Going My Way is a 1944 American film directed by Leo McCarey, starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald.
Among the films about priests that Hollywood brought to cinemas in the mid-20th century, Going My Way is one of the most representative of all, because of the enormous audience success it brought Paramount Pictures and the important awards it won. It was made primarily by Catholic filmmaker Leo McCarey, one of the most prestigious directors of the time. The director himself wrote an effective plot – which Frank Butler and Frank Cavett would transfer to the screenplay – about the generational conflict that arises in a New York church, when the strict directives of the old pastor clash with Pastor OMalley’s new ways of bringing the faith to the people in a closer way.
Ingrid Bergman (Stockholm, August 29, 1915-London, August 29, 1982) was a Swedish actress who won three Oscars – matched by Meryl Streep in 2012, Frances McDormand in 2021 and surpassed only by Katharine Hepburn with four Oscars – and five Golden Globes, as well as the first winner of the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is considered one of the myths of the seventh art and is the fourth most important star in film history, according to the American Film Institute’s list. She is probably one of the most prolific actresses of the 20th century, in part because she developed her career in five languages (Swedish, German, English, Italian and French) and acted in film, theater and television in Sweden, Germany, the United States, Canada, England, Italy, France, Spain and Israel. She died on her 67th birthday after a long battle with breast cancer.
Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby Jr. (Tacoma, Washington, May 3, 1903-La Moraleja, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, October 14, 1977), better known as Bing Crosby, was an American singer and actor.
He was one of the first multimedia artists. From 1930 to 1954, he led the charts in record sales, radio contests and film earnings. He appeared in more than seventy films and recorded more than 1,600 different songs. His style influenced many male singers, including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dean Martin. His song White Christmas is the best-selling single of all time, with more than 50 million copies sold worldwide.
His early career coincided with the development of tape recording, which benefited Bing Crosby. He was the first artist to pre-record his radio programs. With this technique, he adapted the tools used in film production for broadcasting, techniques that later became standard. He was also the first to master his commercial recordings on magnetic tape.
Leo McCarey (Los Angeles, Californië, 3 oktober 1898-Santa Monica, Californië, 5 juli 1969) was een Oscarwinnende Amerikaanse filmregisseur en scenarioschrijver.
Leo McCarey began his career in the 1920s as a directorial assistant to American director Tod Browning. He won his first Oscar in 1937 for the comedy The Awful Truth. Between 1937 and 1959, seven of his films were nominated for an Oscar. Three of them were nominated for the Oscar for Best Direction.
He died of emphysema in 1969.
Ethel Barrymore, born Ethel Mae Blythe (Philadelphia, August 15, 1879 – Beverly Hills, June 18, 1959) was an American Oscar-winning actress.
Barrymore was an actress in the theater in New York and was a major star on Broadway. Her first appearance on Broadway was in 1901, when she was seen in Captain Jinks of the Horses Marines.
Beginning in 1914, Barrymore also appeared in films. Yet it wasn’t until the 1940s that she said goodbye to her career in theater to star in films in Hollywood. In 1944, Barrymore won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in None But the Lonely Heart. Barrymore’s last film was released in 1957.
Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia in 1879, the daughter of actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew. She is the sister of John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, John Drew Barrymore’s aunt and Drew Barrymore’s great-aunt.
Winston Churchill proposed, but Barrymore turned it down. She was then married to Russell Griswold Colt from March 14, 1909 through 1923. Because of her religion (Roman Catholic), she would not have remarried. Nevertheless, she still had many loves.
Barrymore died of heart disease in 1959.
Barry Fitzgerald, born William Joseph Shields (Dublin, March 10, 1888 – there, January 14, 1961) was an Irish actor.
Fitzgerald worked part-time at the Abbey Theatre early in his career. He began his actual acting career in 1929 in Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock. His career took off in the late 1930s. In 1937, he starred in The Plough and the Stars alongside Barbara Stanwyck. A year later, he starred alongside big stars Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby. In the 1940s, his career peaked with roles in The Long Voyage Home alongside John Wayne, How Green Was My Valley, Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, Going My Way and The Naked City. He also had several more major roles in the 1950s such as in The Quiet Man. He returned to Dublin in 1959, where he died two years later at the age of 72.
