1952 in film

Years in film
1870s
1880s 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s 2020

The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.

Events

• January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
• February 20 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theater in New York City).
• March 27 - The MGM musical Singin' in the Rain premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
• September 30 - The Cinerama multiple-projection widescreen system, invented by Fred Waller, debuts in New York with the film This Is Cinerama.
• November 27 - Bwana Devil, the first American, feature-length, color 3-D film, is released, and begins the demand for 3-D films that lasts for the next two years.
• May Britt debuts in Jolanda la figlia del corsaro nero (Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair)

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

Awards

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth - DeMille, Paramount

Best Director: John Ford - The Quiet Man

Best Actor: Gary Cooper - High Noon

Best Actress: Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba

Best Supporting Actor: Anthony Quinn - Viva Zapata!

Best Supporting Actress: Gloria Grahame - The Bad and the Beautiful

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth

Best Actor: Gary Cooper – High Noon

Best Actress: Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: With a Song in My Heart

Best Actor: Donald O'Connor – Singin' in the Rain

Best Actress: Susan Hayward – With a Song in My Heart

Supporting Role:

Best Supporting Actor: Millard Mitchell – My Six Convicts

Best Supporting Actress: Katy Jurado – High Noon

Other

Best Director: Cecil B. DeMille – The Greatest Show on Earth

Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival):

The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice, directed by Orson Welles, United States

Two Cents Worth of Hope (Due soldi di speranza), directed by Renato Castellani, Italy

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits), directed by René Clément, France

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Hon dansade en sommar (One Summer of Happiness), directed by Arne Mattsson, Sweden

Notable films released in 1952

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 1st of April, 2000 - (Austria)
• 5 Fingers, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring James Mason

A

• Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Above and Beyond, starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker
• Affair in Trinidad, starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford
• Against All Flags, starring Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara
• Alraune, starring Hildegard Knef and Erich von Stroheim - (West Germany)
• Andrine og Kjell - (Norway)
• Androcles and the Lion, starring Jean Simmons and Victor Mature
• Angel Face, starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons
• Angels One Five, starring Jack Hawkins - (GB)
• Anhonee, starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis - (India)
• At Sword's Point, starring Maureen O'Hara and Cornel Wilde
• The Atomic City, starring Gene Barry and Lydia Clarke

B

• Babes in Bagdad, starring Paulette Goddard and Gypsy Rose Lee
• The Bad and the Beautiful, starring Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame
• Baiju Bawra, starring Meena Kumari - (India)
• The Beast Must Die (La Bestia debe morir) - (Argentina)
• Because of You, starring Loretta Young
• Because You're Mine, starring Mario Lanza
• The Belle of New York, starring Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen
• Les Belles de nuit (Beauties of the Night), directed by René Clair - (France)
• Belles on Their Toes, starring Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Debra Paget
• Bend of the River, directed by Anthony Mann, starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson
• Beware, My Lovely, starring Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan
• Big Jim McLain, starring John Wayne and James Arness
• The Big Sky, starring Kirk Douglas
• The Big Trees, starring Kirk Douglas
• The Black Castle, starring Stephen McNally, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr.
• Blackbeard the Pirate, starring Robert Newton
• Brandy for the Parson, starring James Donald and Kenneth More - (GB)
• Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory, starring Clayton Moore
• The Bushwackers, starring John Ireland and Lawrence Tierney

C

• California Conquest, starring Cornel Wilde and Teresa Wright
• Captive Women, starring Robert Clarke
• Carbine Williams, starring James Stewart and Jean Hagen
• The Card, starring Alec Guinness, Glynis Johns, Petula Clark - (GB)
• Carrie, starring Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins
• Carson City, starring Randolph Scott
• Casque d'Or (Golden Helmet), directed by Jacques Becker, starring Simone Signoret - (France)
• Children of Hiroshima (Gembaku no ko) - (Japan)
• Ciguli Miguli - (Yugoslavia)
• The City Stands Trial (Processo alla città), directed by Luigi Zampa - (Italy)
• Clash by Night, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe
• Come Back, Little Sheba, starring Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth
• The Crimson Pirate, starring Burt Lancaster

