1945 in film
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The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)[]
The top ten 1945 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
| Rank | Title | Studio | Box-office gross rental |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Bells of St. Mary's | RKO Radio Pictures | $8,000,000[1] |
| 2 | Leave Her to Heaven | 20th Century Fox | $5,500,000[2] |
| 3 | Spellbound | United Artists/Selznick International Pictures | $4,900,000[2] |
| 4 | The Valley of Decision | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $4,566,000[3] |
| 5 | Anchors Aweigh | $4,498,000[3] | |
| 6 | Week-End at the Waldorf | $4,364,000[3] | |
| 7 | Thrill of a Romance | $4,338,000[3] | |
| 8 | The Lost Weekend | Paramount Pictures | $4,300,000[4] |
| 9 | Adventure | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | $4,236,000[3] |
| 10 | State Fair | 20th Century Fox | $4,018,000[5] |
Events[]
- January 26 – The film National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp and Anne Revere, is released nationally in the United States. The film is an instant critical and commercial success, propelling 12-year-old Taylor to stardom and earning Revere the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
- January 30 – Restricted release of Kolberg, an historical epic which is one of the last Nazi Germany propaganda pieces, in war-torn Berlin. Given its cast of 187,000, probably fewer people view it than appear in it.
- April 20 – Release of Son of Lassie, the 2nd Lassie film and the first film ever to be filmed using the Technicolor Monobook method, where a single magazine of film is used to record all of the primary colors. Prior to this method, the most popular recording method was 3-Strip Technicolor, which simultaneously used 3 individual film magazines to record the primary colors.
- August 10 – Animated Donald Duck short Duck Pimples is released.
- September 27 – Release of Roberto Rossellini's Roma Città aperta marks the beginning of Italian neorealism in film.
- October 5 – A strike between the set decorators' union and the studios boils over and becomes known as the Hollywood Black Friday.
- October 31 – Spellbound, a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, premieres in New York City.
- November 16 – Paramount Pictures releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, introducing a ghost named Casper.
- November 29 – At the Nuremberg trials a documentary on the Nazi concentration camps directed by John Ford is exhibited as evidence.
Awards[]
| Category/Organization | 18th Academy Awards March 7, 1946 |
3rd Golden Globe Awards March 30, 1946 |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film | The Lost Weekend | |
| Best Director | Billy Wilder The Lost Weekend | |
| Best Actor | Ray Milland The Lost Weekend | |
| Best Actress | Joan Crawford Mildred Pierce |
Ingrid Bergman The Bells of St. Mary's |
| Best Supporting Actor | James Dunn A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
J. Carrol Naish A Medal for Benny |
| Best Supporting Actress | Anne Revere National Velvet |
Angela Lansbury The Picture of Dorian Gray |
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 |
1945 film releases[]
January–March[]
- January 1945
- 4 January
- This Man's Navy
- 18 January
- A Song to Remember
- 26 January
- National Velvet
- 4 January
- February 1945
- 2 February
- Here Come the Co-eds
- 15 February
- The Seventh Veil
- 2 February
- March 1945
- 3 March
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- 16 March
- The House of Fear
- 3 March
April–June[]
- April 1945
- 7 April
- Brewster's Millions
- 17 April
- Rockin' in the Rockies
- 20 April
- The Horn Blows at Midnight
- 29 April
- Tarzan and the Amazons
- 7 April
- May 1945
- 25 May
- The Clock
- 25 May
- June 1945
- 1 June
- That's the Spirit
- 23 June
- Murder, He Says
- 30 June
- Conflict
- 1 June
July–September[]
- July 1945
- 13 July
- Story of G.I. Joe
- 19 July
- Along Came Jones
- 27 July
- The Woman in Green
- 13 July
- August 1945
- 11 August
- Christmas in Connecticut
- 30 August
- State Fair
- 11 August
- September 1945
- 22 September
- Rhapsody in Blue
- 22 September
October–December[]
- October 1945
- 20 October
- Mildred Pierce
- 26 October
- Love Letters
- 31 October
- And Then There Were None
- Spellbound
- 20 October
- November 1945
- 1 November
- Vacation from Marriage
- 10 November
- Confidential Agent
- 1 November
- December 1945
- 7 December
- House of Dracula
- 8 December
- The Enchanted Forest
- 20 December
- Dick Tracy
- 25 December
- A Walk in the Sun
- 28 December
- Scarlet Street
- 31 December
- They Were Expendable
- 7 December
Notable films released in 1945[]
United States unless stated
A[]
- The Abandoned (Las Abandonadas), starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
- Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- Allotment Wives, starring Kay Francis
