1944 in film
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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 | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Going My Way | Paramount | $6,500,000[1] |
| 2 | Meet Me in St. Louis | MGM | $5,016,000[2] |
| 3 | Since You Went Away | United Artists | $4,950,000[3] |
| 4 | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | MGM | $4,297,000[2] |
| 5 | The Story of Dr. Wassell | Paramount | $4,209,968[4] |
| 6 | The White Cliffs of Dover | MGM | $4,045,000[2] |
| 7 | A Guy Named Joe | $3,970,000[2] | |
| 8 | Hollywood Canteen | Warner Bros. | $3,831,000[5] |
| 9 | To Have and Have Not | $3,652,000[5] | |
| 10 | Bathing Beauty | MGM | $3,284,000[2] |
Events
- March 10 – MGM's supernatural romantic drama A Guy Named Joe, starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, is released nationally in the United States.
- May 3 – The musical comedy drama Going My Way, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald, premieres in New York City. 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 – Home front drama Since You Went Away is released in the United States.
- August 16–September 11 – Nazi propaganda documentary Theresienstadt is filmed in the Theresienstadt Ghetto. Following completion of filming, co-director Kurt Gerron and many of those featured are transported to Auschwitz concentration camp and murdered; although completed in 1945, the film is never released.[6]
- September 6 – Crime thriller film noir Double Indemnity is released in the United States.
- 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 musical 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
- February 1944
- 3 February
- 5 February
- 10 February
- 11 February
- 22 February
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (re-issue)
- March 1944
- 2 March
- 10 March
- 17 March
- 22 March
- Cover Girl
- 23 March
April–June
- April 1944
- 9 April
- 17 April
- 25 April
- 26 April
- 29 April
- May 1944
- 5 May
- 8 May
- Great Britain)
- 11 May
- 13 May
- 27 May
- 29 May
- June 1944
- 1 June
- 8 June
- 27 June
July–September
- July 1944
- 2 July
- 6 July
- 7 July
- 8 July
- Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More
- 12 July
- 14 July
- 20 July
- 22 July
- 24 July
- The Seventh Cross
- August 1944
- 1 August
- 12 August
- 17 August
- 23 August
- 30 August
- September 1944
- 2 September
- 9 September
- 12 September
- 23 September
October–December
- October 1944
- 11 October
- 17 October
- November 1944
- 1 November
- 3 November
- 10 November
- 11 November
- 15 November
- 28 November
- December 1944
- 1 December
- House of Frankenstein
- 5 December
- 6 December
- 15 December
- 18 December
- 22 December
- 23 December
- 24 December[7]
- 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
- At Land, directed by Maya Deren
B
- Bathing Beauty, starring Esther Williams and Red Skelton
- Berlanti, directed by and starring Youssef Wahbi – (Egypt)
- Between Two Worlds, starring John Garfield, Eleanor Parker and Sydney Greenstreet
- 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
- GB)
- Can't Help Singing, starring Deanna Durbin
- GB)
- The Canterville Ghost, starring Charles Laughton, Robert Young and Margaret O'Brien
- Casanova Brown, starring Gary Cooper
- GB)
- 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
- GB)
- Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson
- Dragon Seed, starring Katharine Hepburn
- China)
E
- Enemy of Women, starring Paul Andor
- Experiment Perilous, starring Hedy Lamarr and George Brent
F
- GB)
- GB)
- The Fighting Seabees, starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward
- The Fighting Sullivans, directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Anne Baxter and Thomas Mitchell
- GB)
- Frenchman's Creek, starring Joan Fontaine and Basil Rathbone
- 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
- 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
- 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
- U.S.S.R.)
J
- Janie, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joyce Reynolds
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson; co-starring Rondo Hatton and Evelyn Ankers
- Phantom Lady, starring Franchot Tone and Ella Raines
- Pin Up Girl, starring Betty Grable
- 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
- U.S.S.R.)
- Rationing, starring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main
- Australia)
- Czechoslovakia)
S
- The Scarlet Claw, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson
- The Seventh Cross, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Spencer Tracy
- Sherlock Holmes and The Spider Woman, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson; co-starring Gale Sondergaard
- 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
- 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
- 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.)
