1944 Oscars 16th Academy Awards

1944 Oscars 16th Academy Awards

  • 16th Academy Awards took place on March 2, 1944
  • Venue: Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California
  • Host: Comedy legend Jack Benny
  • Eligibility Year: Films released in 1943

Major Wins:

  • Casablanca snagged Best Picture
  • Best Actor went to Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine
  • Jennifer Jones won Best Actress for The Song of Bernadette

Directing & Screenplay:

  • Michael Curtiz took home Best Director for Casablanca
  • The Best Original Screenplay went to Norman Krasna for Princess O’Rourke

1944 Oscar Trivia:

  • Casablanca‘s initial release was in 1942, but it was widely released in 1943, making it eligible for this year’s awards.
  • The Song of Bernadette led the nominations with 12 but secured only four wins.
  • For Whom The Bell Tolls earned nine nominations, winning 1.
  • Casablanca earned eight nominations, winning 3.
  • Phantom of the Opera earned four nominations, winning 2.

1944 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Outstanding Motion Picture:
Casablanca – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. (WINNER)
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Sam Wood for Paramount
Heaven Can Wait – Ernst Lubitsch for 20th Century Fox
The Human Comedy – Clarence Brown for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In Which We Serve – Noël Coward for Two Cities Films
Madame Curie – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The More the Merrier – George Stevens for Columbia
The Ox-Bow Incident – Lamar Trotti for 20th Century Fox
The Song of Bernadette – William Perlberg for 20th Century Fox
Watch on the Rhine – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros
Best Director:
Michael Curtiz – Casablanca (WINNER)
Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait
Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy
George Stevens – The More the Merrier
Henry King – The Song of Bernadette
Best Actor:
Paul Lukas – Watch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller (WINNER)
Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca as Rick Blaine
Gary Cooper – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Robert Jordan
Walter Pidgeon – Madame Curie as Pierre Curie
Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy as Homer Macauley
Best Actress:
Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette as Bernadette Soubirous (WINNER)
Jean Arthur – The More the Merrier as Constance Milligan
Ingrid Bergman – For Whom the Bell Tolls as María
Joan Fontaine – The Constant Nymph as Tessa Sanger
Greer Garson – Madame Curie as Marie Curie
Best Supporting Actor:
Charles Coburn – The More the Merrier as Benjamin Dingle (WINNER)
Charles Bickford – The Song of Bernadette as Abbé Dominique Peyramale
J. Carrol Naish – Sahara as Giuseppe
Claude Rains – Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
Akim Tamiroff – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo
Best Supporting Actress:
Katina Paxinou – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pilar (WINNER)
Gladys Cooper – The Song of Bernadette as Marie Therese Vauzou
Paulette Goddard – So Proudly We Hail! as Lt. Joan O’Doul
Anne Revere – The Song of Bernadette as Louise Casterot Soubirous
Lucile Watson – Watch on the Rhine as Fanny Farrelly
Best Original Screenplay:
Princess O’Rourke – Norman Krasna (WINNER)
Air Force – Dudley Nichols
In Which We Serve – Noël Coward
The North Star – Lillian Hellman
So Proudly We Hail! – Allan Scott
Best Screenplay:
Casablanca – Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard E. Koch, based on Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison (WINNER)
Holy Matrimony – Nunnally Johnson, based on Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett
The More the Merrier – Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell, based on a story by Frank Ross and Robert Russell
The Song of Bernadette – George Seaton, based on the novel by Franz Werfel
Watch on the Rhine – Dashiell Hammett, based on the play by Lillian Hellman
Best Original Motion Picture Story:
The Human Comedy – William Saroyan (WINNER)
Action in the North Atlantic – Guy Gilpatric
Destination Tokyo – Steve Fisher
The More the Merrier – Robert Russell and Frank Ross
Shadow of a Doubt – Thornton Wilder
Best Documentary Feature:
Desert Victory – British Ministry of Information (WINNER)
Baptism of Fire – United States Army
The Battle of Russia – United States Department of War, Special Service Division
Report from the Aleutians – United States Army Pictorial Service
War Department Report – United States Office of Strategic Services, Field Photographic Bureau
Best Documentary Short Subject:
December 7th – United States Navy (WINNER)
Children of Mars – RKO Radio
Plan for Destruction – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Swedes in America – United States Office of War Information, Overseas Motion Picture Bureau
To the People of the United States – Walter Wanger
Tomorrow We Fly – United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics
Youth in Crisis – The March of Time
Best Short Subjects – Cartoons:
The Yankee Doodle Mouse – Fred Quimby (WINNER)
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins – George Pal
The Dizzy Acrobat – Walter Lantz
Greetings, Bait! – Leon Schlesinger
Imagination – Dave Fleischer
Reason and Emotion – Walt Disney
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel:
Amphibious Fighters – Grantland Rice (WINNER)
Cavalcade of Dance – Gordon Hollingshead
Champions Carry On – Edmund Reek
Hollywood in Uniform – Ralph Staub
Seeing Hands – Pete Smith
Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel:
Heavenly Music – Jerry Bresler and Sam Coslow (WINNER)
Letter to a Hero – Frederic Ullman Jr.
Mardi Gras – Walter MacEwen
Women at War – Gordon Hollingshead
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture:
The Song of Bernadette – Alfred Newman (WINNER)
