1944 in film
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| 1870s |
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.
Events
- July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.
- September 6 - Double Indemnity is released.
Top grossing films (U.S.)[1]
Box office numbers were reported at the time as a percentage compared to "normal" business at each theater. For example, Going My Way performed at a massive 264% while To Have and Have Not was a hit at 173%. This is why exact dollar grosses for the period are unreliable at best.
Awards
- Best Picture: Going My Way - Paramount
- Best Director: Leo McCarey - Going My Way
- Best Actor: Bing Crosby - Going My Way
- Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight
- Best Supporting Actor: Barry Fitzgerald - Going My Way
- Best Supporting Actress: Ethel Barrymore - None but the Lonely Heart
- Best Picture: Going My Way
- Best Director: Leo McCarey, Going My Way
- Best Actor: Alexander Knox - Wilson
- Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight
Top Ten Money Making Stars
| Rank | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| 1. | Bing Crosby |
| 2. | Gary Cooper |
| 3. | Bob Hope |
| 4. | Betty Grable |
| 5. | Spencer Tracy |
| 6. | Greer Garson |
| 7. | Humphrey Bogart |
| 8. (tie) | Bud Abbott Lou Costello |
| 9. | Cary Grant |
| 10. | Bette Davis |
Notable films released in 1944
U.S.A. unless stated
A
- The Adventures of Mark Twain, starring Fredric March
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, starring Maria Montez and Jon Hall
- And Now Tomorrow, starring Alan Ladd and Loretta Young
- And the Angels Sing, starring Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Lamour
- Army (陸軍, Rikugun), directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, starring Chishū Ryū and Kinuyo Tanaka - (Japan)
- Arsenic and Old Lace, directed by Frank Capra, starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre; filmed in 1941 but not released until 1944
B
- Bathing Beauty, starring Esther Williams and Red Skelton
- Between Two Worlds, starring John Garfield, Eleanor Parker and Sydney Greenstreet
- The Black Pirate (El corsario negro), starring Pedro Armendariz - (Mexico)
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey, starring Lynn Bari
- Buffalo Bill, starring Joel McCrea and Maureen O'Hara
- A Bullet in the Heart (Rossassa Fel Qalb) - (Egypt)
C
- Candlelight in Algeria, starring James Mason - (GB)
- Can't Help Singing, starring Deanna Durbin
- A Canterbury Tale, written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Eric Portman - (GB)
- The Canterville Ghost, starring Charles Laughton, Robert Young and Margaret O'Brien
- Casanova Brown, starring Gary Cooper
- Champagne Charlie, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, starring Tommy Trinder and Stanley Holloway - (GB)
- The Children Are Watching Us (I bambini ci guardano), directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
- Christmas Holiday, starring Gene Kelly
- The Climax, starring Susanna Foster and Boris Karloff
- Cobra Woman, starring Maria Montez
- The Conspirators, starring Paul Henreid and Hedy Lamarr
- Cover Girl, starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly
- Crime by Night, starring Jane Wyman
- Cry of the Werewolf, starring Nina Foch
- The Curse of the Cat People, starring Simone Simon
D
- Don't Take It to Heart, directed by Jeffrey Dell, starring Richard Greene - (GB)
- Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson
- Dragon Seed, starring Katharine Hepburn
- Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong lou meng) - (China)
E-F
- Experiment Perilous, starring Hedy Lamarr and George Brent
- Fanny by Gaslight, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Phyllis Calvert, James Mason, Stewart Granger - (GB)
- The Fighting Seabees, starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward
- The Fighting Sullivans, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Anne Baxter and Thomas Mitchell
- For Those in Peril, directed by Charles Crichton - (GB)
- Frenchman's Creek, starring Joan Fontaine and Basil Rathbone
- Die Feuerzangenbowle (The Punch Bowl) - (Germany)
G
- Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotten
- Going My Way, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald - winner of 7 Oscars
- Greenwich Village, starring Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche
- The Great Sacrifice (Opfergang) - (Germany)
H
- Hail the Conquering Hero, written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Ella Raines
- The Halfway House, directed by Basil Dearden, starring Mervyn Johns and Glynis Johns
- To Have And Have Not, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- Henry V, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier - (GB)
- Hollywood Canteen, starring Joan Leslie
- Home in Indiana, starring Walter Brennan
- The Hour Before the Dawn, starring Veronica Lake
- House of Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr.
