The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible to submit a nomination and vote on the final ballot. The Best Picture category is traditionally the final award of the night and is widely considered as the most prestigious honor of the ceremony.
William Joseph Shields, known professionally as Barry Fitzgerald, was an Irish stage, film and television actor. In a career spanning almost forty years, he appeared in such notable films as Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Long Voyage Home (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Sea Wolf (1941), Going My Way (1944), None but the Lonely Heart (1944) and The Quiet Man (1952). For Going My Way, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was simultaneously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. In 2020, he was listed at number 11 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Samuel Lawrence Klusman Parks was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it virtually ended when he admitted to having been a member of a Communist Party cell, which led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios. His best known role was Al Jolson, whom he portrayed in two films: The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949).
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.
Sydney Hughes Greenstreet was a British and American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting through the 1940s. He is best remembered for the three Warner Bros. films - The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Passage to Marseille (1944) - with both Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. He portrayed Nero Wolfe on radio during 1950 and 1951. He became an American citizen in 1925.
Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 American screwball mystery black comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant. The screenplay by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein is based on Joseph Kesselring's 1941 play of the same name. The contract with the play's producers stipulated that the film would not be released until the Broadway run ended. The original planned release date was September 30, 1942. The play was hugely successful, running for three and a half years, so the film was not released until 1944.
Julius Dassin was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, where he continued his career. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Directors' Guild.
"Bésame Mucho" is a bolero song written in 1932 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was recognized in 1999 as the most recorded and covered song in Spanish of all time. Famous versions were sung by Trio Los Panchos and female vocalist Gigliola Cinquetti in 1968, and by Dalida in 1976. English lyrics to it were written by Sunny Skylar. It inspired the cult indian song, Yeh Samaa Samaa Hai Pyar Ka, sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film Jab Jab Phool Khile
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminates in the Academy Awards.
Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone into questioning their own perception of reality. The expression, which derives from the title of the 1944 film Gaslight, became popular in the mid-2010s. Merriam Webster cites deception of one's memory, perception of reality, or mental stability. According to a 2022 Washington Post report, it had become a "trendy buzzword" frequently used to describe ordinary disagreements, rather than those situations that align with the word's historical definition.
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since then. In 2004, it finished at No. 37 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.
A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
Muzaffar Ali is an Indian filmmaker, fashion designer, poet, artist, cultural revivalist, and social worker.
"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song about missing a loved one, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published in 1938, it was inserted into the Broadway musical Right This Way, which closed after fifteen performances. The title of the 1944 film I'll Be Seeing You was taken from this song at the suggestion of the film's producer, Dore Schary. The song is included in the film's soundtrack.
Eric John Bryan Pratt, known professionally as John Bryan, was a British art director and film producer.
German submarine U-281 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Outlaw Roundup is a 1944 American Western film directed by Harry L. Fraser and written by Elmer Clifton. The film stars Dave O'Brien, James Newill, Guy Wilkerson, Helen Chapman, Jack Ingram and I. Stanford Jolley. The film was released on February 10, 1944, by Producers Releasing Corporation.
Lightning Raiders is a 1946 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Elmer Clifton. The film stars Buster Crabbe, Al St. John, Mady Lawrence, Henry Hall, Steve Darrell, I. Stanford Jolley, Karl Hackett and Roy Brent. The film was released on January 7, 1946, by Producers Releasing Corporation.