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday – Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner
Casablanca – Max Steiner
Commandos Strike at Dawn – Louis Gruenberg and Morris Stoloff
The Fallen Sparrow – C. Bakaleinikoff and Roy Webb
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Victor Young
Hangmen Also Die! – Hanns Eisler
Hi Diddle Diddle – Philip Boutelje
In Old Oklahoma – Walter Scharf
Johnny Come Lately – Leigh Harline
The Kansan – Gerard Carbonara
Lady of Burlesque – Arthur Lange
Madame Curie – Herbert Stothart
The Moon and Sixpence – Dimitri Tiomkin
The North Star – Aaron Copland
Victory Through Air Power – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Oliver Wallace
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture:
This Is the Army – Ray Heindorf (WINNER)
Coney Island – Alfred Newman
Hit Parade of 1943 – Walter Scharf
Phantom of the Opera – Edward Ward
Saludos Amigos – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott
The Sky’s the Limit – Leigh Harline
Something to Shout About – Morris Stoloff
Stage Door Canteen – Frederic E. Rich
Star Spangled Rhythm – Robert Emmett Dolan
Thousands Cheer – Herbert Stothart
Best Original Song:
“You’ll Never Know” from Hello, Frisco, Hello – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon (WINNER)
“A Change of Heart” from Hit Parade of 1943 – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Harold Adamson
“Happiness is a Thing Called Joe” from Cabin in the Sky – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg
“My Shining Hour” from The Sky’s the Limit – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
“Saludos Amigos” from Saludos Amigos – Music by Charles Wolcott; Lyrics by Ned Washington
“Say a Pray’r for the Boys Over There” from Hers to Hold – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Herb Magidson
“That Old Black Magic” from Star Spangled Rhythm – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
“They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” from Thank Your Lucky Stars – Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyrics by Frank Loesser
“We Mustn’t Say Goodbye” from Stage Door Canteen – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Al Dubin
“You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” from Something to Shout About – Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Best Sound Recording:
This Land Is Mine – Stephen Dunn (WINNER)
Hangmen Also Die! – Jack Whitney
In Old Oklahoma – Daniel J. Bloomberg
Madame Curie – Douglas Shearer
The North Star – Thomas T. Moulton
Phantom of the Opera – Bernard B. Brown
Riding High – Loren L. Ryder
Sahara – John P. Livadary
Saludos Amigos – C. O. Slyfield
So This Is Washington – J. L. Fields
The Song of Bernadette – E. H. Hansen
This Is the Army – Nathan Levinson
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black-and-White:
The Song of Bernadette – Art Direction: James Basevi and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little (WINNER)
Five Graves to Cairo – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger
Flight for Freedom – Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino and Carroll Clark; Interior Decoration: Darrell Silvera and Harley Miller
Madame Curie – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt
Mission to Moscow – Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins
The North Star – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Color:
Phantom of the Opera – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and John B. Goodman; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb (WINNER)
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Haldane Douglas; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger
The Gang’s All Here – Art Direction: James Basevi and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little
This Is the Army – Art Direction: John Hughes and Lt. John Koenig; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins
Thousands Cheer – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Daniel B. Cathcart; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Jacques Mersereau
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:
The Song of Bernadette – Arthur C. Miller (WINNER)
Air Force – James Wong Howe, Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall
Casablanca – Arthur Edeson
Corvette K-225 – Tony Gaudio
Five Graves to Cairo – John F. Seitz
The Human Comedy – Harry Stradling
Madame Curie – Joseph Ruttenberg
The North Star – James Wong Howe
Sahara – Rudolph Maté
So Proudly We Hail! – Charles Lang
Best Cinematography, Color:
Phantom of the Opera – Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene (WINNER)
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ray Rennahan
Heaven Can Wait – Edward Cronjager
Hello, Frisco, Hello – Charles G. Clarke and Allen Davey
Lassie Come Home – Leonard Smith
Thousands Cheer – George J. Folsey
Best Film Editing:
Air Force – George Amy (WINNER)
Casablanca – Owen Marks
Five Graves to Cairo – Doane Harrison
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Sherman Todd and John F. Link Sr.
The Song of Bernadette – Barbara McLean
Best Special Effects:
Crash Dive – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Roger Heman (WINNER)
Air Force – Photographic Effects: Hans F. Koenekamp and Rex Wimpy; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson
Bombardier – Photographic Effects: Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects James G. Stewart and Roy Granville
The North Star – Photographic Effects: Clarence Slifer and Ray Binger; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton
So Proudly We Hail! – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: George Dutton
Stand By for Action – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie and Donald Jahraus; Sound Effects: Michael Steinore
Academy Honorary Award:
George Pal “for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons.”
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award:
Hal B. Wallis
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