- Along Came Jones, starring Gary Cooper and Loretta Young
- Amok – (Mexico)
- Anchors Aweigh, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra
- And Then There Were None, starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Judith Anderson
B[]
- Back to Bataan, directed by Edward Dmytryk, with John Wayne
- A Bell For Adano, starring Gene Tierney and John Hodiak
- The Bells of St. Mary's, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman
- Blithe Spirit, directed by David Lean, starring Rex Harrison and Constance Cummings, based on the play by Noël Coward – (GB)
- Blood on the Sun, starring James Cagney
- The Body Snatcher, directed by Robert Wise, starring Boris Karloff
- Boule de suif (Angel and Sinner) – (France)
- Bougainvillea (Bugambilia), starring Pedro Armendariz and Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
- Brewster's Millions, starring Dennis O'Keefe
- Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard- (GB)
C[]
- Caesar and Cleopatra, directed by Gabriel Pascal, starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains – (GB)
- Captain Kidd, starring Charles Laughton
- The Cheaters, starring Joseph Schildkraut and Billie Burke
- The Cherokee Flash, starring Sunset Carson and Linda Stirling
- Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis), by Marcel Carné, starring Arletty, released following the liberation of France
- Christmas in Connecticut, starring Barbara Stanwyck
- Circus Cavalcade (La cabalgata del circo) – (Argentina)
- The Clock, starring Judy Garland
- Confidential Agent, starring Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall
- Conflict, starring Humphrey Bogart
- Counter-Attack, starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman
- The Corn Is Green, starring Bette Davis and John Dall
- Cornered, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Dick Powell
D[]
- Dakota, starring John Wayne
- Les dames du Bois de Boulogne, directed by Robert Bresson – (France)
- Dead of Night, Ealing Studios chiller compendium starring Mervyn Johns and Googie Withers – (GB)
- Death Mills, directed by Billy Wilder
- Detour, starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage
- Diamond Horseshoe, starring Betty Grable
- Dick Tracy, starring Morgan Conway and Mike Mazurki
- Dillinger, starring Lawrence Tierney
- The Dolly Sisters, starring Betty Grable
E[]
- The Enchanted Cottage, starring Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young
- The Enchanted Forest, starring Harry Davenport
- Escape in the Fog, starring Otto Kruger and Nina Foch
F[]
- Fallen Angel, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Alice Faye in her last major film role, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell
- Flame of Barbary Coast, starring John Wayne
G[]
- The Great Flamarion, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Erich von Stroheim
- Guest Wife, starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche
- Gun Smoke, starring Johnny Mack Brown and Jennifer Holt
H[]
- Hangover Square, starring Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell and George Sanders
- Here Come the Co-Eds, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- High Powered, starring Phyllis Brooks and Robert Lowery
- The Horn Blows at Midnight, starring Jack Benny
- Hotel Berlin, starring Faye Emerson and Raymond Massey
- The House I Live In, a short film starring Frank Sinatra
- House of Dracula, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and John Carradine
- The House on 92nd Street, produced by Louis de Rochemont, starring Lloyd Nolan and Signe Hasso
- Humayun, starring Ashok Kumar – (India)
I[]
- I Know Where I'm Going!, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey – (GB)
- I Live in Grosvenor Square, starring Anna Neagle, Rex Harrison and Robert Morley – (GB)
- I'll Be Your Sweetheart, directed by Val Guest, starring Margaret Lockwood (GB)
- Incendiary Blonde, starring Betty Hutton
- The Invisible Army (Den usynlige hær) – (Denmark)
- Isle of the Dead, starring Boris Karloff and Ellen Drew
- It's in the Bag!, starring Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Don Ameche
J[]
- Johnny Angel, starring George Raft and Claire Trevor
K[]
- Kiss and Tell, starring Shirley Temple
- Kitty, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland
- Kolberg – (Nazi Germany)
L[]
- Lady on a Train, starring Deanna Durbin and Ralph Bellamy
- The Last Chance (Die letzte Chance) – (Switzerland)
- Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde
- Life Begins Anew, directed by Mario Mattoli starring Alida Valli, Fosco Giachetti (Italy)
- The Lost Letter (Propavshaya gramota) – (USSR)
- The Lost Weekend, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman
- Love Letters, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten
M[]
- Madonna of the Seven Moons, starring Phyllis Calvert and Stewart Granger – (GB)
