Winners indicated (*). I still need to see films like Ivan the Terrible Part 1, Mrs. Parkington, A Canterbury Tale, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Children Are Watching Us, It Happened Tomorrow, This Happy Breed, The Sullivans, The Lodger, Casanova Brown, The Seventh Cross, The Fighting Seabees, Mademoiselle Fifi, Hollywood Canteen, Kismet, The Hour Before the Dawn, The Canterville Ghost, I'll Be Seeing You, The Way Ahead, The Adventures of Mark Twain, and The Mask of Dimitrios.
Note: Laurence Olivier's Henry V (released in the UK in 1944) is on my 1946 ballot, since it was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar that year.
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| Double Indemnity |
BEST PICTURE:
Arsenic and Old Lace
Double Indemnity*
Meet Me in St. Louis
Murder, My Sweet
To Have and Have Not
BEST DIRECTOR:
Frank Capra, Arsenic and Old Lace
Alfred Hitchcock, Lifeboat
Vincente Minnelli, Meet Me in St. Louis
Otto Preminger, Laura
Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity*
 |
| Gaslight |
BEST ACTOR:
Humphrey Bogart, To Have and Have Not
Charles Boyer, Gaslight
Cary Grant, Arsenic and Old Lace
Fred MacMurray, Double Indemnity*
Dick Powell, Murder, My Sweet
BEST ACTRESS:
Lauren Bacall, To Have and Have Not
Tallulah Bankhead, Lifeboat
Ingrid Bergman, Gaslight*
Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis
Barbara Stanwyck, Double Indemnity
 |
| Murder, My Sweet |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
William Demarest, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Barry Fitzgerald, Going My Way
Peter Lorre, Arsenic and Old Lace
Claude Rains, Mr. Skeffington
Edward G. Robinson, Double Indemnity*
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Ethel Barrymore, None But the Lonely Heart
Josephine Hull, Arsenic and Old Lace
Jennifer Jones, Since You Went Away
Margaret O'Brien, Meet Me in St. Louis*
Claire Trevor, Murder, My Sweet
 |
| Arsenic and Old Lace |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Arsenic and Old Lace
Double Indemnity*
Meet Me in St. Louis
Murder, My Sweet
To Have and Have Not
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Going My Way
Hail the Conquering Hero
Lifeboat
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek*
Wilson
 |
| Laura |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Curse of the Cat People
Double Indemnity*
Laura
Meet Me in St. Louis
The Uninvited
BEST FILM EDITING:
Arsenic and Old Lace
Double Indemnity
Laura*
Meet Me in St. Louis
Murder, My Sweet
 |
| The Miracle of Morgan's Creek |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Double Indemnity*
Jane Eyre
Laura
Since You Went Away
The Woman in the Window
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"The Boy Next Door", Meet Me in St. Louis
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", Meet Me in St. Louis*
"How Little We Know", To Have and Have Not
"Swinging on a Star", Going My Way
"The Trolley Song", Meet Me in St. Louis
Additional Categories
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| Meet Me in St. Louis |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Cover Girl
Gaslight*
The Keys of the Kingdom
Meet Me in St. Louis
Wilson
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Cover Girl
Gaslight
Jane Eyre
Meet Me in St. Louis*
Wilson
 |
| To Have and Have Not |
BEST MAKEUP:
Meet Me in St. Louis
Mr. Skeffington*
Wilson
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
Double Indemnity
Lifeboat*
Meet Me in St. Louis
Passage to Marseille
To Have and Have Not
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Lifeboat
Passage to Marseille
The Uninvited*
OMG!!! I just saw Lifeboat the other night! This year is so good already, and I've only seen like 6 films!
ReplyDeleteYay! I love this year!
DeleteOnly seen a couple of those. I sometimes find Cary Grant's acting style a bit samey, but he surprised me in a good way with Arsenic and Old Lace, with that comedic performance.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you were surprised in a good way, since Cary Grant wasn't fond of that performance. It's one of my favorites of his.
DeleteLOL, I always loved that Grant hated his performance in that film, because it's kind of what won him so many fans. He's fantastic in it!
DeleteHaha, I love it too! :)
DeleteI thought Keys of the Kingdom was nominated for Best Picture & Greg Peck for Best Actor? He was great in that. Oh Double Indemnity is on my to-watch list this year, can't wait!
