Hamlet: 1948 Best Picture

Sir Laurence Olivier pulled off quite a coup at the 21st Academy Awards after he directed himself in “Hamlet.” The film was nominated for 7 Oscars and picked up 4: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Best Costume Design, Black-and-White. So even though Olivier did not win Best Director, it was the first time that an actor won an Oscar for a role in which he directed himself.

John Huston won Best Director for “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and he also directed “Key Largo” that year. His father Walter Huston won Best Supporting Actor for his role in the former and Claire Trevor won Best Supporting Actress for the latter.

The other films nominated for Best Picture were:
Johnny Belinda, a drama about a deaf-mute who is raped portrayed by Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres. The most nominated (12) film of the year, only Jane Wyman won for Best Actress.
The Red Shoes starred Moira Shearer as a ballet dancer who must choose between her two loves: ballet and her man. Out of 5 nominations, it won 2: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
The Snake Pit featured Olivia de Havilland as a patient in an insane asylum. Mark Stevens played her husband. Much of the film was shot in actual wards at Camarillo State Mental Hospital in California. Out of 6 nomination, it only won one: Best Sound, Recording
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre starred Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt on the hunt for gold. Out of 4 nomination, it won 3: Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Writing, Screenplay. It is still considered a travesty that Bogart was not nominated for Best Actor.

Here are the Jeopardy! clues we found on “Hamlet” (1948):
CLASSIC CINEMA $400: For this 1948 film Laurence Olivier dyed his brown hair blond to look more Danish
OSCAR $400: For 1948’s “Hamlet”, he was nominated for both Best Director & Best Actor
THE OSCARS: 1 of only 2 actors who directed themselves to a Best Acting Oscar
PERMANENTLY AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY $600: His remains? “Is it safe?” Yes, this 1948 Best Actor Oscar winner for “Hamlet” is safe at Westminster Abbey
OSCAR-WINNING ROLES $1600: 1948: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

More 1948 film clues:
FILMS OF THE ’40s $400: Van Heflin, Gig Young & Robert Coote played Athos, Porthos & Aramis in this “novel” 1948 film
MONROE $400: In 1948 she had one line in “Love Happy”, the last Marx Brothers movie
MOVIE TRIVIA $400: In this 1948 Humphrey Bogart movie, the Florida Hotel was really a set on the Warner Brothers lot
MY FEAR LADY $2000: We wash our hands of this Scotswoman, played on film by Jeanette Nolan in 1948 & on TV by Judi Dench in 1978
THAT DON’T SOUND RIGHT $400: In reverse billing, the last names of the comedians who “Meet Frankenstein” in a 1948 film
DUKE $500: A sort of western “Mutiny on the Bounty”, this “colorful” 1948 film starred John Wayne & Monty Clift
AT THE MOVIES $800: This 1948 film inspired by a real murder was Alfred Hitchcock’s first movie in color
HERE’S JOHNNY! $600: 1948’s “Tarzan and the Mermaids” was his last film as the jungle man of the title
FUNNY WESTERNS $1000: In this 1948 film, Bob Hope played a dentist who marries “Calamity” Jane Russell
FILM DIRECTORS $400: Vittorio De Sica directed a classic 1948 film about Antonio, who steals one of these vehicles
BOGART FILMS $800: Claire Trevor won an Oscar for playing Edward G. Robinson’s mistress in this 1948 film
MOVIE CLASSICS $400: In the 1948 film, Leonide Massine makes this title footwear for Moira Shearer
“ADVENTURE” MOVIES $400: 1948 film about a legendary lover played by legendary lover Errol Flynn
MOVIE HISTORY: This resort island lent its name to a 1948 Bogart film; the African Queen is now moored there