You Must Remember This–Movies, Events, Trends, Stars
With 1945 being the last year of World War II, many films released had themes of patriotism, sacrifices, and peace.
In the U.S. there were more than 9,000 movie theatres operating at the end of 1945, a third more than a decade earlier.
Popular Movies (at the Box-Office)
Bells of St. Mary’s, The, $8.0 million
Valley of Decision, The, $5.56
Leave her to Heaven, 5.5
Spellbound, 4.9
Road to Utopia, 4.5
Anchors Aweigh, 4.5
Thrill of a Romance, 4.5
Weekend at the Waldorf, 4.4
Adventure, 4.25
National Velvet, 4.0
State Fair, 4.0
Dolly Sisters, The, 4.0
Oscar Awards
Best Actress
Oscar: Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: Ingrid Bergman, Spellbound, The Bells of St. Mary’s
National Board: Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce (first year the award was given)
Venice Film Fest: Not Held
Best Actor
Oscar: Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
National Board: Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
Venice Film Fest: Not Held
Oscar Year: 1945
Best Picture Nominees
Anchors Aweigh
The Bells of St. Marys
The Lost Weekend
Mildred Pierce
Spellbound
N.Y. Film Critics Circle: The Lost Weekend
Venice Festival: Not held that year
Top-Grossing Films (U.S.)
Highest-grossing films of 1945
Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals
1 The Bells of St. Mary’s RKO $8,000,000
2 Leave Her to Heaven 20th Century Fox $5,550,000
3 Spellbound United Artists/Selznick International $4,975,000
4 The Valley of Decision MGM $4,566,000
5 Anchors Aweigh $4,498,000
6 Week-End at the Waldorf $4,364,000
7 Thrill of a Romance $4,338,000
8 The Lost Weekend Paramount $4,300,000
9 State Fair 20th Century Fox $4,050,000
10 National Velvet MGM $3,678,000
Movie Events
January 26 –
National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, an instant critical and commercial success, propelling Taylor, age 12, to major stardom and earning Revere Best Supporting Actress Award.
January 30 –
Restricted release of Kolberg, historical epic, one of last Nazi Germany propaganda pieces, in war-torn Berlin. Its cast of 187,000 (including serving military personnel)
April 20 –
Son of Lassie, second Lassie film and first film to be using the Technicolor monopack method, where single magazine of film is used to record all the primary colors. Prior to this, most popular method was 3-Strip Technicolor, which simultaneously used 3 film magazines to record primary colors.
August 10 –
Animated Donald Duck short Duck Pimples is released.
Sept 27 –
Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (Roma Città aperta) marks the start of Italian neorealism in film.
Oct 5 – A strike between the set decorators’ union and studios becomes known as the Hollywood Black Friday.
Oct 31 –
Spellbound, a]Hitchcock’s psychological thriller premieres in New York.
November 16 – Paramount releases short cartoon, “The Friendly Ghost,” introducing a ghost named Casper.
Nov 29 –
At the Nuremberg trials, John Ford’s compilation documentary Nazi Concentration Camps is exhibited as evidence.
Dec 20 –
A Hollywood film, Call of the Yukon, is released in Japan for the first time since July 1941.
