1949 Top Hits
Riders In the Sky-Vaughn Monroe
That Lucky Old Sun-Frankie Laine
Cruising Down the River-Blue Barron (also Russ Morgan)
A Little Bird Told Me-Evelyn Knight
Mule Train-Frankie Laine
Some Enchanted Evening-Perry Como
You're Breaking My Heart-Vic Damone
Slippin' Around-Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
Forever and Ever-Russ Morgan
You're Adorable-Perry Como
Top grossing films
1. Adam's Rib
2. Jolson Sings Again
3. Pinky
4. I Was a Male War Bride, The Snake Pit, Joan of Arc
Academy Awards:
Best Picture: All the King's Men - Rossen, Columbia
Best Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz - A Letter to Three Wives
Best Actor: Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men
Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress
Best Supporting Actor: Dean Jagger - Twelve O'Clock High
Best Supporting Actress: Mercedes McCambridge - All the King's Men
Golden Globe Awards:
Best Picture: All the King's Men
Best Director: Robert Rossen - All the King's Men
Best Actor: Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men
Best Actress: Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress
Best Foreign Language Film:
The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette), Italy
Films released in 1949
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Adam's Rib
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Africa Screams, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Alexander Popov
All the King's Men
The Barkleys of Broadway
Battleground
Champion
The Fountainhead
The Heiress
I Was a Male War Bride
In the Good Old Summertime
The Inspector General
Jolson Sings Again
Jour de fête
Kind Hearts and Coronets
A Letter to Three Wives
Ma and Pa Kettle -(film only mentioned in article)
Madame Bovary
Malaya
Manon
Mighty Joe Young
My Friend Irma, film debut of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Passport to Pimlico
Pinky
Sands of Iwo Jima
She Shoulda Said 'No'!"
The Small Back Room
The Third Man
The Stratton Story
Twelve O'Clock High
The Walls of Malapaga (Au-delà des grilles)
The Window
Under Capricorn
Whisky Galore!
White Heat
Births
January 10 - Linda Lovelace, pornographic film actress (d. 2002)
January 12 - Wayne Wang, director
January 14 - Lawrence Kasdan, director, screenwriter
January 17 - Andy Kaufman, comedian, actor (d. 1984)
May 9 - Billy Joel, songwriter
May 31 - Tom Berenger, actor
June 22 - Meryl Streep, US actress
July 7 - Shelley Duvall, actress
August 23 - Shelley Long, US actress
August 31 - Richard Gere, US actor
October 8 - Sigourney Weaver, US actress
December 11 - Teri Garr, US actress
December 25 - Sissy Spacek, US actress
Deaths
January 6 - Victor Fleming, director
December 16 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director
Events
January 17 - The first Volkswagen Beetle to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought over to New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his travel expenses. Only two 1949 models will be sold in America that year, convincing Volkswagen chairman Heinrich Nordhoff that the car has no future in the U.S. (The VW Beetle goes on to become the greatest automobile phenomenon in American history.)
January 25 - The first Emmy Awards are presented at the Hollywood Athletic Club.
February 10 - Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman premiered in New York City.
March 1 - World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires.
March 20 - The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads inaugurate the California Zephyr passenger train between Chicago and Oakland, California as the first long distance train to feature Vista Dome cars as regular equipment.
April 7 - Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (musical), starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, opens on Broadway and goes on to become R&H's second longest-running musical. It becomes an instant classic of the musical theatre. The score's biggest hit is the song Some Enchanted Evening.
June 8 - George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.
June 24 - First Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, airs on NBC.
August 28 - Last surviving veterans of the United States Civil War meet in Indianapolis - all six
Musical Events
Mitch Miller begins his career as one of the 20th century's most successful record producers at Mercury
Eddie Fisher signs with RCA
Bob Hope suggests that Anthony Benedetto change his stage name from "Joe Bari" to "Tony Bennett"
Frankie Laine cuts "Mule Train," the first modern pop record
Les Paul and Mary Ford wed
Teresa Brewer cuts her first record for the London label
The Ames Brothers score their first hit with "You, You, You Are The One"
Johnnie Ray performs at the Flame Show Bar in Detroit
Frank Sinatra stars in "On The Town" with Gene Kelly, a sequel to their 1945 hit "Anchors Aweigh"
The legendary Al Jolson records the soundtrack to "Jolson Sings Again," the sequel to his hugely successful biopic "The Jolson Story" (1946)
Chart-topping crooner Buddy Clark dies in a plane crash on October 1
Coral Records is formed as a subsidiary of Decca
45 rpm discs are introduced
Country singer Bill Haley enters into a partnership with musicians Johnny Grande and Billy Williamson to form Bill Haley and His Saddlemen; in 1952 the group is renamed Bill Haley & His Comets.
