Going My Way (1944)
Rent DVD by Mail
Theatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
It took some doing to persuade the staunchly Catholic Bing Crosby to play a happy-go-lucky priest in Going My Way; luckily he acquiesced, winning an Academy Award in the process. Crosby is cast as Father Chuck O'Malley, newly arrived at rundown, heavily in debt St. Dominic's Church. Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald), the cranky, set-in-his-ways curate of St. Dominic's, is none too pleased with O'Malley's breezy, "modernistic" methods. Fitzgibbon is content to adhere to the policies he has followed for nearly 45 years. Without overtly challenging Fitzgibbon's authority (he likes the old buzzard, and the feeling is mutual), O'Malley sets about to win the confidence of the local street toughs, organizing the boys into an angelic church choir. He also forestalls the plans of St. Dominic's mortgage holder Ted Haines (Gene Lockhart) to evict Fitzgibbons by arranging a fundraising choir tour, to be headlined by O'Malley's childhood friend, opera star Genevieve Linden (Rise Stevens). When he's not coming to the rescue of St. Dominic's, O'Malley is smoothing the path of romance for Haines' son (James Brown) and orphaned Carol James (Jean Heather), and arranging for a reunion between Fitzgibbons and his nonagenarian Irish mother. There is sentiment by the bucketful in Going My Way, but director Leo McCarey sagaciously tempers the treacle with moments of genuine hilarity and several delightful (and seemingly spontaneous) musical interludes. In addition to Crosby, Oscars went to Barry Fitzgerald, Leo McCarey, screenwriters Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, and Burke and Van Heusen's song hit "Swingin' On a Star." Bing Crosby repeated his father O'Malley characterization in McCarey's 1945 sequel The Bells of St. Mary's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Bing Crosby - Father Chuck O'Malley
- Barry Fitzgerald - Father Fitzgibbon
- Frank McHugh - Father Timothy O'Dowd
- Jean Heather - Carol James
- Stanley Clements - Tony Scaponi
- Anita Bolster - Mrs. Quimp
- Porter Hall - Mr. Belknap
- Tom Dillon - Police Officer
- Julie Gibson - Cab Driver
- Jack Norton - Mr. Lilley
- George McKay - Mr. Van Heusen
- George Nokes - Pee Wee
- Hugh Maguire - Pitch Pipe
- Sybil Lewis - Maid at Opera House
- Rise Stevens - Genevieve Linden
- Gene Lockhart - Ted Haines, Sr.
- James Brown - Ted Haines, Jr.
- Eily Malyon - Mrs. Carmody
- Fortunio Bonanova - Tomasso Bozzani
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer - Herman Langerhanke Switzer
- William Henry - Doctor
- Martin Garralaga - Zuniga
- Robert Tafur - Don Jose
- Gibson Gowland - Parishioner
- William Frawley - Max Dolan
- Adeline Reynolds - Mother Fitzgibbon
- Jimmie Dundee - Fireman
- Thomas P. Dillon - Officer McCarthy
- Director(s):
- Leo McCarey
- Writer(s):
- Frank R. Butler, Frank Cavett, Leo McCarey
- Producer(s):
- Leo McCarey
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1944 - Going My Way - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Best Picture
- 1944 - Going My Way - Film Daily - 10 Best Films
- 1944 - Going My Way - Golden Globe - Best Picture
- 1944 - Going My Way - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
- 1944 - Going My Way - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Picture
- 1944 - Going My Way - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Director
- 1944 - Going My Way - National Board of Review - Best Acting
- 1944 - Going My Way - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor
- 1944 - Going My Way - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Picture
- 1944 - Going My Way - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Director
- 1944 - Going My Way - New York Times - 10 Best Films
- 1944 - Going My Way - Photoplay - 10 Best Films
