Best Drama Movies of 1948

The highest-rated drama films from 1948, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Drama 1947 Drama 1949 All Time Drama

Action Comedy Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

Bicycle Thieves

1948

Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.

8.2

Rope

1948

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

7.9

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1948

Two jobless Americans convince a prospector to travel to the mountains of Mexico with them in search of gold. But the hostile wilderness, local bandits, and greed all get in the way of their journey.

8.0

The Red Shoes

1948

In this classic drama, Vicky Page is an aspiring ballerina torn between her dedication to dance and her desire to love. While her imperious instructor, Boris Lermontov, urges to her to forget anything but ballet, Vicky begins to fall for the charming young composer Julian Craster. Eventually Vicky, under great emotional stress, must choose to pursue either her art or her romance, a decision that carries serious consequences.

8.0

Germany, Year Zero

1948

In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.

7.7

Letter from an Unknown Woman

1948

A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forced to reinterpret his own past.

7.8

Drunken Angel

1948

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

7.6

Oliver Twist

1948

When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.

7.6

Los tres huastecos

1948

This is the story of three brothers - a priest, a soldier, and an outlaw - that are raised separately by their godfathers once their mother dies. They cross their paths again when the soldier and the priest move into two towns near the town the outlaw lives in. The drama will unfold once the three brothers meet each other.

8.2

#10

Hamlet

1948

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

7.4

#11

We the Poor

1948

Carpenter Pepe El Toro lives peacefully with his daughter Chachita in an impoverished Mexico City neighborhood. He pursues a romance with the pretty Celia, but tragedy comes knocking on his door when he is falsely accused of having perpetrated a felony.

8.0

#12

Macbeth

1948

A Scottish warlord and his wife murder their way to a pair of crowns.

7.2

#13

The Fallen Idol

1948

Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, idolizes Baines, his father's butler, a kind of hero in the eyes of the child, whose perception changes when he accidentally discovers the secret that Baines keeps and witnesses the consequences that adults' lies can cause.

7.1

#14

A Foreign Affair

1948

In occupied Berlin, a US Army Captain is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the US Congresswoman investigating her.

7.1

#15

Portrait of Jennie

1948

A mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.

7.1

#16

The Snake Pit

1948

Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.

7.1

#17

Spring in a Small Town

1948

A married couple living in a desolate small town in post-WWII China are paid a surprise visit by an old friend of the husband's.

7.1

#18

Brighton Rock

1948

Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as "Pinkie" – the film's main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.

6.8

#19

Call Northside 777

1948

In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal to look into the case. For some time, O'Neal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong.

6.7

Best Drama Movies of 1948

This ranking features the top drama movies released in 1948, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1948 or see the best drama movies of all time.