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.

Fandom movies:1944

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
2	Meet Me in St. Louis	MGM	$5,016,000
3	Since You Went Away	United Artists/Selznick International	$4,950,000
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	MGM	$3,970,000
8	Hollywood Canteen	Warner Bros.	$3,831,000
9	To Have and Have Not	Warner Bros.	$3,652,000
10	Bathing Beauty	MGM	$3,284,000

Events

March 16 – MGM's supernatural romantic drama A Guy Named Joe, starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne, opens in Los Angeles.
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.
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.

Notable films

Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise

1944 film releases

January–March

January 1944
*7 January
**Standing Room Only
*11 January
**Career Girl
*14 January
**Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
* 28 January
**Lifeboat
**Phantom Lady
February 1944
*3 February
**None Shall Escape
**The Fighting Sullivans
*5 February
**Captain America
*10 February
**Lady in the Dark
*11 February
**The Bridge of San Luis Rey
*22 February
**Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
March 1944
*2 March
**The Curse of the Cat People
*16 March
**A Guy Named Joe
*17 March
**Knickerbocker Holiday
*22 March
**Cover Girl
*23 March
**''The Heavenly Body''

April–June

April 1944
*9 April
**Rosie the Riveter (film)
*17 April
**The Lady and the Monster
*25 April
**Pin Up Girl
**And the Angels Sing
*26 April
**The Hitler Gang
**The Story of Dr. Wassell
May 1944
*5 May
**Follow the Boys
*8 May
**Time Flies –
*11 May
**The White Cliffs of Dover
*13 May
**Cowboy and the Senorita
*27 May
**The Tiger Woman
June 1944
*1 June
**Address Unknown
*8 June
**Days of Glory
*27 June
**''Bathing Beauty''

July–September

July 1944
*2 July
**The Hairy Ape
*6 July
**Double Indemnity
*7 July
**The Mummy's Ghost
*8 July
**Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More
*12 July
**The Invisible Man's Revenge
*14 July
**Summer Storm
*20 July
**Since You Went Away
*22 July
**The Adventures of Mark Twain
*24 July
**The Seventh Cross
August 1944
*1 August
**Wilson
*12 August
**Mr. Skeffington
*16 August
**Going My Way
*17 August
**Cry of the Werewolf
**The Soul of a Monster
*23 August
**Marriage Is a Private Affair
*30 August
**Till We Meet Again
September 1944
*2 September
**Our Hearts Were Young and Gay
*9 September
**Crime by Night
*12 September
**Strangers in the Night
*23 September
**''Arsenic and Old Lace''

October–December

October 1944
*11 October
**To Have and Have Not
*17 October
**Fiddlers Three –
**None but the Lonely Heart
November 1944
*1 November
**Something for the Boys
*3 November
**The Woman in the Window
*10 November
**Enemy of Women
*11 November
**Bluebeard
*15 November
**Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
*28 November
**Meet Me in St. Louis
December 1944
*1 December
**House of Frankenstein
*5 December
**Blonde Fever
*6 December
**Nothing but Trouble
*15 December
**Hollywood Canteen
*18 December
**Dangerous Passage
*22 December
**Winged Victory
**The Mummy's Curse
*23 December
**Lake Placid Serenade
*24 December
**I'll Be Seeing You
*29 December
**''Tomorrow, the World!''

Serials

Black Arrow
Captain America, starring Dick Purcell
The Desert Hawk, starring Gilbert Roland and 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
''The Three Stooges''

