Oscar Revisionism: 1950

All Above Eve, one of the best films of all time, was released in 1950, and, consequently, Oscar actually got it right that year when it awarded the Joseph L. Mankiewicz (who had already won for directing the year before) film the top prize.  While Sunset Boulevard was a formidable contender, it's not like Eve had a great amount of competition in Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, and King Solomon's Mines.  The Academy apparently cottoned to romantic comedies and Hollywood dramas more than film noir this particular year.  As a sidenote, the genre selection was surprisingly very distinctive.  If the voters had a larger nomination field, might others have risen to the top?  You should also note that the Art Direction and Costume Design categories, though split up by color and black and white mediums, were limited to three nominees each, which limited large nomination hauls somewhat.  Let's examine the competition.

The Asphalt Jungle

John Huston film noir influential on subsequent heist films was adapted by Ben Maddow and Huston from a W.R. Burnett  novel.  Both men were nominated along with the cinematographer and supporting actor Sam Jaffe.  NBR, WGA (Drama, Misc).  [IMDb: 7.9; RT: 96%]

The Third Man

Classic Carol Reed's (Oliver!, The Agony and the Ecstasy) film noir from Graham Greene about a man who travels to Vienna and finds himself involved in a mystery.  Costarring Orson Welles, who gets one of the most iconic introductory shots ever.  Nominated for directing, cinematography, and film editing.  [IMDb: 8.4; RT: 100%]

Annie Get Your Gun

The AMPAS showered the musical with nominations, including film editing, as well as a win for score.    George Sidney (Show Boat, Pepe, Pal Joey, Young Bess) directed Betty Hutton to do anything Howard Keel could do better.  WGA (Musical) winner.  Box Office: $4.9M.  [IMDb: 7.0; RT: 100%]

Samson and Delilah 

Cecil B. DeMille biblical epic starring Victor Mature, Angela Lansbury, George Sanders, and the seductive Hedy Lamarr.  The melodrama won two of its five nominations.  Box Office: $11.5M.  [IMDb: 6.7]

Broken Arrow

Delmer Daves (Dark Passage, Cowboy) western starring Jimmy Stewart as a veteran trying to make peace between settlers and Native Americans.  This was one of the first films to sympathetically portray the latter.  Got recognized for acting, screenplay, and cinematography, though Stewart was already nominated for Harvey.  WGA (Western, Misc) winner and nominee.  Box Office: $3.6M.  [IMDb: 7.2]

Caged

This campy film noir was set in a women's prison and still managed three Oscar nods, including actors Eleanor Parker and Hope Emerson, as well as Story/Screenplay.  One of the cowriters was Virginia Kellogg.  Also starring Agnes Moorhead who would, of course, go on to play Samantha's mother Endora on Bewitched.  [IMDb: 7.7]

Harvey

An acting nod and win went to this comedy-drama progenitor to Donnie Darko about a man who carries on a relationship with an imaginary six-foot rabbit.  Henry Koster (The Robe, My Cousin Rachel, Flower Drum Song) directed a script cowrote by Mary Chase from her play.  GG (Drama).  Box Office: $2.6M.  [IMDb: 8.1; RT: 83%]

Cyrano de Bergerac

José Ferrer won an Academy Award for his star-driven portrayal of the wordsmith with a big heart and a long nose.  GG (Drama).  Box Office: $1.9M.  NBR.  [IMDb: 7.4; RT: 83%]

The Magnificent Yankee

Louis Calhern played Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in this biographical drama.  John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock) directed.  Emmet Lavery (The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell) wrote the script based on his play from a book by Francis Biddle.  Nominated for Art Direction in a limited field, as well as Calhern.  [IMDb: 6.8]

The Men
Fred Zinneman was well on his way to high acclaim when he released this drama starring Marlon Brando as a paraplegic veteran who must adjust to his new body.  Screenwriter Carl Foreman was on his second of numerous nominations.  NBR, WGA (Drama, Misc) nominee and winner.  [IMDb: 7.1;RT: 70%]

No Way Out
The already much awarded Joseph Mankiewicz not only directed All About Eve in 1950, but he also had this race relations film noir.  Sidney Poitier played a doctor who treats a couple of racist robbers, only to be grossly mistreated afterwards.  NBR, WGA (Misc).  [IMDb: 7.4]

Panic in the Streets
While the reviews were mixed for this film and it failed to be profitable, Elia Kazan was hot off of Gentlemen's Agreement and Pinky.  The story concerned the hunt for a man infected with the pneumonic plague.  With so many in the field and having not reached the top five, being a film noir probably couldn't have worked in its favor this particular year.  NBR, WGA (Drama, Misc).  Box Office: $1.4M.  [IMDb: 7.3; RT: 95%]

Destination Moon

Science-fiction adventure about putting the first man on the moon.  Irving Pichel (Martin Luther) directed.  Nominated for two awards, it won for Visual Effects.  [IMDb: 6.3]

The Flame and the Arrow

Medieval adventure-romance from one of Waldo Salt's early scripts.  Box Office: $2.9M.  [IMDb: 6.9]