Oscars flashback 80 years ago to 1944: ‘Casablanca’ and ‘The Song of Bernadette’ dominate
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As time goes by, there is lively “who should’ve won” debates about many of the Best Picture champs, but most agree that in 1944 Academy members got it right with “Casablanca.” However, it was not the most recognized film of that night 80 years ago, nor is it the film for which Bogie won his award, and Bergman was nominated — but not for “Casablanca.” It was an odd year in which only three films received multiple awards, and three of the acting winners provided their film’s only win. On March 2, 1944, Jack Benny hosted the 16th Academy Awards, an event that was broadcast overseas to servicemen and women and saw some changes to the ceremony. Read on for our Oscars flashback 80 years ago to 1944.
“Casablanca” was one of 10 films in contention for Best Picture; this was the last year until 2010 that there were more than five films in this category. Besides Best Picture, it won two more of its eight nominations, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director (Michael Curtiz). Eighty years later, it’s somewhat surprising that Humphrey Bogart walked away empty-handed for his portrayal of Rick Blaine, who is “no good at being noble” but turns into a reluctant hero nonetheless. Instead, a relatively unknown Hungarian actor won for his role in another drama revolving around WWII.
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Best Actor contender Paul Lukas won the sole award for Best Picture nominee “Watch on the Rhine.” Playing opposite Bette Davis as his American wife, Lukas portrays a German-born engineer who risks his life by working with anti-fascist movements. He was the first recipient of the Golden Globe for Best Drama Actor, and won the Oscar over four well-known Hollywood actors. Besides Bogart, his competition included Gary Cooper (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”), Walter Pidgeon (“Madame Curie”) and Mickey Rooney (“The Human Comedy”). Rooney had become the second-youngest nominee in this category four years prior for “Babes in Arms,” a record that still stands; this nomination also made him the third youngest until Timothee Chalamet‘s 2018 nomination for “Call Me By Your Name” knocked him down to fourth.
SEE Oscar nominations: How did your favorite films fare?
“The Song of Bernadette,” a biopic that details the story of a young French girl who has visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was the big winner, leaving with four victories out of 12 nominations, including Best Art Direction, Best Black and White Cinematography and Best Score. For her portrayal of the titular character, Jennifer Jones won Best Actress for her first major film role on her 25th birthday. She was up against four veteran actresses, including Jean Arthur, who received her sole career nomination for “The More the Merrier.” Two were previous recipients: Greer Garson (“Madame Curie”) had won for “Mrs. Miniver” the year before and Joan Fontaine (“The Constant Nymph”) had won the year before that for “Suspicion.” This was the first of three consecutive nominations for Ingrid Bergman, who would go on to win the next year for “Gaslight,” but her bid was not for her legendary performance in “Casablanca.”
The epic film “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” set during the Spanish Civil War, claimed nine nominations, including Best Picture, and was the third film in Academy history to receive acting nominations in all four categories, including Cooper and Bergman for Best Actor and Actress. Its sole win went to Greek actress Katina Paxinou for Best Supporting Actress as guerrilla fighter Pilar. Also in the running were two actresses from “The Song of Bernadette,” Gladys Cooper and Anne Revere, as well as Paulette Goddard (“So Proudly We Hail!”) and Lucile Watson (“Watch on the Rhine”).
Renowned character actor Charles Coburn appeared in two Best Picture nominees, “Heaven Can Wait” and “The More the Merrier,” and won Best Supporting Actor for the latter for his portrayal of a lovable millionaire who plays matchmaker during the housing shortage of WWII. He prevailed over Charles Bickford (“The Song of Bernadette”), J. Carrol Naish (“Sahara”), Claude Rains (“Casablanca”) and Akim Tamiroff (“For Whom the Bell Tolls”).
SEE2024 DGA Awards winners list in 3 film and 8 TV categories
This was the first year that the supporting acting winners received full-sized statuettes since the introduction of these categories in 1937. The previous recipients had received plaques. This was also the debut year in which the traditional banquet was discontinued, and the first in which the ceremony moved to a large public venue; in this case, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. “The Ox-Bow Incident” became the last film to date to receive its sole nomination in the Best Picture category.
Animation producer Fred Quimby broke Walt Disney’s streak for wins in Best Animated Short. Disney had dominated this category since its inception in 1932, losing only once in 1940 — to Quimby. In 1944, Quimby began a streak of his own, winning for the patriotic Tom and Jerry short “The Yankee Doodle Mouse.” The popular cat-and-mouse team would go on to win the next three years, and eventually became one of the most lauded series in this category, with a total of 13 nominations and seven wins between 1940 and 1954.
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