Several themes dominant in the films of 1949 were recognized in year-end awards.

War films, which were anathema after the war, re-emerged with a new maturity in Twelve O’Clock High; Battleground; Home of the Brave and Sands of Iwo Jima. Children in peril in The Boy With Green Hair, The Fallen Idol, The Bicycle Thief, Germany: Year Zero and The Window, made powerful impacts. The problems of blacks in America emerged full scale with Intruder in the Dust, Lost Boundaries and Pinky. The dueling boxing films, Champion and The Set-Up also vied for attention.

Crime films, which were also popular again, were less successful at garnering awards though some of them including White Heat, They Live by Night and Gun Crazy have long since come to be regarded more than some of the award winners of the day.

Oscar’s Best Picture slate was comprised of two war movies, Twelve O’Clock High and Battleground, a political drama, All the King’s Men, a gothic romance, The Heiress and a suspense filled comedy-drama, A Letter to Three Wives. The Best Director list included the director of one of the war movies (William A. Wellman for Battleground), one of the children in peril movies (Carol Reed for The Fallen Idol) and the directors of the political drama (All the King’s Men’s Robert Rossen), the gothic romance (The Heiress’ William Wyler) and the suspense filled comedy-drama (A Letter to Three Wives’ Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

A ten nominee Best Picture race would surely have seen at least one each of the children in peril, black in America and boxing films in the running.

For children in peril, Fallen Idol with its Best Director nod as well as a screenplay nomination would have been the likely pick. For back in America, Pinky with its three acting nominations (Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters) would have been likely, though the popular Intruder in the Dust, prominent in BAFTA, Golden Globes and other year-end organizational awards, might well have made it two for the genre. Intruder in the Dust had the additional advantage of featuring a child actor (laude Jarman, Jr.) in a prominent role as well.

Champion, with six nominations and one win, would certainly have been the boxing film nominee over The Set-Up which came up empty handed at the Oscars though it was recognized by BAFTA.

That leaves room for one more. I suspect the last slot would be taken by either Come to the Stable (seven nominations, no wins), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (one nomination, one win) and White Heat (one nomination, no win).

I’d like to think that She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, John Ford’s first western to be recognized by the Academy since Stagecoach ten years earlier would be the beneficiary of the expanded scenario, but alas, contemporaneous audiences weren’t as appreciative of the film as historians have since become. They were more appreciative of John Wayne’s war movie, Sands of Iwo Jima, giving it four nods including one for Wayne himself. No, I suspect that the tenth slot would have gone to Come to the Stable, a beguiling Christmas movie about a couple of nuns (Oscar nominated Loretta Young and Celeste Holm) who charm the locals with their dream of building a children’s hospital in rural Connecticut.