Oscar Awards: March 30, 1946
Best Film The Lost Weekend
Best Director Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend
Best Actor Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
Best Actress Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
Best Supporting Actor James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actress Anne Revere, National Velvet
Top money making stars
1 Bing Crosby
2 Van Johnson
3 Greer Garson
4 Betty Grable
5 Spencer Tracy
6 Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper
7 Bob Hope
8 Judy Garland
9 Margaret O’Brien
10 Roy Rogers
Notable films released in 1945
A
The Abandoned (Las Abandonadas), starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Allotment Wives, starring Kay Francis
Along Came Jones, starring Gary Cooper and Loretta Young
Amok – (Mexico)
Anchors Aweigh, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra
And Then There Were None, starring Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Judith Anderson
B
Back to Bataan, Edward Dmytryk, with John Wayne
A Bell For Adano, starring Gene Tierney and John Hodiak
The Bells of St. Mary’s, directed by Leo McCarey, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman
Blithe Spirit, directed by David Lean, starring Rex Harrison and Constance Cummings, based on the play by Noël Coward – (GB)
Blood on the Sun, starring James Cagney
The Body Snatcher, directed by Robert Wise, starring Boris Karloff
Boule de suif (Angel and Sinner) – (France)
Bougainvillea (Bugambilia), starring Pedro Armendariz and Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
Brewster’s Millions, starring Dennis O’Keefe
Brief Encounter, directed by David Lean, starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard- (GB)
C
Caesar and Cleopatra, directed by Gabriel Pascal, starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains – (GB)
Captain Kidd, starring Charles Laughton
The Cheaters, starring Joseph Schildkraut and Billie Burke
The Cherokee Flash, starring Sunset Carson and Linda Stirling
Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis), by Marcel Carné, starring Arletty, released following the liberation of France
Christmas in Connecticut, starring Barbara Stanwyck
Circus Cavalcade (La cabalgata del circo) – (Argentina)
The Clock, starring Judy Garland
Confidential Agent, starring Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall
Conflict, starring Humphrey Bogart
Counter-Attack, starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman
The Corn Is Green, starring Bette Davis and John Dall
Cornered, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Dick Powell
D
Dakota, starring John Wayne
Les dames du Bois de Boulogne, directed by Robert Bresson – (France)
Dead of Night, Ealing Studios chiller compendium starring Mervyn Johns and Googie Withers – (GB)
Death Mills, directed by Billy Wilder
Detour, starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage
Diamond Horseshoe, starring Betty Grable
Dick Tracy, starring Morgan Conway and Mike Mazurki
Dillinger, starring Lawrence Tierney
The Dolly Sisters, starring Betty Grable
E
The Enchanted Cottage, starring Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young
The Enchanted Forest, starring Harry Davenport
Escape in the Fog, starring Otto Kruger and Nina Foch
F
Fallen Angel, directed by Otto Preminger, starring Alice Faye in her last major film role, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell
Flame of Barbary Coast, starring John Wayne
G
The Great Flamarion, directed by Anthony Mann, starring Erich von Stroheim
Guest Wife, starring Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche
Gun Smoke, starring Johnny Mack Brown and Jennifer Holt
H
Hangover Square, starring Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell and George Sanders
Here Come the Co-Eds, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
High Powered, starring Phyllis Brooks and Robert Lowery
The Horn Blows at Midnight, starring Jack Benny
Hotel Berlin, starring Faye Emerson and Raymond Massey
The House I Live In, a short film starring Frank Sinatra, awarded a special Oscar for its message of tolerance[1]
House of Dracula, starring Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine
The House of Fear (1945 film), a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson
The House on 92nd Street, produced by Louis de Rochemont, starring Lloyd Nolan and Signe Hasso
Humayun, starring Ashok Kumar – (India)
I
I Know Where I’m Going!, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey – (GB)
I Live in Grosvenor Square, starring Anna Neagle, Rex Harrison and Robert Morley – (GB)
I’ll Be Your Sweetheart, directed by Val Guest, starring Margaret Lockwood (GB)
Incendiary Blonde, starring Betty Hutton
The Invisible Army (Den usynlige hær) – (Denmark)
Isle of the Dead, starring Boris Karloff and Ellen Drew
It’s in the Bag!, starring Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Don Ameche
Ivan the Terrible (Ivan Grozniy), directed by Sergei Eisenstein, starring Nikolai Cherkasov – (U.S.S.R.)
