Going My Way 1944

The Film:

This one is going to be an interesting one to watch again. It's a childhood classic for me (along with its sequel, The Bells Of St Mary's) but it has been years since I last saw it.

My Catholic upbringing was far less Song of Bernadette and far more Father O'Malley and for that I am eternally grateful. My Dad will have only been about six or seven when Going My Way was first out in the UK, so it may have been on second release that he really got into it, but it was a nostalgic favourite of his. He knew a few Fr Fitzgibbons and had been inspired by a couple of Fr O'Malleys - and when he was still wondering whether he was called to the priesthood (before Mum came along - Deo Gratias!) he would have seen O'Malley as a bit of a role model.

So I know this film is going to make me miss my Dad. But I'm also bracing myself for a sentimental pile of old twaddle, with a few songs thrown in. Whether or not I enjoy the experience, it's going to have to go some to convince me that it deserved seven Oscars!


The Ceremony:

The programme for the event

The Ceremony was held at Grauman's Theatre on March 15th 1945 and Bob Hope was back at the helm.

It was the first time that the whole event was broadcast nationally and the whole thing lasted 70 minutes (aaah, those were the days!). It was also the first time that Best Picture was limited to five nominees - a rule that has only recently been changed.

Going My Way pretty much dominated the evening, with ten nominations and seven wins. Barry Fitzgerald was nominated in both the acting categories (winning the Supporting award). The rules were subsequently changed to stop this happening again.


Other Notable Winners That Night:

Barry to Ingrid - "I've won the award now, you can play my
part in the sequel. Just turn him into a nun!"

Among Going My Way's seven awards were acting Oscars for both priests - Bing and Barry. Ingrid Bergman won the first of her three awards for Gaslight (a fact that got me a pointless answer on Pointless the other day!)

Going My Way also got Director, Screenplay, Story (no idea why those two were separate awards, but there you go!) and Song. As producer, director and story originator, that means Leo McCarey took home three awards that night. 

Marvellous Margaret!

As we were still in war time, the awards were made of plaster painted gold. They were replaced the following year - which was just as well, because Barry Fitzgerald apparently decapitated his a few weeks later whilst practising his golf swing!

I have to also make mention here of the only Oscar recipient of the night (possibly the only attendee of the night, unless Olivia de H was there) who is still alive today. The fabulous Margaret O'Brien won a juvenile award that night, partly as a result of her stealing every scene she was in for Meet Me In St Louis. That almost makes up for the Trolley Song losing out to those priests!


Best Song:

This was the first time (of only five in total to date!) that the Best Song winner came from the Best Picture winner. It beat a rather long list which included The Trolley Song from Meet Me In St Louis (which would have got my vote) and it's a lovely little song.... I couldn't find footage from the film, but this is a much older Bing performing it - it was one he continued to sing right through his career:

What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:

Fred and Barbara - too much reality for wartime America?

I've only seen one of the other four Best Picture nominees. So I can't comment on Gaslight, Since You Went Away or Wilson. But Double Indemnity is widely regarded as the best Film Noir ever - and it's worthy of the claim. Billy Wilder doing Raymond Chandler with Barbara Stanwyck. What's not to like?

The Academy made it up to Billy Wilder the following year - and it was clear that, as war raged on in the real world, people didn't want politics or melodrama but something far more heartwarming. With priests and singing.


Our Verdict:

"Priest of the Year"?

There's a moment about halfway through the film, after Fr Chuck's music fails to sell, where his friend tells him "Schmaltz isn't selling this year". Well, I beg to differ. There's a lot of it here being sold by the bucketload. But that's no bad thing.

After the satire and cynicism of Casablanca, we are right back to heartwarming, hope-filled Hollywood feel-good family fare to get us through to the end of the war. I loved it when I was younger - and I have to say I still really enjoyed it this time round. I admit that I'm more tolerant than most to a cheesy musical, to a heavy dose of Bing and generally to stories about Catholics and/or teenagers. So maybe my review will be a little biased - but so what!

Random opera singer with church choir (including Andy Williams,
apparently - we think he might be the one just behind Bing!)

First of all - the film was (like many of its day) about half an hour too long. And there are two things I would have cut down to size to get rid of that half hour. First of all, there is an overlong subplot about an eighteen year old (her age so important to the appropriateness of the whole thing that it gets repeated several times!) who falls for the mortgage man's son, who then goes off to war. It helps the mortgage man's heart to melt and save the church, but otherwise takes up too much time. Also, there is the showcasing of Met Opera star Rise Stevens, leading to a random bit of Carmen and a few other moments where she should have just let Bing and the boys do the singing. Again, she advances the plot by being the reason the music publishers give Fr Chuck another chance - but some editing would have helped!

The old and the new - but their hearts were in the same place!

The actual setting of the film is not as cheesy-schmaltzy as it appears at first glance. This is a tough part of New York, with people struggling for money and gangs of boys out on the street with nothing much to do (except steal turkeys!). There are characters with some hope, lots of faith but seemingly no charity. And some with plenty of charity, even if the first two elude them.

We struggled to not make Father Ted references at inopportune moments (they have their Mrs Doyle, among other things) but as two Catholics watching this together we were both impressed by the authenticity of the way the priests and various parishioners were portrayed. Obviously, it was from a time when the Church was still a hero rather than a villain - but not in any unbelievable way. And I found that rather refreshing!

Will ye have a drink Father? Ah go on go on go on.....

Bing is great as Fr Chuck O'Malley. I love Bing anyway, so I'm easily pleased, but he's really believable in the role and incredibly likeable. However, Barry Fitzgerald absolutely steals the whole show as Fr Fitzgibbons. He's funny, sympathetic, gets all the best lines (just as he did in How Green Was My Valley!) - and his character is given an ending that only the most cynical would have a problem with. They both won Oscars for their performances. Bing was just being Bing (he would have deserved it more if he had won for The Country Girl ten years later!) but Barry Fitzgerald was superb and is now a strong contender for Actor of the Decade!

Frs O'Malley and Fitzgibbons are a great pairing, providing the real heart to the film (and stopping it from getting slushily out of control) - if my Dad knew priests like this in his formative years, then that explains a lot!