1944 in film explained
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 |
|---|
| 5 | The Story of Dr. Wassell | Paramount | $4,209,968 |
|---|
| 6 | The White Cliffs of Dover | MGM | $4,045,000 |
|---|
| 7 | A Guy Named Joe | $3,970,000 |
|---|
| 8 | Hollywood Canteen | Warner Bros. | $3,831,000[4] |
|---|
| 9 | To Have and Have Not | $3,652,000 |
|---|
| 10 | Bathing Beauty | MGM | $3,284,000 | |
|---|
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. It opens in Los Angeles on August 16. 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.[5]
- 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
- May 1944
- 5 May
- 8 May
- 11 May
- 13 May
- 27 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
- 16 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[6]
- 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)
- , 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 22 - Pamela Salem, British actress (died 2024)
- January 23 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (died 2019)[7]
- January 28 - Andrew Jack, British dialect coach and actor (died 2020)
- 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 27 - G. W. Bailey, American actor
- 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
- 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 (died 2024)
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)[8]
- 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. . 6 January 1965 . 39 . 29 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
- .
- All-Time Top Grossers. . 6 January 1965 . 67 . 29 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
- Glancy . H. Mark . Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921-51: the William Schaefer ledger. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television . 1995 . 15 . 1 . 64 . 10.1080/01439689500260031.
- Margry. Karel. 'Theresienstadt' (1944–1945): the Nazi propaganda film depicting the concentration camp as paradise. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. January 1992. 12. 2. 145–162. 10.1080/01439689200260091. 0143-9685.
- Michael D. Gambone, The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society, Texas A&M University Press, 2005 p 152
- Web site: Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer dies aged 75 . BBC News . 24 July 2019 . 24 July 2019.
- Robin. Ravilious. Whistler, Sir (Alan Charles) Laurence . 2004. 10.1093/ref:odnb/75009.
Bibliography
- Book: Birchard, Robert S. . Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood . University Press of Kentucky . 2004 . 978-0813123240.
External links
