Going My Way: 1944
Directed by Leo McCarey
Writing credits: Frank Butler, Frank Cavett
Starring:
Bing Crosby .... Father Chuck O'Malley
Risë Stevens .... Genevieve Linden
Barry Fitzgerald .... Father Fitzgibbon
Frank McHugh .... Father Timothy O'Dowd
Gene Lockhart .... Ted Haines Sr.
William Frawley .... Max
Sequel: The Bells of St. Mary's
Winner of Best Picture, 1944.
Best Director: Leo McCarey
Best Actor: Bing Crosby
Best Supporting Actor: Barry Fitzgerald (who was also nominated for Best Actor in this film)
Best Music/Song: "Swingin' On a Star"
Best Screenplay
Father Chuck O'Malley is a young priest sent to help out aging pastor Father Fitzgibbon in a New York parish, who objects to the younger priest's progressive ways. Father O'Malley, with the help of an old girlfriend--Genevieve, now an opera star--also sets up a boys choir to get the kids off the street. All seems to go smoothly, even getting Father Fitzgibbon to come around to his way, until tragedy strikes and the church burns down. However, like all good comedies of Old Hollywood, things are set back on their heads by the end, and Father O'Malley even gets Fitzgibbon's mother to come over from Ireland for a visit.
The film features the songs "Going My Way" and "Swingin' on a Star."