ReplyDeleteIt didn't make the Best Picture lineup, but it was nominated for Best Actor the following year. For some reason, it wasn't eligible in 1944. Hope you like Double Indemnity!
DeleteIt's Double Indemnity for me as well. There never was anyone quite like Wilder.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? Though he won 6 Oscars, it seems like Wilder was very underrated.
DeletePicture:
ReplyDeleteDouble Indemnity
Laura
Lifeboat-Winner
Meet Me in St. Louis
Since You Went Away
This was a tough year for me too pick winners overall. I love the dark world Wilder created in Double Indemnity, Preminger's mood piece Laura, Selznick's massive tribute to the homefront and Minnelli's candy coated valentine but the microcosm that Hitchcock creates in Lifeboat is the one I found the most fascinating and the one I return to again and again.
Director:
George Cukor-Gaslight
Alfred Hitchcock-Lifeboat-Winner
Vincente Minnelli-Meet Me in St. Louis
Otto Preminger-Laura
Billy Wilder-Double Indemnity
This was between Wilder and Hitchcock for me but Hitch's ability to make the one set Lifeboat consistently compelling despite that very restiction tipped me in his favor.
Actor:
Dana Andrews-Laura
Cary Grant-Arsenic and Old Lace
Fred MacMurray-Double Indemnity-Winner
Claude Rains-Mr. Skeffington
George Sanders-Summer Storm
I saw that you had placed Rains in supporting and again his screen time skirts the two categories but his being the title character placed him in starring for me. It doesn't really matter though since as good as he and the others are, especially Sanders in what could be his best lead performance, none hold a candle to MacMurray's complex work as Walter Neff.
Actress:
Tallulah Bankhead-Lifeboat
Ingrid Bergman-Gaslight
Linda Darnell-Summer Storm
Judy Garland-Meet Me in St. Louis
Barbara Stanwyck-Double Indemnity-Winner
This was a tougher choice than actor. Judy and Linda were both terrific in different ways in their films and in a weaker year I would have gone with Tallulah in a heartbeat but this was a two person race. Ingrid's intricate performance is fascinating to watch but Barbara Stanwyck's noir devil is the gold standard for the genre and a great illustration of her versatility.
Supporting Actor:
Laird Cregar-The Lodger
Edward Everett Horton-Summer Storm
Edward G. Robinson-Double Indemnity
Walter Slezak-Lifeboat
Clifton Webb-Laura-Winner
This was the hardest category for me. Horton is heartbreaking in an atypical role and both Cregar and Slezak create distinctive, memorable villains but Robinson and Webb are the two whose characters have the most depth and both actors explore every bit of it. They're both incredible but Webb is able to turn a rather despicable man into an entertaining and surprisingly tragic person considering his overall odiousness.
Supporting Actress:
Jean Adair-Arsenic and Old Lace
Ethel Barrymore-None But the Lonely Heart
Josephine Hull-Arsenic and Old Lace
Cornelia Otis Skinner-The Uninvited-Winner
Claire Trevor-Murder, My Sweet
Adair and Hull are hysterical in Old Lace but theirs is a ying and yang partnership where one would be incomplete without the other and Ethel Barrymore gives a beautiful performance in Lonely Heart but the part isn't really much. That leaves Claire Trevor's venal temptress and Cornelia Otis Skinner's deliciously loony secrets keeper. Trevor as always is stellar but Skinner is so flat out disturbing and creepy plus manages the coded lesbian vibe so well I had to go with her.
Juvenile Oscar-Margaret O'Brien-Meet Me in St. Louis
Since the academy was still handing out special Oscars at this point I felt I could do the same for O'Brien's scene stealing work.
Just a quick note: I noticed in films from this year that you still have to see you listed The Hour Before the Dawn. I ran across it in its entirety on Youtube last week, it's not a masterpiece but worth checking out and Veronica is very beautiful in it even if her accent is a bit variable. As with most Youtube titles who knows how long it will be there but I've never been able to find it anywhere else.
Great stuff! Love the wins for Lifeboat and Double Indemnity, and Webb just misses my Best Supporting Actor lineup.
DeleteI'll have to watch Summer Storm. The Hour Before the Dawn isn't high on my watchlist, but I'll hopefully get to it at some point.