The year 1952 in film involved some significant events in cinema history, including the releases of Ivanhoe, Singin' in the Rain, and the Best Picture-winning The Greatest Show on Earth.
Events January 10 – Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, is premièred at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. March 27 – The MGM musical Singin' in the Rain premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. May 26 – Decision reached in Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson determining that certain provisions of the New York Education Law allowing a censor to forbid the commercial showing of any non-licensed motion picture film, or revoke or deny the license of a film deemed to be "sacrilegious," was a "restraint on freedom of speech" and thereby a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. September 19 – While Charlie Chaplin is at sea on his way to the United Kingdom, the United States Attorney-General, James P. McGranery, announces plans to review his right to return to the US. September 30 – The Cinerama multiple-projection widescreen system, invented by Fred Waller, makes its début 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.
Top-grossing films United States
The top ten 1952 released films by box office gross in the United States are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1952 Rank Title Distributor(s) Domestic rentals 1 The Greatest Show on Earth Paramount $12,800,000 2 This Is Cinerama Cinerama Releasing $12,500,000 3 The Snows of Kilimanjaro 20th Century Fox $6,500,000 4 Hans Christian Andersen RKO $6,000,000 5 IvanhoeMGM $5,810,000. 6Sailor Beware Paramount $4,300,000"Top Box-Office Hits of 1952." Variety, January 7, 1953. 7 Moulin Rouge United Artists $4,252,000 8 Jumping Jacks Paramount $4,000,000 9 The Quiet Man Republic $3,800,000 10 High Noon United Artists $3,750,000
International Country Title Director Studio(s) Gross France Little World of Don Camillo Julien Duvivier Cineriz, Francinex 12,791,168 admissions India Aan Mehboob Khan Mehboob Productions $5,880,000 Italy Little World of Don Camillo Julien Duvivier Cineriz, Francinex 13,215,653 admissions Japan Himeyuri no Tō Tadashi Imai Toei Company Soviet Union Tarzan the Ape Man W. S. Van Dyke Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 42,900,000 admissions United Kingdom The Greatest Show on Earth Cecil B. DeMille Paramount Pictures 13,000,000 admissions
Awards Category/Organization 10th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 26, 1953 25th Academy AwardsMarch 19, 1953 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film The Greatest Show on Earth With a Song in My Heart The Greatest Show on Earth Best Director Cecil B. DeMilleThe Greatest Show on Earth John FordThe Quiet Man Best Actor Gary CooperHigh Noon Donald O'ConnorSingin' in the Rain Gary CooperHigh Noon Best Actress Shirley BoothCome Back, Little Sheba Susan HaywardWith a Song in My Heart Shirley BoothCome Back, Little Sheba Best Supporting Actor Millard MitchellMy Six Convicts Anthony QuinnViva Zapata! Best Supporting Actress Katy JuradoHigh Noon Gloria GrahameThe Bad and the Beautiful Best Screenplay, Adapted Michael Wilson5 Fingers Charles SchneeThe Bad and the Beautiful Best Screenplay, Original T. E. B. ClarkeThe Lavender Hill Mob
Notable films released in 1952 United States 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 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)
F Face to Face, starring James Mason and Robert Preston Fanfan la Tulipe (a.k.a. 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 A Girl in Every Port, starring Groucho Marx, William Bendix, Marie Wilson, Dee Hartford Gloria Mairena, directed by Luis Lucia, starring Juanita Reina, Eduardo Fajardo, Rafael Arcos (Spain) 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
H 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 I Dream of Jeanie, starring Bill Shirley 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 Kangaroo, starring Maureen O'Hara, Peter Lawford Kansas City Confidential, starring John Payne and Coleen Gray Kid Monk Baroni, starring Leonard Nimoy
L Lady in the Iron Mask, starring Louis Hayward Lambert the Sheepish Lion The Last Page, a.k.a. 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 Lola the Coalgirl, directed by Luis Lucia and starring Juanita Reina, Virgílio Teixeira (Spain) 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 and Susan Whitney 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)