J
Johnny Angel, starring George Raft and Claire Trevor
K
Kiss and Tell, starring Shirley Temple
Kitty, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starring Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland
Kolberg – (Nazi Germany)
L
Lady on a Train, starring Deanna Durbin and Ralph Bellamy
The Last Chance (Die letzte Chance) – (Switzerland)
Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde
Life Begins Anew, directed by Mario Mattoli starring Alida Valli, Fosco Giachetti (Italy)
The Lost Letter (Propavshaya gramota) – (USSR)
The Lost Weekend, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman
Love Letters, starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten
M
Madonna of the Seven Moons, starring Phyllis Calvert and Stewart Granger – (GB)
The Man in Half Moon Street, starring Nils Asther
A Medal for Benny, starring Dorothy Lamour
The Men who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi), directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
Mildred Pierce, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden
Mom and Dad, a hygiene documentary
Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei), the first feature-length animated film from Japan
My Name is Julia Ross, starring Nina Foch
N
The Naughty Nineties, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
O
Objective, Burma!, starring Errol Flynn
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, starring Edward G. Robinson and Margaret O’Brien
P
Pardon My Past, starring Fred MacMurray and Marguerite Chapman
Perfect Strangers, starring Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr – (GB)
The Picture of Dorian Gray, starring George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield
Pink String and Sealing Wax, starring Googie Withers and Mervyn Johns – (GB)
La porta del cielo (The Gate of Heaven), directed by Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)
Pride of the Marines, starring John Garfield
Pursuit to Algiers, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson
R
The Rake’s Progress, starring Rex Harrison – (GB)
The Red Meadows (De røde enge) – (Denmark)
Rhapsody in Blue, a biopic of George Gershwin starring Robert Alda
Rockin’ in the Rockies, starring the Three Stooges
Roll Call in Heaven (Cuando en el cielo pasen lista) – (Argentina)
Rome, Open City (Roma Città aperta), directed by Roberto Rossellini, starring Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi – (Italy)
A Royal Scandal, starring Tallulah Bankhead
Rustlers’ Hideout, starring Buster Crabbe and Al St. John
S
Salome Where She Danced, starring Yvonne De Carlo
San Antonio, starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith
Saratoga Trunk, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman
Scarlet Street, directed by Fritz Lang, starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett
La selva de fuego (The Forest Fire), starring Dolores del Río and Arturo de Córdova – (Mexico)
The Seventh Veil, starring James Mason and Ann Todd – (GB)
Son of Lassie, starring Peter Lawford
A Song to Remember, a biopic of Frédéric Chopin starring Cornel Wilde
The Southerner, starring Zachary Scott
The Spanish Main, starring Maureen O’Hara and Paul Henreid
Spellbound, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck
State Fair, starring Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain
The Stork Club, starring Betty Hutton
The Story of G.I. Joe, directed by William Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry, starring George Sanders
T
That’s the Spirit, starring Jack Oakie
They Were Expendable, directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne
The Thin Man Goes Home, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy
This Man’s Navy, starring Wallace Beery
The Three Caballeros, a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Dora Luz
Thrill of a Romance, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Esther Williams and Van Johnson
Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, starring Roddy McDowall
Tonight and Every Night, starring Rita Hayworth
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Dorothy McGuire
Twice Blessed, starring Lee and Lyn Wilde
Two O’Clock Courage, starring Ann Rutherford and Tom Conway
U
The Unseen, starring Joel McCrea and Gail Russell
V
The Valley of Decision, starring Greer Garson and Gregory Peck
La vida en un hilo (Life on a Wire) – (Spain)
W
A Walk in the Sun, starring Dana Andrews
War Comes to America, directed by Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak
Waterloo Road, starring John Mills and Stewart Granger – (GB)
The Way to the Stars, starring John Mills and Michael Redgrave, written by Terence Rattigan – (GB)
The Wicked Lady, starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason – (GB)
Without Love, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball
The Woman in Green, a Sherlock Holmes mystery directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes, and Nigel Bruce as Watson, co-starring Hillary Brook and Henry Daniell
Wonder Man, starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo
Y
Yolanda and the Thief, starring Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer
Z
Ziegfeld Follies, with an MGM all-star cast
Births
Long List
Deaths
March 4
Mark Sandrich, 44, American director, The Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet
July 13 –
Alla Nazimova, 66, Ukrainian-born stage and film actress, Blood and Sand, Salomé, Since You Went Away,
Nov 11 –
Jerome Kern, 60, American composer, Show Boat, Swing Time
Film Debuts
Robert Alda – Rhapsody in Blue
Jeff Chandler – Thrill of a Romance
Vittorio Gassman – Inconto con Laura
Coleen Gray – State Fair
Jane Greer – Pan-Americana
John Ireland – A Walk in the Sun
David Janssen – It’s a Pleasure
Silvana Mangano – The Last Judgment
Darren McGavin – A Song to Remember
Cameron Mitchell – What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
Roger Moore – Perfect Strangers
Dean Stockwell – The Valley of Decision
Audrey Totter – Main Street After Dark
