie poster Best Motion Picture

Best Motion Picture

Hamlet

1948 · Drama · $126 worldwide

4 wins from 7 nominations at the 21st Academy Awards (1949)

  • Best Actor
  • Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)
  • Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Following his father’s sudden death, Prince Hamlet grapples with grief and suspicion surrounding his mother’s swift marriage to his uncle. Consumed by a desire for revenge and haunted by his father's ghost, Hamlet feigns madness while investigating a dark secret. He must confront a court rife with deception, betrayal, and the weighty questions of life and death.

About Hamlet
Scoreboard

Oscars 1949: Which Films Won the Most

Hamlet won 4 awards from 7 nominations. 4 films won at least once. Green is wins, blue is nominations.

  1. Hamlet (1948) movie poster
    Hamlet 4 / 7
    1948 · Drama · 4 wins from 7 nominations
  2. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) movie poster
    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 3 / 4
    1948 · Adventure, Drama · 3 wins from 4 nominations
  3. The Naked City (1948) movie poster
    The Naked City 2 / 3
    1948 · Drama, Mystery · 2 wins from 3 nominations
  4. The Snake Pit (1948) movie poster
    The Snake Pit 1 / 6
    1948 · Drama, Mystery · 1 win from 6 nominations
  5. A Foreign Affair (1948) movie poster
    A Foreign Affair 0 / 2
    1948 · Drama, Comedy · 0 wins from 2 nominations
  6. Red River (1948) movie poster
    Red River 0 / 2
    1948 · Drama, Western · 0 wins from 2 nominations
  7. Romance on the High Seas (1948) movie poster
    Romance on the High Seas 0 / 2
    1948 · Comedy, Romance · 0 wins from 2 nominations
Full results

All 16 Oscars 1949 Categories: Winners & Nominees

16 categories and 26 nominations. The winner of each comes first, on a green row. Search for a film or a person, show only the winners, or jump straight to a category.

16 categories · 26 nominations

Jump to a category

Oscars 1949 Best Supporting Actress

Official name: Actress in a Supporting Role

1 nominee

No winner is recorded for this category.

Oscars 1949 Best Writing (Motion Picture Story)

Official name: Writing (Motion Picture Story)

2 nominees

No winner is recorded for this category.

Oscars 1949 Best Art Direction (Black-and-White)

Official name: Art Direction (Black-and-White)

1 nominee

Oscars 1949 Best Costume Design (Black-and-White)

Official name: Costume Design (Black-and-White)

1 nominee

Oscars 1949 Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

Official name: Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture)

2 nominees

No winner is recorded for this category.

Oscars 1949 Best Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

Official name: Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture)

1 nominee

No winner is recorded for this category.

Oscars 1949 Best Sound Recording

Official name: Sound Recording

1 nominee
Movie marathon

The Oscars 1949 Best Motion Picture Marathon

All 3 Best Motion Picture nominees at the 21st Academy Awards (1949), back to back: 6 hours 28 minutes.

Total running time 6h 28m 6 hours 28 minutes All 3 films
Longest
Hamlet 2h 34m
Shortest
The Snake Pit 1h 48m
By genre

The Genres Behind the Oscars 1949 Winners

Drama led with 24 nominations across 6 films and won 10. A film with several genres counts for each one.

  1. Drama 10 wins · 24 nominations · 42%
  2. Mystery 3 wins · 9 nominations · 33%
  3. Western 3 wins · 6 nominations · 50%
  4. Adventure 3 wins · 4 nominations · 75%
  5. Comedy 0 wins · 4 nominations · 0%
  6. Romance 0 wins · 4 nominations · 0%
  7. Thriller 2 wins · 3 nominations · 67%
  8. Crime 2 wins · 3 nominations · 67%
  9. Film-Noir 2 wins · 3 nominations · 67%
  10. Musical 0 wins · 2 nominations · 0%
1949 season

How the Rest of the 1949 Awards Season Voted

The other 2 ceremonies of 1949, with the winner of each top prize. Hamlet also won the top prize at one of them.

All 1949 awards
Earlier years

Previous Oscars Ceremonies

The 6 ceremonies before this one, with the winner of each top prize. The Oscars page has every year back to 1929.

Every Oscars ceremony

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FAQ

Oscars 1949: Questions & Answers

The top prize, the film that won the most, the most-nominated film, the individual winners and the date of the 21st Academy Awards (1949), answered from the results on this page.

Who won Best Motion Picture at the 21st Academy Awards (1949)?

Hamlet (1948) won Best Motion Picture. The other nominees were The Snake Pit and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

About Hamlet

Which film won the most awards at the 21st Academy Awards (1949)?

Hamlet (1948) won the most: 4 awards from 7 nominations. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was next with 3 wins.

Which film had the most nominations at the 21st Academy Awards (1949)?

Hamlet (1948) led with 7 nominations and won 4 of them.

Who won the acting and directing awards at the 21st Academy Awards (1949)?

Best Director: John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Best Actor: Laurence Olivier for Hamlet. Best Supporting Actor: Walter Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

When was the 21st Academy Awards (1949)?

The 21st Academy Awards (1949) took place on March 24, 1949. The database has 16 categories and 26 nominations for it.