Animated short film series

Births

January 5 – Franco Ferrini, Italian screenwriter
January 9 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker
January 10 – William Sanderson, American actor
January 13 – Mike Edmonds, English actor
January 20 – Margaret Avery, American actress
January 22 – Pamela Salem, British actress
January 23 – Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
January 25 – Zully Montero, Cuban actress
January 28 – Andrew Jack, British dialect coach and actor
February 1 – Leo Burmester, American actor
February 3 – Trisha Noble, Australian singer and actress
February 8
*Richard Durden, English actor
*Roger Lloyd-Pack, English actor
*Michael P. Moran, American actor
February 13
*Yves Afonso, French actor
*Stockard Channing, American actress
*Michael Ensign, American actor
February 14 – Alan Parker, English director, producer and screenwriter
February 22 – Jonathan Demme, American director, producer and screenwriter
February 29 – Dennis Farina, American actor
March 5 – Peter Weibel, Ukrainian-born Austrian experimental filmmaker
March 6 – Harold Hopkins, Australian actor
March 10 – Richard Gant, American actor
March 14 – Steve Daskewisz, American actor and stunt double
March 19 – Guy Thauvette, Canadian actor
March 24 – R. Lee Ermey, American film, television and voice actor
March 26 – Diana Ross, American singer and actress
March 28 – Ken Howard, American actor
April 4 – Craig T. Nelson, American actor
April 5 – Willeke van Ammelrooy, Dutch actress
April 6 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian-born actress and model
April 8 – Joey D. Vieira, American actor
April 13 – Charles Burnett, American director
April 30 – Jill Clayburgh, American actress
May 4 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress
May 5
*Roger Rees, Welsh actor and director
*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
*Frank Pellegrino, American actor
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
*Clement von Franckenstein, English actor
May 29 – Helmut Berger, Austrian actor
June 5 – Colm Wilkinson, Irish singer and actor
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
June 23 – Ingrīda Andriņa, Latvian actress
June 24 – Julian Holloway, British actor
June 27 – Paul Koslo, German-Canadian actor
June 29 – Gary Busey, American actor
July 1 – Wahid Hamed, Egyptian screenwriter
July 2 – Viiu Härm, Estonian actress
July 4 – Emilio Echevarria, Mexican actor
July 8 – Jeffrey Tambor, American actor
July 12 – Delia Ephron, American writer and producer
July 17 – Catherine Schell, Hungarian-born British actress
July 18 – Sverre Anker Ousdal, Norwegian actor
July 22
*Nick Brimble, English actor
*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
August 7
*John Glover, American actor
*David Rasche, American actor
August 9 – Sam Elliott, American actor
August 11 – Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
August 13
*Kevin Tighe, American actor
*Dan Ziskie, American actor
August 19 – John Roselius, American actor
August 21 – Peter Weir, Australian director, producer and screenwriter
August 25 – Anthony Heald, American character actor
August 26 – Stephen Greif, English actor
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
September 21 – Fannie Flagg, American actress and comedian
September 22
*Kathe Green, American actress, model and singer
*Frazer Hines, English actor
September 24 – Sven-Ole Thorsen, Danish retired actor, stuntman, bodybuilder and strongman competitor
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
September 30 – Jarlath Conroy, Irish actor
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
October 28 – Dennis Franz, American actor
November 2 – Patrice Chéreau, French filmmaker, actor and producer
November 4 – Linda Gary, American actress, voice actress
November 14 – Keith Drinkel, English actor
November 17
*Danny DeVito, American actor, comedian, producer and director
*Gary Goldman, American animator, producer and director
*Lorne Michaels, Canadian-American producer
November 18 – Arthur J. Nascarella, American actor
November 21 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director and screenwriter
November 22 – Paul Brooke, retired English actor
November 24 – Peter Maloney, American actor and director
November 25
*Paul Copley, English character actor
*Will McMillan, American actor, producer and director
*Ben Stein, American actor and comedian
December 4 – Carol Sutton, American actress
December 5 – Jeroen Krabbe, Dutch actor and director
December 8 – Sharmila Tagore, Indian actress
December 11 – Teri Garr, American actress
December 12 – Kenneth Cranham, Scottish actor
December 15 – Morgan Paull, American actor
December 17 – Bernard Hill, English actor
December 31 – Taylor Hackford, American director

Deaths

January 3 – Aage Hertel, Danish actor
March 14 – Merta Sterling, American actress
April 10 – Pat West, American actor
July 14 – Emil Fjellström, Swedish actor
July 18 – Alan Dinehart, American actor
July 20 – Mildred Harris, American actress
September 24 – Hugo Thimig, Austrian actor
October 28 – Kurt Gerron, German film director
November 27 – Jill Furse, British actress
December 9 – Laird Cregar, American actor
December 13 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican actress
December 15 – Glenn Miller, American bandleader, actor