- The Man in Half Moon Street, starring Nils Asther
- A Medal for Benny, starring Dorothy Lamour
- The Men who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
- Mildred Pierce, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
- Mom and Dad, a hygiene documentary
- Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei), the first feature-length animated film from Japan
- My Name is Julia Ross, starring Nina Foch
N[]
- The Naughty Nineties, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
O[]
- Objective, Burma!, starring Errol Flynn
- Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, starring Edward G. Robinson and Margaret O'Brien
P[]
- Pardon My Past, starring Fred MacMurray and Marguerite Chapman
- Perfect Strangers, starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr – (GB)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield
- Pink String and Sealing Wax, starring Googie Withers and Mervyn Johns – (GB)
- La porta del cielo (The Gate of Heaven), directed by Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
- Pride of the Marines, starring John Garfield
- Pursuit to Algiers, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
R[]
- The Rake's Progress, starring Rex Harrison – (GB)
- The Red Meadows (De røde enge) – (Denmark)
- Rhapsody in Blue, a biopic of George Gershwin starring Robert Alda
- Rockin' in the Rockies, starring the Three Stooges
- Roll Call in Heaven (Cuando en el cielo pasen lista) – (Argentina)
- Rome, Open City (Roma Città aperta), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi – (Italy)
- A Royal Scandal, starring Tallulah Bankhead
- Rustlers' Hideout, starring Buster Crabbe and Al St. John
S[]
- Salome Where She Danced, starring Yvonne De Carlo
- San Antonio, starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith
- Saratoga Trunk, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman
- Scarlet Street, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett
- La selva de fuego (The Forest Fire), starring Dolores del Río and Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
- The Seventh Veil, starring James Mason and Ann Todd – (GB)
- Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
- Son of Lassie, starring Peter Lawford
- A Song to Remember, a biopic of Frédéric Chopin starring Cornel Wilde
- The Southerner, starring Zachary Scott
- The Spanish Main, starring Maureen O'Hara and Paul Henreid
- Spellbound, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck
- State Fair, starring Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain
- The Stork Club, starring Betty Hutton
- The Story of G.I. Joe, directed by William Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum
- The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry, starring George Sanders
T[]
- That's the Spirit, starring Jack Oakie
- They Were Expendable, directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne
- The Thin Man Goes Home, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
- This Man's Navy, starring Wallace Beery
- The Three Caballeros, a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Dora Luz
- Thrill of a Romance, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Esther Williams and Van Johnson
- Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, starring Roddy McDowall
- Tonight and Every Night, starring Rita Hayworth
- A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Dorothy McGuire
- Twice Blessed, starring Lee and Lyn Wilde
- Two O'Clock Courage, starring Ann Rutherford and Tom Conway
U[]
- The Unseen, starring Joel McCrea and Gail Russell
V[]
- The Valley of Decision, starring Greer Garson and Gregory Peck
- La vida en un hilo (Life on a Wire) – (Spain)
W[]
- A Walk in the Sun, starring Dana Andrews
- War Comes to America, directed by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak
- Waterloo Road, starring John Mills and Stewart Granger – (GB)
- The Way to the Stars, starring John Mills and Michael Redgrave, written by Terence Rattigan – (GB)
- The Wicked Lady, starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason – (GB)
- Without Love, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball
- The Woman in Green, starring Basil Rathbone (as Sherlock Holmes) and Nigel Bruce
- Wonder Man, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo
Y[]
- Yolanda and the Thief, starring Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer
Z[]
- Ziegfeld Follies, with an MGM all-star cast
Serials[]
- Brenda Starr, Reporter, starring Joan Woodbury
- Federal Operator 99, starring
- Jungle Queen, starring Edward Norris and Eddie Quillan
- Jungle Raiders
- Manhunt on Mystery Island, starring and Linda Stirling
- The Master Key, starring Dennis Moore
- The Monster and the Ape, starring Robert Lowery
- The Purple Monster Strikes, starring Dennis Moore and Linda Stirling
- The Royal Mounted Rides Again
- Secret Agent X-9, starring Lloyd Bridges
- Who's Guilty?