D

• Dark River (Las aguas bajan turbias) - (Argentina)
• Deadline - U.S.A., directed by Richard Brooks, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Jim Backus, Martin Gabel
• Denver and Rio Grande, starring Edmond O'Brien and Sterling Hayden
• Derby Day, starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding - (Britain)
• Desperate Search, starring Howard Keel and Jane Greer
• The Devil Makes Three, starring Gene Kelly
• Diplomatic Courier, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Tyrone Power
• Don't Bother to Knock, starring Richard Widmark, Anne Bancroft, Marilyn Monroe
• Down Among the Z Men, starring The Goons - (GB)
• Dreamboat, starring Ginger Rogers, Clifton Webb, Elsa Lanchester, Anne Francis

E-F

• Emergency Call, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Jack Warner, Anthony Steel, Joy Shelton and Freddie Mills - (U.K.)
• Europa '51, directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman - (Italy)
• The Eyes Leave Tracks (Los ojos dejan huella), starring Raf Vallone - (Spain)
• Face to Face, starring James Mason and Robert Preston
• Fanfan la Tulipe (aka Fearless Little Soldier), starring Gérard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida - (France)
• Flaming Feather, starring Sterling Hayden
• Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice ( Ochazuke no aji), directed by Yasujirō Ozu - (Japan)
• Flesh and Fury, starring Tony Curtis and Jan Sterling
• Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits), directed by René Clément - winner of Oscar for best foreign language film - (France)

G-H

• A Girl in Every Port, starring Groucho Marx, William Bendix, Marie Wilson, Dee Hartford
• The Golden Coach (Le Carrosse d'or), directed by Jean Renoir, starring Anna Magnani - (France/Italy)
• The Greatest Show on Earth, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Gloria Grahame, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart
• Hangman's Knot, starring Randolph Scott, Donna Reed, Lee Marvin
• Hans Christian Andersen, starring Danny Kaye and Farley Granger
• The Happy Family, directed by Muriel Box, starring Stanley Holloway and Kathleen Harrison - (GB)
• The Happy Time, starring Charles Boyer and Bobby Driscoll
• Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, starring Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn
• Heidi, directed by Luigi Comencini - (Switzerland)
• Hellgate, starring Sterling Hayden
• Hiawatha, starring Vince Edwards
• High Noon, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Gary Cooper (Oscar for best actor) and Grace Kelly
• Los hijos de María Morales (The Children of Maria Morales), starring Pedro Infante - (Mexico)
• Holiday for Sinners, starring Gig Young and Janice Rule
• The Holly and the Ivy, starring Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson - (GB)
• Home at Seven, directed by and starring Ralph Richardson - (GB)
• Horizons West, starring Robert Ryan, Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr
• Hunted, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Dirk Bogarde and Jon Whiteley - (GB)

I

• The I Don't Care Girl, starring Mitzi Gaynor and Oscar Levant
• Ikiru (To Live), directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Takashi Shimura - winner of Golden Bear - (Japan)
• The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Michael Redgrave - (GB)
• Indian Uprising, starring George Montgomery
• It Grows on Trees, starring Irene Dunne
• Ivanhoe, starring Robert Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Elizabeth Taylor

J

• Jaal (Net), starring Dev Anand - (India)
• Jack and the Beanstalk, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Japanese War Bride, starring Shirley Yamaguchi and Don Taylor
• The Jazz Singer, starring Danny Thomas and Peggy Lee
• Jolanda la figlia del corsaro nero (Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair) - (Italy)
• Jumping Jacks, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Just This Once, starring Janet Leigh, Peter Lawford

K-L

• Kangaroo, starring Maureen O'Hara, Peter Lawford
• Kansas City Confidential, starring John Payne and Coleen Gray
• Kid Monk Baroni, starring Leonard Nimoy
• Lambert the Sheepish Lion
• The Last Page, aka Man Bait, starring George Brent, Marguerite Chapman, Diana Dors - (GB)
• The Life of Oharu (Saikaku ichidai onna), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi - (Japan)
• Lightning (Inazuma), directed by Mikio Naruse - (Japan)
• Limelight, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Claire Bloom
• Lone Star, starring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner
• Lost in Alaska, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Lovely to Look At, starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Red Skelton
• Lure of the Wilderness, starring Jean Peters, Jeffrey Hunter, Walter Brennan
• The Lusty Men, starring Robert Mitchum

