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Overview of the events of 1944 in film
Overview of the events of 1944 in film
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:
Highest-grossing films of 1944
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
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
Top Ten Money Making Stars
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
March 1944
2 March
10 March
17 March
22 March
23 March
April–June
April 1944
9 April
17 April
25 April
26 April
29 April
May 1944
5 May
8 May
11 May
13 May
27 May
29 May
June 1944
July–September
July 1944
2 July
6 July
7 July
8 July
12 July
14 July
20 July
22 July
24 July
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
November 1944
1 November
3 November
10 November
11 November
15 November
28 November
December 1944
1 December
5 December
6 December
15 December
18 December
22 December
23 December
24 December
[7]
29 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
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
E
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
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
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
J
K
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
O
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
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
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
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 )
To Have And Have Not , directed by
Howard Hawks , starring
Humphrey Bogart and
Lauren Bacall
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
W
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
Y
Serials
Short film series
Animated short film series
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
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
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
May 25 –
Frank Oz , American actor, filmmaker and puppeteer
May 26
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
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
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
November 21 –
Harold Ramis , American actor, director and screenwriter (died 2014)
November 22 -
Paul Brooke , retired English actor
November 25
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
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.
^
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 .
^ Margry, Karel (January 1992). " 'Theresienstadt' (1944–1945): the Nazi propaganda film depicting the concentration camp as paradise".
Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television . 12 (2): 145–162.
doi :
10.1080/01439689200260091 .
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 .
^ Ravilious, Robin (2004).
"Whistler, Sir (Alan Charles) Laurence" .
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi :
10.1093/ref:odnb/75009 . (Subscription or
UK public library membership required.)
Bibliography
Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood . University Press of Kentucky.
ISBN
978-0813123240 .
External links