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 (1937–1956)
- 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)
- Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)
Births[]
- January 22 - Michael Cristofer, American actor and filmmaker
- January 25 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
- January 28 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress
- January 29 – Tom Selleck, American actor
- February 9 – Mia Farrow, American actress
- February 12 – Maud Adams, Swedish actress
- February 16 – Jeremy Bulloch, English actor (died 2020)
- February 17 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
- February 20 – Brion James, American actor (died 1999)
- February 24 – Barry Bostwick, American actor
- February 28 – Bubba Smith, American professional football player and actor (died 2011)
- March 13 - Whitney Rydbeck, American actor
- March 28 – Raine Loo, Estonian actress (died 2020)
- April 2 – Linda Hunt, American actress
- May 24 – Priscilla Presley, American actress
- May 31 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German director, producer and screenwriter (died 1982)
- June 2 – Jon Peters, American producer
- June 6 – David Dukes, American actor (died 2000)
- June 11 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
- July 1 - Debbie Harry, American actress and singer (lead vocalist of Blondie (band))
- July 23 - Edie McClurg, American actress and voice actress
- July 26 – Helen Mirren, English actress
- August 2 – Joanna Cassidy, American actress
- August 5 – Loni Anderson, American actress
- August 14
- Steve Martin, American actor and comedian
- Wim Wenders, German director, producer and screenwriter
- August 21 – Patty McCormack, American actress
- August 23 – Bob Peck, English actor (died 1999)
- September 17 – Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
- September 22 – Paul Le Mat, American actor
- October 7 – Michael Wallis, American journalist, popular historian, author speaker and voice actor
- October 18 – Huell Howser, American actor, television personality, host, comedian (died 2013)
- October 19 – John Lithgow, American actor
- October 26 – Jaclyn Smith, American actress
- October 27 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (died 2004)
- October 30 – Henry Winkler, American actor
- October 31 – Brian Doyle-Murray, American actor and comedian
- November 8 - Angela Scoular, English actress (died 2011)
- November 21 – Goldie Hawn, American actress
- November 27 – James Avery, American actor (died 2013)
- November 30 - Billy Drago, American actor (died 2019)
- December 1 – Bette Midler, American actress, comedian and singer
- December 17 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
- December 21 – Mari Lill, Estonian actress
- December 24 – Nicholas Meyer, American screenwriter, director and producer
- December 31 – Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan-born American actress
Deaths[]
- January 14 – Heinrich Schroth, 73, German actor, Dr. Hart's Diary, Melody of a Great City, Die Entlassung, Rembrandt
- February 23 – Reginald Barker, 58, American director, Civilization, The Bargain, The Coward, The Moonstone
- March 4 – Lucille La Verne, 72, American actress, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Abraham Lincoln, Orphans of the Storm, A Tale of Two Cities
- March 4 – Mark Sandrich, 44, American director, The Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet, Holiday Inn
- March 30 – Béla Balogh, 60, Hungarian director
- April 10 – Gloria Dickson, 27, American actress, Lady of Burlesque, They Won't Forget
- April 29 – Malcolm McGregor, 52, American silent screen star, Lady of the Night, The Circle, The Whispering Shadow, The Ladybird
- May 4 – Anna Dodge, 77, American actress, The Extra Girl, Ride for Your Life
- July 13 – Alla Nazimova, 66, Ukrainian-born stage and film actress, Blood and Sand, Salomé, Since You Went Away, Madame Peacock
- August 11 – Stefan Jaracz, 61, Polish actor, Countess Walewska
- September 1 – Terry, 11, American performing Cairn Terrier, The Wizard of Oz
- November 11 – Jerome Kern, 60, American composer, Show Boat, Swing Time
- November 12 – Jaro Fürth, 74, Austrian actor, Diary of a Lost Girl, Joyless Street
- November 21 – Robert Benchley, 56, American writer and actor, Foreign Correspondent, You'll Never Get Rich, Road to Utopia
Debuts[]
- Vittorio Gassman –
- Jane Greer – Pan-Americana
- Silvana Mangano – The Last Judgment
- Dean Stockwell – The Horn Blows at Midnight
- Lizabeth Scott – You Came Along
- Betty White –
Notes[]
- ^ "All-Time Top-Grossers", Variety 18 January 1950 p 18
- ^ a b Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 356–357. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
- ^ a b c d e The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
- ^ "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety. October 15, 1990.
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