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.)[ edit ]
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]
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.[ 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.
Top Ten Money Making Stars [ edit ]
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 1944
9 April
17 April
25 April
26 April
May 1944
5 May
8 May
11 May
13 May
27 May
June 1944
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 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 [ edit ]
United States unless stated
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
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
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 )
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.
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
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
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
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
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 )
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
Animated short film series [ edit ]
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)[ 8]
January 28 - Andrew Jack , British dialect coach and actor (died 2020)
February 3 – Trisha Noble , Australian singer and actress (died 2021)
February 8
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
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
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 13 - Kevin Tighe , American 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 2 - Patrice Chéreau , French filmmaker, actor and producer (died 2013)
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 11 - Teri Garr , American actress (died 2024)
December 12 – Kenneth Cranham , Scottish actor
December 15 – Morgan Paull , American actor (died 2012)
December 17 – Bernard Hill , English actor (died 2024)
December 17 - Orlando Spado , American businessman and entrepreneur
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)
^ "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.)
Birchard, Robert S. (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood . University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813123240 .