I
- I'll Be Seeing You, starring Ginger Rogers and Shirley Temple
- In Our Time, starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid
- In Society, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- It Happened Tomorrow, starring Dick Powell
- Ivan the Terrible (Ivan Grozniy), by director Sergei Eisenstein, starring Nikolai Cherkasov - (U.S.S.R.)
J-K
- Janie, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joyce Reynolds
- Jwar Bhata - (India)
- The Keys of the Kingdom, starring Gregory Peck, Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price and Roddy McDowall
- Kismet, starring Ronald Colman and Marlene Dietrich
L
- Lady in the Dark, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland
- Lady, Let's Dance, ice skating musical starring Belita and comedy ice team Frick and Frack
- Lake Placid Serenade, starring Vera Ralston
- Laura, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb and Vincent Price
- Lifeboat, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Tallulah Bankhead, John Hodiak, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Henry Hull and Hume Cronyn
- The Lodger, starring Merle Oberon and George Sanders
- Lost in a Harem, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
M
- Man from Frisco directed by Robert Florey, starring Michael O'Shea and Anne Shirley
- The Mask of Dimitrios, starring Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Zachary Scott
- Meet Me in St. Louis, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Judy Garland
- Meet the People, starring Lucille Ball
- Melody of Murder (Mordets Melodi) - (Denmark)
- Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, a documentary by William Wyler
- Ministry of Fear, starring Ray Milland
- The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton
- Mr. Skeffington, starring Bette Davis and Claude Rains
- Mrs. Parkington, starring Greer Garson
- The Mummy's Curse, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
- The Mummy's Ghost, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
- Murder, My Sweet (aka Farewell My Lovely), directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor
- Music for Millions, starring Margaret O'Brien
N
- The Nail (El clavo) - (Spain)
- National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney
- None but the Lonely Heart, starring Cary Grant and Ethel Barrymore
- None Shall Escape, starring Alexander Knox
O-P
- On Approval, starring Clive Brook and Googie Withers - (GB)
- Once Upon a Time, starring Cary Grant, Ted Donaldson, Janet Blair
- Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, starring Gail Russell and Diana Lynn
- Pardon My Rhythm, starring Gloria Jean
- Passage to Marseille, starring Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet
- The Pearl of Death, a Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
- Phantom Lady, starring Franchot Tone and Ella Raines
- Pin Up Girl, starring Betty Grable
- Port of Freedom (Große Freiheit Nr. 7) - (Germany)
- Possession (Besættelse) - (Denmark)
- The Princess and the Pirate, starring Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo
- The Purple Heart, starring Dana Andrews, Richard Conte and Farley Granger
Q-R
- Rainbow (Raduga) - (U.S.S.R.)
- Rationing, starring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main
- The Rats of Tobruk (aka The Fighting Rats of Tobruk), starring Peter Finch and Chips Rafferty - (Australia)
- The Respectable Ladies of Pardubice (Počestné paní pardubické), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)
S
- The Scarlet Claw, a Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
- The Seventh Cross, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Spencer Tracy
- Since You Went Away, starring Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple
- Something for the Boys starring Carmen Miranda, Michael O'Shea and Vivian Blaine
- Song of Russia, starring Robert Taylor
- The Spider Woman, a Sherlock Holmes mystery featuring Gale Sondergaard
- Storm Over Lisbon, starring Vera Ralston
- The Story of Dr. Wassell, starring Gary Cooper
- Sunday Dinner for a Soldier, starring Anne Baxter and John Hodiak
- The Suspect, starring Charles Laughton
T-V
- Tall in the Saddle, starring John Wayne
- Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson
- This Happy Breed, directed by David Lean, starring John Mills and Celia Johnson - (GB)
- The Three Caballeros, a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Dora Luz (released in South America in 1944, but was released in 1945 in the U.S.)