M

• Macao, starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell
• Mandy, starring Phyllis Calvert and Jack Hawkins - (GB)
• The Marrying Kind, starring Judy Holliday
• Meet Danny Wilson, starring Frank Sinatra
• The Member of the Wedding, starring Julie Harris
• The Merry Widow, starring Lana Turner
• Mexican Bus Ride (Subida al cielo), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
• Million Dollar Mermaid, starring Esther Williams and Victor Mature
• The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, starring Gilbert Roland
• Les Misérables, starring Michael Rennie, Robert Newton, Debra Paget
• Monkey Business, starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Charles Coburn, Marilyn Monroe
• Monsoon, starring Diana Douglas and Ursula Thiess
• Montana Belle, starring Jane Russell
• Moulin Rouge, starring José Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor - (GB)
• My Cousin Rachel, starring Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton
• My Pal Gus, starring Richard Widmark and George Winslow
• My Six Convicts, starring Gilbert Roland
• My Son John, starring Robert Walker and Van Heflin

N

• The Narrow Margin, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Charles McGraw
• Neighbours - (Canada)
• Never Look Back directed by Francis Searle, starring Rosamund John - (GB)
• No Room for the Groom, directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie

O

• O. Henry's Full House, an anthology film starring Charles Laughton, David Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Widmark, Anne Baxter, Jeanne Crain
• One Big Affair, starring Evelyn Keyes
• One Minute to Zero, directed by Tay Garnett, starring Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth
• Othello (aka The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice), written, directed by and starring Orson Welles
• Outcast of the Islands, directed by Carol Reed, starring Ralph Richardson and Trevor Howard - (GB)
• The Overcoat (Il Cappotto) - (Italy)

P-Q

• Pahit-Pahit Manis, starring Titien Sumarni and Chatir Harro (Indonesia)
• Pat and Mike, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
• Phone Call from a Stranger, starring Shelley Winters and Gary Merrill
• The Pickwick Papers, starring James Hayter and James Donald - (GB)
• Le Plaisir (aka House of Pleasure), directed by Max Ophüls, starring Claude Dauphin - (France)
• The Planter's Wife, directed by Ken Annakin, starring Claudette Colbert, Jack Hawkins & Anthony Steel - (GB)
• Pony Soldier, starring Tyrone Power
• The Pride of St. Louis, starring Dan Dailey
• The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, James Mason, Jane Greer
• The Quiet Man, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara

R

• Rancho Notorious, starring Marlene Dietrich
• Red Ball Express, starring Jeff Chandler
• Red Planet Mars, starring Peter Graves
• Retreat, Hell!, starring Frank Lovejoy
• Return of the Texan, starring Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru
• Road to Bali, starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
• Rome 11:00 - (Italy)
• Ruby Gentry, starring Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston and Karl Malden

S

• Sailor Beware, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Sangdil, starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala - (India)
• Saturday Island, starring Linda Darnell and Tab Hunter - (GB)
• The Savage, starring Charlton Heston and Susan Morrow
• Scandal Sheet, starring Broderick Crawford and Donna Reed
• Scaramouche, starring Stewart Granger and Janet Leigh
• The Scarlet Flower (Alenkiy tsvetochek) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Sea Tiger, starring Marguerite Chapman
• Secrets of Women (Kvinnors väntan), directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Eva Dahlbeck - (Sweden)
• Siempre tuya (Forever Yours) - (Mexico)
• Singin' in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Donald O'Connor
• The Sniper, directed by Edward Dmytryk
• The Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Snows of Kilimanjaro, starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner
• Something Money Can't Buy, directed by Pat Jackson, starring Patricia Roc, Anthony Steel, Moira Lister & A.E. Matthews - (U.K.)
• Something to Live For, directed by George Stevens, starring Joan Fontaine and Teresa Wright
• Son of Paleface, directed by Frank Tashlin, starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers
• Song of the Sea (O canto do mar), directed by Alberto Cavalcanti - (Brazil)
• The Sound Barrier, directed by David Lean, starring Ralph Richardson - (GB)
• Springfield Rifle, starring Gary Cooper and Phyllis Thaxter
• The Star, starring Bette Davis and Sterling Hayden
• Steel Town, starring Ann Sheridan and John Lund
• The Steel Trap, starring Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright
• The Stooge, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• Stop, You're Killing Me, starring Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor
• The Story of Will Rogers, starring Will Rogers, Jr. and Jane Wyman
• Sudden Fear, starring Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame

T

• The Hour of 13, starring Peter Lawford
• The Thief, starring Ray Milland
• This is Cinerama, directed by Merian C. Cooper
• Thunderbirds, starring John Derek
• Tico-Tico no Fubá, directed by Adolfo Celi - (Brazil)
• Toto in Colour (Totò a colori), starring Totò - (Italy)
• Toxi, directed by Robert A. Stemmle (West Germany)
• Trent's Last Case, starring Orson Welles and Michael Wilding - (GB)
• The Turning Point, starring William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmond O'Brien
• Two Cents Worth of Hope (Due soldi di speranza) - (Italy)

