1944 in film
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
|
| Years in film |
|---|
 |
| 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.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)[]
The top ten 1944 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
| Rank | Title | Studio | Box-office gross rental |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Going My Way | Paramount Pictures | $6,500,000[1] |
| 2 | Meet Me in St. Louis | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $5,016,000[2] |
| 3 | Since You Went Away | United Artists/Selznick International Pictures | $4,900,000[1] |
| 4 | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $4,297,000[2] |
| 5 | The White Cliffs of Dover | $4,045,000[2] | |
| 6 | A Guy Named Joe | $3,970,000[2] | |
| 7 | Hollywood Canteen | Warner Bros. | $3,831,000[3] |
| 8 | To Have and Have Not | $3,652,000[3] | |
| 9 | Frenchman's Creek | Paramount Pictures | $3,500,000[4] |
| 10 | Up in Arms | RKO Radio Pictures/Samuel Goldwyn Productions | $3,334,000[4] |
Events[]
- March 10 – MGM's A Guy Named Joe, starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, is released nationally in the United States.
- May 3 – The film Going My Way, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald, premieres. The highest-grossing picture of the year, it goes on to win a total of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for McCary, Best Actor for Crosby and Best Original Song for "Swinging on a Star".
- May 13 – Dale Evans appears in her first film with future husband, Roy Rogers – Cowboy and the Senorita.
- July 20 – Since You Went Away is released.
- September 6 – Double Indemnity is released.
- September – Around 640 motion picture actors, writers and directors are included on the Gottbegnadeten list in Nazi Germany, protecting them from military conscription.
- November 22 – MGM's Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien premieres. Hugely popular with both audiences and critics, the film is nominated for four Academy Awards.
Awards[]
| Category/Organization | 2nd Golden Globe Awards January 20, 1945 |
17th Academy Awards March 15, 1945 |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film | Going My Way | |
| Best Director | Leo McCarey Going My Way | |
| Best Actor | Alexander Knox Wilson |
Bing Crosby Going My Way |
| Best Actress | Ingrid Bergman Gaslight | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Barry Fitzgerald Going My Way | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Agnes Moorehead Mrs. Parkington |
Ethel Barrymore None but the Lonely Heart |
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 |
1944 film releases[]
January–March[]
- January 1944
- 7 January
- 11 January
- 14 January
- 28 January
- Lifeboat
- Phantom Lady
- February 1944
- 3 February
- 5 February
- Captain America
- 10 February
- 11 February
- 22 February
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (re-issue)
- March 1944
- 2 March
- The Curse of the Cat People
- 10 March
- 17 March
- 22 March
- Cover Girl
- 23 March
- 2 March
April–June[]
- April 1944
- 9 April
- 17 April
- 25 April
- 26 April
- May 1944
- 5 May
- 8 May
- Time Flies – (GB)
- 13 May
- 27 May
- June 1944
- 1 June
- 8 June
July–September[]
- July 1944
- 2 July
- 6 July
- Double Indemnity
- 7 July
- 8 July
- 12 July
- 14 July
- 20 July
- 22 July
- 24 July
- The Seventh Cross
- August 1944
- 12 August
- 17 August
- 23 August
- 30 August
- September 1944
- 2 September
- 9 September
- 12 September
- 23 September
- Arsenic and Old Lace
October–December[]
- October 1944
- 17 October
- Fiddlers Three – (GB)
- None but the Lonely Heart
- 17 October
- November 1944
- 1 November
- 3 November
- 10 November
- 11 November
- Bluebeard
- 28 November
- Meet Me in St. Louis
- December 1944
- 1 December
- House of Frankenstein
- 5 December
- 6 December
- 18 December
- 22 December
- 23 December
- 24 December[5]
- 29 December
- Tomorrow, the World!
