Going My Way (1944)

Directed by Leo McCarey

Starring Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown, Gene Lockhart, Jean Heather, Porter Hall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eily Malyon, The Robert Mitchell Boys Choir, and Rise Stevens

Going My Way is an enjoyable, if totally unbelievable, feel-good film from 1944. It represents a time when priests could be depicted organizing a group of young boys without cynicism, something that unfortunately more recent actions by members of the Catholic Church and others' reactions to them has made impossible. It's not really a musical, but some good songs are introduced here, including the standard Swinging on a Star. A sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's, would be nominated for Best Picture the following year, but lose out to the decidedly not feel-good The Lost Weekend. Perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of this movie is that Barry Fitzgerald's character, who seems older than dirt himself, has a living mother!

Other nominees: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder), Gaslight (George Cukor), Since You Went Away (John Cromwell), and Wilson (Henry King)