- Time Flies
- Torment (Hets), directed by Alf Sjoberg - (Sweden)
- The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks (La Torre de los Siete Jorobados) - (Spain)
- Tunisian Victory, directed by Frank Capra, Hugh Stewart and John Huston - (USA/GB)
- Two Thousand Women, starring Flora Robson and Phyllis Calvert - (GB)
- The Uninvited, starring Ray Milland
- Up in Arms, starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore
W-Z
- The Way Ahead (Immortal Battalion), directed by Carol Reed, starring David Niven and Stanley Holloway - (GB)
- Weird Woman, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Anne Gwynne
- When Strangers Marry, starring Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter, Robert Mitchum
- The White Cliffs of Dover, starring Irene Dunne
- Wilson, a biopic of President Woodrow Wilson, starring Alexander Knox and Charles Coburn
- Wing and a Prayer, directed by Henry Hathaway, starring Dana Andrews and Don Ameche
- The Woman in the Window, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett
- The Yellow Rose of Texas, starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
Serials
- Black Arrow
- Captain America, starring Dick Purcell
- The Desert Hawk, starring Gilbert Roland and Charles Middleton
- The Great Alaskan Mystery
- Haunted Harbor, starring Kane Richmond
- Mystery of the River Boat
- Raiders of Ghost City
- The Tiger Woman, starring Linda Stirling
- Zorro's Black Whip, starring Linda Stirling
Short film series
- Our Gang (1922-1944)
- The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
Animated short film series
- Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Terrytoons (1930–1964)
- Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
- Scrappy (1931–1941)
- Popeye (1933–1957)
- Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
- Donald Duck (1934–1956)
- Goofy (1939–1955)
- Andy Panda (1939–1949)
- Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
- Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
- Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
- Swing Symphonies (1941–1945)
- The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
- Red Hot Riding Hood (1943–1949)
- Droopy (1943–1958)
- Screwball Squirrel (1944-1946)
- Sylvester the Cat (1944-1966)
Births
- January 9 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (died 2014)
- January 23 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- February 3 - Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress
- February 13 - Stockard Channing, American actress
- February 14 - Alan Parker, English director, producer and screenwriter
- February 22 - Jonathan Demme, American director, producer and screenwriter
- February 29 - Dennis Farina, American actor (died 2013)
- March 5 - Peter Weibel, Ukrainian-born Austrian experimental filmmaker
- March 26 - Diana Ross, American singer and actress
- April 13 - Charles Burnett, American director
- April 30 - Jill Clayburgh, American actress (died 2010)
- May 4 - Russi Taylor, American voice actress
- May 5 - John Rhys-Davies, English actor
- May 10 - Jim Abrahams, American director, producer and screenwriter
- May 14 - George Lucas, American director, producer and screenwriter
- May 25 - Frank Oz, English director and puppeteer
- June 23 - Ingrīda Andriņa, Latvian actress (died 2015)
- June 29 - Gary Busey, American actor
- July 8- Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
- July 31 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- August 7 - John Glover, American actor
- August 9 - Sam Elliott, American actor
- August 11 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
- August 21 - Peter Weir, Australian director, producer and screenwriter
- September 13 - Jacqueline Bisset, English actress
- September 25 - Michael Douglas, American actor and producer
- November 17 - Danny DeVito, American actor, comedian, producer and director
- November 21 - Harold Ramis, American actor, director and screenwriter (died 2014)
- December 5 - Jeroen Krabbe, Dutch actor and director
- December 17 - Bernard Hill, English actor
Deaths
- July 14 - Emil Fjellström, Swedish actor (born 1884)
- July 20 - Mildred Harris, American actress (born 1901)
- December 9 - Laird Cregar, American actor (born 1913)
- December 13 - Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (born 1908)
- December 15 - Glenn Miller, American musician, actor (born 1904)
Film Debuts
- Lauren Bacall - To Have and Have Not
- Shashi Kapoor - Meena
- Angela Lansbury - Gaslight
- Gregory Peck - Days of Glory
- Jean Simmons - Give Us the Moon
References
- ↑ Box Office Digest, March 1945, p. 18.
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