Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Best Man Wins

  • 19481948
  • 1h 18m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
58
YOUR RATING
Edgar Buchanan, Gary Gray, Anna Lee, and Robert Shayne in Best Man Wins (1948)
Drama
Jim Smiley has a frog that can jump further than anyone else's frog, and Jim becomes obsessed with entering the frog in all of the local jumping-frog contests, not realizing that his obsessi... Read allJim Smiley has a frog that can jump further than anyone else's frog, and Jim becomes obsessed with entering the frog in all of the local jumping-frog contests, not realizing that his obsession is about to cost him his marriage.Jim Smiley has a frog that can jump further than anyone else's frog, and Jim becomes obsessed with entering the frog in all of the local jumping-frog contests, not realizing that his obsession is about to cost him his marriage.
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
58
YOUR RATING
    • John Sturges
    • Edward Huebsch(screenplay)
    • Mark Twain(story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County")
  • Stars
    • Edgar Buchanan
    • Anna Lee
    • Robert Shayne
    • John Sturges
    • Edward Huebsch(screenplay)
    • Mark Twain(story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County")
  • Stars
    • Edgar Buchanan
    • Anna Lee
    • Robert Shayne
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos8

    Anna Lee in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan and Anna Lee in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan, Anna Lee, and Robert Shayne in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan, Gary Gray, Anna Lee, and Robert Shayne in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan and Anna Lee in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Edgar Buchanan, Anna Lee, and Robert Shayne in Best Man Wins (1948)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Edgar Buchanan
    Edgar Buchanan
    • Jim Smiley
    Anna Lee
    Anna Lee
    • Nancy Smiley
    Robert Shayne
    Robert Shayne
    • Judge Leonidas K. Carter
    Gary Gray
    Gary Gray
    • Bob Smiley
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • Amos
    Stanley Andrews
    Stanley Andrews
    • Sheriff Dingle
    George Lynn
    George Lynn
    • Mr. Crow
    Billy Sheffield
    • Monty Carter
    • (as Bill Sheffield)
    Marietta Canty
    Marietta Canty
    • Hester
    Paul E. Burns
    Paul E. Burns
    • Bartender
    George Chesebro
    George Chesebro
    • Creditor
    • (uncredited)
    Robert B. Churchill
    • Stranger
    • (uncredited)
    Chester Clute
    Chester Clute
    • Villager
    • (uncredited)
    Tom Coffey
    • Minor Role
    • (uncredited)
    Earle S. Dewey
    • Racetrack Judge
    • (uncredited)
    Jerry Franks Jr.
    • Bookmaker
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Gargan
    • Stranger
    • (uncredited)
    Rodney Hildebrand
    • Dog Handler
    • (uncredited)
      • John Sturges
      • Edward Huebsch(screenplay)
      • Mark Twain(story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Shadowed
    5.9
    Shadowed
    Alias Mr. Twilight
    5.9
    Alias Mr. Twilight
    The Walking Hills
    6.5
    The Walking Hills
    The Sign of the Ram
    6.3
    The Sign of the Ram
    The Man Who Dared
    5.6
    The Man Who Dared
    For the Love of Rusty
    5.5
    For the Love of Rusty
    The Capture
    5.9
    The Capture
    Keeper of the Bees
    5.3
    Keeper of the Bees
    Mystery Street
    7.2
    Mystery Street
    The People Against O'Hara
    6.8
    The People Against O'Hara
    The Magnificent Yankee
    6.8
    The Magnificent Yankee
    By Love Possessed
    5.5
    By Love Possessed

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Mark Twain's daughter, Clara Clemens Samoussoud, sued Columbia Pictures for $300,000, objecting to the "corny love story" that had "deformed and mutilated" her father's favorite story.

    User reviews2

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    4/10
    How many people still alive have seen this film?
    So far as I know, this film has never been released on video. And it may never have been shown on television. In fact, it's possible that I own the only surviving copy of the film! I bought a nice clean 16mm print of it on eBay last year and later had to buy a sound projector in order to watch it. However, even now, I have only seen the first reel (because it took me and a friend so long to get the projector running properly the night we tried to watch the film that we didn't have the energy to sit all the way through it.)

    Made in the late '40s, the film is a loose (very loose) adaptation of Mark Twain's jumping frog story. Its main character, Jim Smiley (played by Edgar Buchanan) is a ne'er-do-well obsessed with betting on his champion jumping frog who must change his ways in order to avoid losing his wife. Not much more to say about the film

    I regard this film as being strictly for Mark Twain aficianados. And if you happen to be one of them folk, try to get yourself to the State of Mark Twain Studies conference in Elmira, N.Y., on August 16-18, 2001.
    helpful•3
    2
    • arkent
    • Jun 3, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 6, 1948 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 18 minutes
      • Black and White

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Edgar Buchanan, Gary Gray, Anna Lee, and Robert Shayne in Best Man Wins (1948)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Best Man Wins (1948) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.