U-V

• Umberto D., directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• Untamed Frontier, starring Joseph Cotten and Shelley Winters
• La villa Santo-Sospir, short film directed by Jean Cocteau - (France)
• Viva Zapata!, starring Marlon Brando and Jean Peters

W-Z

• We're Not Married!, starring Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Eve Arden, Paul Douglas, Eddie Bracken, Mitzi Gaynor
• The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura) - (Finland)
• The White Sheik (Lo sceicco bianco), directed by Federico Fellini - (Italy)
• Who Goes There!, starring Nigel Patrick and Valerie Hobson - (GB)
• Wide Boy, starring Sydney Tafler and Susan Shaw - (GB)
• The Wild North, starring Stewart Granger and Cyd Charisse
• Wings of Danger, directed by Terence Fisher, starring Zachary Scott - (GB)
• The Witch (Noita palaa elämään) - (Finland)
• With a Song in My Heart, starring Susan Hayward
• A Woman Without Love (Una mujer sin amor), directed by Luis Buñuel - (Mexico)
• The World in His Arms, starring Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Ann Blyth
• You for Me, starring Peter Lawford, Jane Greer, Gig Young
• Young Man with Ideas, starring Glenn Ford and Ruth Roman

Serials

• Blackhawk, starring Kirk Alyn
• King of the Congo, starring Buster Crabbe
• Radar Men from the Moon, starring George D. Wallace and Aline Towne
• Son of Geronimo starring Clayton Moore
• Zombies of the Stratosphere, starring Judd Holdren and Leonard Nimoy

Short film series

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
• Donald Duck (1936)-(1956)
• Goofy (1939–1953)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Mighty Mouse (1942–1955)
• Chip and Dale (1943–1956)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)

Births

• January 22 - Ace Vergel, Filipino actor (died 2007)
• February 12 - Simon MacCorkindale, English actor (died 2010)
• March 19 - Harvey Weinstein, American producer
• April 1 - Annette O'Toole, American actress
• April 6 - Marilu Henner, American actress
• April 10 - Steven Seagal, American actor & martial artist
• April 15 - Glenn Shadix, American actor (died 2010)
• April 28 - Mary McDonnell, American actress
• May 6 - Gregg Henry, American actor & musician
• May 11 - Frances Fisher, British-born American actress
• May 14 - Robert Zemeckis, American director
• June 7 - Liam Neeson, Northern Irish actor
• June 18 - Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress
• June 20 - John Goodman, American actor
• July 1 - Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor & comedian
• July 11 - Stephen Lang, American actor
• July 15 - Terry O'Quinn, American actor
• July 24 - Gus Van Sant, American director
• August 10 - Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor
• August 18 - Patrick Swayze, American actor & dancer (died 2009)
• August 26 - Michael Jeter, American actor (died 2003)
• September 24 - Christopher Reeve, American actor (died 2004)
• October 22 - Jeff Goldblum, American actor
• October 28 - Annie Potts, American actress
• November 3
  • Jim Cummings, American voice actor
  • Roseanne Barr, American actress and stand-up comedian
• November 8 - Alfre Woodard, American actress
• November 24 - Ulrich Seidl, Austrian director
• December 12 - Sarah Douglas, English actress
• December 20 - Jenny Agutter, English actress

Deaths

• January 18 - Curly Howard, comedian, The Three Stooges (born 1903)
• March 1 - Gregory La Cava, director (born 1892), My Man Godfrey
• April 21 - Leslie Banks, actor (born 1890)
• May 21 - John Garfield, actor (born 1913), Body and Soul, Nobody Lives Forever, Gentleman's Agreement
• July 6 - Gertrud Wolle, actress (born 1891)
• October 17 - Julia Dean, stage and screen actress (born 1878)
• October 23 - Susan Peters, actress (born 1921), Random Harvest
• October 26 - Hattie McDaniel, African American actress best known as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (born 1895)
• November 6 - George H. Reed, African American character actor, (b. 1866)

Film Debuts

• Anne Bancroft - Don't Bother to Knock
• Brigitte Bardot - Crazy for Love
• Julie Harris - The Member of the Wedding

See also

• Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson