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.
Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso, known professionally as Gilbert Roland, was a Mexican-born American film and television actor whose career spanned seven decades from the 1920s until the 1980s. He was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award in 1952 and 1964 and inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Shannon Emery Lee Keasler is an American actress, businesswoman, singer, and martial artist. She is the only living child of actor and martial artist Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, and is the younger sister of actor Brandon Lee. Through Bruce Lee she is a granddaughter of Cantonese opera singer and film actor Lee Hoi-chuen.
Bruce Bennett was an American film and television actor who was a college athlete in football and in intercollegiate and international track-and-field competitions. In 1928, he won the silver medal for the shot put at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Bennett's acting career in film and television spanned more than 40 years.
Du Barry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights. The musical was made into a 1943 Technicolor film Du Barry Was a Lady, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.
Victor Wong was a Chinese American actor. While Wong appeared in numerous films through the 1930s and 1940s, they were largely small uncredited parts. His memorable role was as Charlie the Cook in the movies King Kong (1933) and Son of Kong (1933). Wong's most memorable scene came in the original film when he finds evidence that natives have kidnapped Ann Darrow. He yells, "All hands on deck! Everybody on deck!" This causes panic aboard ship which begins the quest for Ann's whereabouts. The Charlie character in the sequel was more prominent to the story and included significantly more screen time for Wong. The character has since been criticized for being a racist stereotype, particularly for his exclamation of "Crazy black man been here!".
Before I Hang is a 1940 American horror film released by Columbia Pictures, starring Boris Karloff. The film was directed by Nick Grinde and was one of several films Karloff starred in under contract with Columbia.
John Edward Tyrrell was an American film actor. He appeared in over 250 films between 1935 and 1947, known for his numerous appearances with the Three Stooges, in a total of 29 shorts with Curly Howard as a third stooge.
Man of Conquest is a 1939 American Western film directed by George Nicholls Jr. and starring Richard Dix, Gail Patrick, and Joan Fontaine. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Score, Best Sound, and Best Art Direction.
Oscar O'Shea was a Canadian-American character actor with over 100 film appearances from 1937 to 1953.
Honolulu Lu is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Charles Barton and written by Eliot Gibbons. The film stars Lupe Vélez, Bruce Bennett, Leo Carrillo, Marjorie Gateson, Don Beddoe and Forrest Tucker. The film was released December 11, 1941, by Columbia Pictures.
Wagons Westward is a 1940 American Western film directed by Lew Landers, written by Joseph Moncure March and Harrison Jacobs and starring Chester Morris, Anita Louise, Buck Jones, Ona Munson, George "Gabby" Hayes and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was released on June 19, 1940 by Republic Pictures.
Harmon of Michigan is a 1941 American sports film directed by Charles Barton and starring Tom Harmon, Anita Louise and Larry Parks. Ostensibly a biopic about University of Michigan football player Harmon's post-collegiate career as a coach, it was actually filmed immediately upon his graduation and is thus entirely fictional. Harmon, who was an all-American and Heisman Trophy winner at Michigan, plays himself in the film.
Shut My Big Mouth is a 1942 American comedy Western film directed by Charles Barton and starring Joe E. Brown.
Blazing Six Shooters is a 1940 American Western film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and written by Paul Franklin. The film stars Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith, Dick Curtis, Alan Bridge, George Cleveland and Henry Hall. The film was released on April 11, 1940, by Columbia Pictures.
South of Dixie is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by Clyde Bruckman. The film stars Anne Gwynne, David Bruce, Jerome Cowan, Ella Mae Morse, Joe Sawyer and Samuel S. Hinds. The film was released om June 23, 1944, by Universal Pictures.
The Officer and the Lady is a 1941 American crime film directed by Sam White and starring Rochelle Hudson, Bruce Bennett, Roger Pryor and Richard Fiske. The film was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
The Taming of the West, which had the working title of Sundown in Helldorado, is a 1939 American Western film directed by Norman Deming, starring Wild Bill Elliott, and Iris Meredith. This was the first of four "Wild Bill Saunders" films produced by Columbia Pictures, followed by Pioneers of the Frontier.
The Secret Seven is a 1940 American crime film directed by James Moore and starring Florence Rice, Barton MacLane and Bruce Bennett.
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Jackie Gleason, Jack Durant and Florence Rice. The film's sets were designed by the studio's regular art director Lionel Banks. The production was an attempt to replicate the success of rival studio Universal's hit film Buck Privates, starring Abbott and Costello.