- 1 December
Notable films released in 1944[]
United States 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
- Cowboy and the Senorita, starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
- Crime by Night, starring Jane Wyman
- Cry of the Werewolf, starring Nina Foch
- The Curse of the Cat People, starring Simone Simon
D[]
- Days of Glory, starring Gregory Peck
- 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[]
- Enemy of Women, starring Paul Andor
- Experiment Perilous, starring Hedy Lamarr and George Brent
F[]
- Fanny by Gaslight, directed by Anthony Asquith, starring Phyllis Calvert, James Mason, Stewart Granger – (GB)
- Fiddlers Three, starring Tommy Trinder (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
- The Great Moment, starring Joel McCrea and Betty Field
- 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
- The Heavenly Body, starring William Powell and Hedy Lamarr
- To Have And Have Not, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- Henry V, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier – (GB)
- The Hitler Gang, starring Robert Watson
- 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[]
- Janie, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joyce Reynolds
- Jwar Bhata – (India)
K[]
- The Keys of the Kingdom, starring Gregory Peck, Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price and Roddy McDowall
- Knickerbocker Holiday, starring Nelson Eddy
- 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
- Marie-Louise directed by Leopold Lindtberg and an uncredited Franz Schnyder
- 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[]
- 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
P[]
- 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
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 Soul of a Monster, starring George Macready
- 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[]
- 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, starring Tommy Handley (GB)
- 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 – (US/GB)
- Two Thousand Women, starring Flora Robson and Phyllis Calvert – (GB)
U[]
- The Uninvited, starring Ray Milland
- Up in Arms, starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore
W[]
- The Way Ahead (), 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
Y[]
- 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 5 – Franco Ferrini, Italian screenwriter
- January 9 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (died 2014)
- January 20 – Margaret Avery, American actress
- January 23 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (died 2019)[6]
- February 3 – Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress (died 2021)
- February 13 – Stockard Channing, American actress
- February 14 – Alan Parker, English director, producer and screenwriter (died 2020)
- February 22 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer and screenwriter (died 2017)
- February 29 – Dennis Farina, American actor (died 2013)
- March 5 – Peter Weibel, Ukrainian-born Austrian experimental filmmaker
- March 10 - Richard Gant, American actor
- March 14 - Steve Daskewisz, American actor and stunt double (died 2018)
- March 24 - R. Lee Ermey, American film, television and voice actor (died 2018)
- March 26 – Diana Ross, American singer and actress
- April 4 - Craig T. Nelson, American actor
- April 6 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian-born actress and model (died 2017)
- April 13 – Charles Burnett, American director
- April 30 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress (died 2010)
- May 4 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress (died 2019)
- 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 16 – Danny Trejo, American actor and voice actor
- May 19 – Peter Mayhew, English actor (died 2019)
- May 25 – Frank Oz, English director and puppeteer
- May 26
- Olga Bisera, Yugoslav-born Italian actress and producer
- Andre Stojka, American voice actor and singer
- May 28 – Sondra Locke, American actress (died 2018)
- June 23 – Ingrīda Andriņa, Latvian actress (died 2015)
- June 29 – Gary Busey, American actor
- July 1 – Wahid Hamed, Egyptian screenwriter (died 2021)
- July 2 – Viiu Härm, Estonian actress
- July 8 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
- July 17 - Catherine Schell, Hungarian-born British actress
- July 30 – Yoon Jeong-hee, South Korean actress
- 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
- October 8 – Dale Dye, American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer
- October 10 – Lii Tedre, Estonian actress
- October 28 - Dennis Franz, retired American actor
- November 4 – Linda Gary, American actress, voice actress (died 1995)
- November 17
- Danny DeVito, American actor, comedian, producer and director
- Gary Goldman, American animator, producer, and director
- Lorne Michaels, Canadian-American producer
- November 21 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director and screenwriter (died 2014)
- December 5 – Jeroen Krabbe, Dutch actor and director
- December 12 - Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
- December 17 – Bernard Hill, English actor
Deaths[]
- March 14 – Merta Sterling, American actress (born 1883)
- July 14 – Emil Fjellström, Swedish actor (born 1884)
- July 20 – Mildred Harris, American actress (born 1901)
- September 24 – Hugo Thimig, Austrian actor (born 1854)
- 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
- Red Buttons – Winged Victory
- Stan Freberg – Swooner Crooner
- Gloria Grahame – Blonde Fever
- Judy Holiday – Greenwich Village
- Shashi Kapoor –
- Angela Lansbury – Gaslight
- Janis Paige – Bathing Beauty
- Gregory Peck – Days of Glory
- Jane Powell – Song of the Open Road
- Zachary Scott – The Mask of Dimitrios
- Jean Simmons – Give Us the Moon
References[]
- ^ a b Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
- ^ a b c d The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ a b Glancy, H. Mark (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921-51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15 (1): 64. doi:10.1080/01439689500260031.
- ^ a b "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990. p. M162 to 166.
- ^ Michael D. Gambone, The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society, Texas A&M University Press, 2005 p 152
- ^ "Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies aged 75". BBC News. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
Categories:
- 1944 in film
- Film by year