Today in 1945, the 17th annual Academy Awards were held with Going My Way (1944) the big winner taking 7 Oscars. This year is a interesting for a couple of reasons...
Ingrid Bergman wins the first of her three Oscars
This is the year where they had to tighten up the rules on who could be nominated for acting (since Barry Fitzgerald was nominated as both lead and supporting for the same performance in Going My Way!) and this is the year where the Academy settled on 5 as the perfect number going forward for a Best Picture shortlist. The previous year was the last (for 60+ years) with 10 nominees. Oscar would stick with 5 as the key number for the next six decade until the Board of Governors expanded the number to 10 again in 2009. And then, they changed it again, agonizingly, in 2011 to our current "any number between 5 and 10....but so far it's only ever been 8 or 9" sloppiness.
But back to 1944. If you've seen Going My Way you might find its big Oscar haul inexplicable given its softness. The movie is pleasant enough but it's not exactly throwing off dramatic sparks! Somethings been lost in translation from the 40s until now, which happens to some pictures. Perhaps its priest as hero was a hugely heartwarming message, especially up against the pessimistic brilliance of Double Indemnity which is the easy champ in the lineup for "Films People Still Care About..."
Best Picture Nominees 1944
- Double Indemnity
- Gaslight
- Going My Way
- Since You Went Away
- Wilson
If Oscar had kept it's 10 wide Best Picture list we might have been looking at these films as Picture nominees as well
- Laura (5 nominations include director)
- Lifeboat (3 nominations including director)
- Meet Me in St Louis (4 nominations including writing + a special juvenile Oscar)
- None but the Lonely Heart (4 nominations)
But beyond that for a tenth nominee, it's anyone's guess.
Other films with multiple Oscar nods in 1944
Kismet and Cover Girl both had a few craft nominations, Mr Skeffington and Mrs Parkington both were liked by actors but not much traction elsewhere. Might it have been [shudder] the yellowface dramatics of Dragon Seed (2 nominations: Supporting Actress and Cinematography)?
Who would get your votes that year among the nominees?