- GB)
- To Have And Have Not, directed by Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- Sweden)
- Spain)
- GB)
- GB)
U
- The Uninvited, starring Ray Milland
- Up in Arms, starring Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore
W
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- )
- Donald Duck (1934–1956)
- Porky Pig (1935–1965)
- Daffy Duck (1937–1968)
- 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 10 – William Sanderson, American actor
- January 13 - Mike Edmonds, English actor
- January 20 – Margaret Avery, American actress
- January 23 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (died 2019)[8]
- February 3 – Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress (died 2021)
- February 8 - Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor (died 2014)
- February 13
- Stockard Channing, American actress
- Michael Ensign, American actor
- 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 6 - Harold Hopkins, Australian actor (died 2011)
- March 10 – Richard Gant, American actor
- March 14 – Steve Daskewisz, American actor and stunt double (died 2018)
- March 19 - Guy Thauvette, Canadian actor
- 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 8 - Joey D. Vieira, American actor
- 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
- Roger Rees, Welsh actor and director (died 2015)
- 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)
- Frank Pellegrino, American actor (died 2017)
- May 25 – Frank Oz, American actor, filmmaker 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)
- May 29 - Helmut Berger, Austrian actor (died 2023)
- June 11 – Roscoe Orman, American actor
- June 12 - Terence Kelly, Canadian actor
- June 14 - Joe Grifasi, American character actor
- June 20 - Oliver Cotton, English actor, comedian and playwright
- June 21 - Tony Scott, British director and producer (died 2012)
- June 23 – Ingrīda Andriņa, Latvian actress (died 2015)
- June 24 - Julian Holloway, British actor
- 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 22 - Peter Jason, American character actor
- July 23 - Pepe Serna, American actor
- July 30
- Frances de la Tour, English actress
- Yoon Jeong-hee, South Korean actress
- July 31 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- August 4 - Richard Belzer, American actor and stand-up comedian (died 2023)
- August 7 – John Glover, American actor
- August 9 – Sam Elliott, American actor
- August 11 – Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
- August 19 – John Roselius, American actor (died 2018)
- August 21 – Peter Weir, Australian director, producer and screenwriter
- August 25 - Anthony Heald, American character actor
- August 26 - Stephen Greif, English actor (died 2022)
- August 30 – Wolf Roth, German actor
- September 1 – Beau Starr, American actor
- September 6 - Swoosie Kurtz, American actress
- September 13 – Jacqueline Bisset, English actress
- September 15 – Pik-Sen Lim, Malaysian-British actress
- September 16 - Michael Edwards, American actor
- September 20 – Jeremy Child, British actor (died 2022)
- September 21 - Fannie Flagg, American actress and comedian
- September 22
- Kathe Green, American actress, model and singer
- Frazer Hines, English actor
- September 25 – Michael Douglas, American actor and producer
- September 26 - Helmut Bakaitis, German-born Australian director, actor and screenwriter
- September 28 - Matthew Cowles, American actor (died 2014)
- October 1 – Jean-Pierre Castaldi, French actor
- October 8 – Dale Dye, American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer
- October 10 – Lii Tedre, Estonian actress
- October 14 - Udo Kier, German actor
- October 20 - Robert Swan, American actor (died 2023)
- October 28 – Dennis Franz, 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)
- November 22 - Paul Brooke, retired English actor
- November 25
- Will McMillan, American actor, producer and director (died 2015)
- Ben Stein, American actor and comedian
- December 4 - Carol Sutton, American actress (died 2020)
- December 5 – Jeroen Krabbe, Dutch actor and director
- December 8 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian actress
- December 12 – Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
- December 15 – Morgan Paull, American actor (died 2012)
- December 17 – Bernard Hill, English actor
Deaths
- January 3 – Aage Hertel, Danish actor (born 1873)
- March 14 – Merta Sterling, American actress (born 1883)
- April 10 – Pat West, American actor (born 1888)
- July 14 – Emil Fjellström, Swedish actor (born 1884)
- July 18 – Alan Dinehart, American actor (born 1889)
- July 20 – Mildred Harris, American actress (born 1901)
- September 24 – Hugo Thimig, Austrian actor (born 1854)
- October 28 – Kurt Gerron, German film director (born 1897)
- November 27 – Jill Furse, British actress (born 1915)[9]
- December 9 – Laird Cregar, American actor (born 1913)
- December 13 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress (born 1908)
- December 15 – Glenn Miller, American bandleader, actor (born 1904)
Film Debuts
- Michael Ansara – Action in Arabia
- Lauren Bacall – To Have and Have Not
- Ann Blyth – Chip Off the Old Block
- Steve Brodie – Ladies Courageous
- Red Buttons – Winged Victory
- Rory Calhoun – Something for the Boys
- Peggy Ann Clifford – One Exciting Night
- Margia Dean – Casanova in Burlesque
- Guy Deghy – Mr. Emmanuel
- John Derek – Since You Went Away
- Richard Erdman – Mr. Skeffington
- Mona Freeman – Double Indemnity
- Gloria Grahame – Blonde Fever
- Victoria Horne – Phantom Lady
- Trevor Howard – The Way Ahead
- Angela Lansbury – Gaslight
- Guy Madison – Since You Went Away
- Anthony Newley – Henry V
- Jane Nigh – Laura
- Janis Paige – Bathing Beauty
- Gregory Peck – Days of Glory
- Enriqueta Reza – La vida inútil de Pito Pérez
- Zachary Scott – The Mask of Dimitrios
- Jean Simmons – Give Us the Moon
References
- ^ "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety. 6 January 1965. p. 39. Retrieved 29 December 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c d e The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety. 6 January 1965. p. 67. Retrieved 29 December 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Birchard 2004, p. 323.
- ^ .
- ISSN 0143-9685.
- ^ 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.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/75009. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
Bibliography
- Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813123240.