Birdland jazz club opens in New York City.
Albums released
Der Bingle - Bing Crosby
Dinah Shore - Dinah Shore
Frankie Laine Favorites - Frankie Laine
Jerome Kern Songs - Bing Crosby
Jo Stafford With Gordon McRae - Jo Stafford & Gordon MacRae
Lights, Cameras, Action - Doris Day
Merry Christmas - Bing Crosby
Songs From The Heart - Frankie Laine
Stephen Foster Songs - Bing Crosby
Voice Of Frank Sinatra - Frank Sinatra
You're My Thrill - Doris Day
Birth Of The Cool - Miles Davis
# 1 hit singles
These singles reached the top of the charts in 1949.
"All I Want For Christmas" - Spike Jones
"Buttons and Bows" - Dinah Shore
"A Little Bird Told Me" - Evelyn Knight
"Cruising Down the River" - Blue Barron
"Cruising Down the River" - Russ Morgan
"Riders In the Sky" - Vaughn Monroe
"Some Enchanted Evening" - Perry Como
"You're Breaking My Heart" - Vic Damone
"That Lucky Old Sun" - Frankie Laine
"Mule Train" - Frankie Laine
Top hit records
"A You're Adorable" - Perry Como
"Again", recorded by
Gordon Jenkins (Joe Graydon, vocal)
Vic Damone
Doris Day
Tommy Dorsey
Vera Lynn
Art Mooney
Mel Tormé
"At The End Of The Road" - Frankie Laine
"Baby, I Need You" - Frankie Laine
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark
"Baby, Just For Me" - Frankie Laine
"Bali Ha'i" - Perry Como
"Bamboo" - Vaughn Monroe
"Bebop Spoken Here" - Frankie Laine
"Carry Me Back To Old Virginney" - Frankie Laine
"Coquette" - Guy Lombardo & Jimmy Brown
"Cruising Down the River", recorded by
Blue Barron
Russ Morgan
"Dear Hearts & Gentle People" - Bing Crosby
"Deep In The Heart Of Texas" - Bing Crosby, Woody Herman & His Woodchoppers
"Don't Cry Little Children" - Frankie Laine
"A Dreamer's Holiday", recorded by
Perry Como
Buddy Clark
"Far Away Places", recorded by
Bing Crosby
Margaret Whiting
"Forever and Ever" - Russ Morgan
"Georgia On My Mind" - Frankie Laine
"(Ghost) Riders In the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" - Vaughn Monroe
"God Bless The Child" - Frankie Laine
"Goodnight Irene" - The Weavers sells four million copies and launches the group's success
"Jealous Heart" - Al Morgan
"Lavender Blue" (Dilly Dilly) - Dinah Shore
"A Little Bird Told Me" - Evelyn Knight
"Mule Train", recorded by
Bing Crosby
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Frankie Laine
Vaughn Monroe
"No Orchids For My Lady" - The Ink Spots
"O Sole Mio" - Mario Lanza
"On The Alamo" - Jo Stafford
"Powder Your Face With Sunshine" - Evelyn Knight
"Rockin' Chair" - Frankie Laine
"Satan Wears A Satin Gown" - Frankie Laine
"Slap 'Er Down Agin, Paw" - Arthur Godfrey
"Some Day You'll Want Me To Want You" - The Mills Brothers
"Some Enchanted Evening" - Perry Como
"Swamp Girl" - Frankie Laine
"That Lucky Old Sun" - Frankie Laine
"They Didn't Believe Me" - Mario Lanza
"You're Breaking My Heart", recorded by
Buddy Clark
Vic Damone
The Ink Spots
Jan Garber
Top R&B and Country hit records
"The Fat Man", by Fats Domino, first record with back beat all the way through
"When Things Go Wrong With You (It Hurts Me Too)" by Tampa Red, later covered by Elmore James among others
Or Select A Year Below
All rights reserved © Robert Falk, 2007