1945: Going My Way

It's a... nice movie. But it's not particularly interesting.

The first thirty minutes were not great. I had to stop to take a nap so that my nap wouldn't be during the next thirty minutes. But it got a bit better from there.

This movie is about a Catholic priest. One of the subplots is about him working with a bunch of boys as he turns them into a choir. It was all innocent, and I'm sure that viewers in 1944 thought nothing of it. But watching it in 2017, especially after the Oscar winner from a few years ago, Spotlight, there were some bits that are a bit cringeworthy.

Another of the subplots, one that ties in with the boys later, involves Father O'Malley's music. O'Malley, played by Bing Crosby, is a song writer. Going My Way isn't just the name of the movie but it's the name of the song he wants to sell. The funny thing is that it isn't that great of a song. In fact, that's acknowledged in the movie with the music publishers not thinking much of it either. But it's featured twice and the movie is named after it.  But then he sings another of the songs O'Malley wrote, "Swinging on a Star." It's a much more fun song, and one that has survived. So since it's a better song, how about naming the movie after that one? And feature it twice instead of the other?

One good thing about Going My Way is that it wasn't predictable. All throughout the movie I though I knew what was going to happen next and which direction the various subplots were headed. I was just about always wrong. So it's got that going for it, which is nice. I would have rather watched Double Indemnity, which was nominated. It looks like I'll get a film noir fix with the next movie.





NEXT WEEK: 1946 - The Lost Weekend

Oscar Project Rankings:

1. Casablanca (1944)
   
2. It Happened One Night (1935)
3. All Quiet on the Western Front (1931)
4. Rebecca (1941)
5. Mutiny on the Bounty (1936)
6. You Can't Take It With You (1939) 
7. Gone With the Wind (1940)
8. The Life of Emile Zola (1938)
9. Grand Hotel (1933)
10. Cimarron (1932)
11. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
12. Broadway Melody (1930)
13. Going My Way (1945)
14. How Green Was My Valley (1942)
15. Wings (1929)
16. Mrs. Miniver (1943)
17. Cavalcade (1934)