Going My Way (1944)

One of the best loved of all Oscar winners, Leo McCarey's deeply sentimental film makes no great claims to seriousness nor is it particularly cinematic, (the studio sets are clearly studio sets), but it's well-written and has a deeply likable performance from Bing Crosby as Father Chuck O'Malley, (the Academy liked him enough to give him the Best Actor Oscar and to nominate him the following year for playing the same role). He's the young priest sent to St. Dominic's, a parish down on its luck, to whip it back into shape and to replace the curmudgeonly old priest responsible for its present state. The older priest is the leprechaun-like Barry Fitzgerald and he plays the part shamelessly. The Academy gave him an Oscar, too, and it marked the only time when an actor, (Fitzgerald), was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for playing the same role in the same film in the same year. (The rules were subsequently changed so it wouldn't happen again). The Mickey Rooney role of the street-wise older kid who makes good is played here by Stanley Clements. If the film has a fault it's that it gave us one of the most annoying of all Oscar-winning songs in 'Swingin on a Star'.

Fmovies: It's always been strange for a movie buff like me to see how things change over the decades. In the 1940s and 1950s, Catholic priests were the good guys and likable actors like Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy and even Bing Crosby made them even more attractive. Since the '60s, Hollywood went in the opposite direction and made them villains more than anything else.

Frankly, I never found a nun who looked like Ingrid Bergman or Audrey Hepburn, or a priest who could sing like Bing Crosby, but, what the hell, er heck....better to see a positive cleric image than a negative, I believe.

The first hour of this movie was very good and the film might have wound up a favorite of mine but the second half petered out quickly and never regained steam, except for a nice ending. The films bogs down with a romance that has nothing to do with the story. The music also lost its appeal to me when Crosby's fine voice was finished for the film, replaced by the operatic high notes of Rise Stevens.

Overall, the film has a number of nice, touching moments and Crosby is very likable but the story goes on too long and is not one I would watch a second time.

Going My Way is just great, no doubt about it. By now, if you're reading my review, you already know the players and the plot. I'm not sure if reviews are posted with the most recent first. However, I wanted to add my review because of just how powerful this movie is, even today. As a young girl, I grew up on these types of movies. I watched them and appreciate them, however, not as much as I do today, now that I am a mother of two little girls. I wanted to show them great films, for them to earn an appreciation of 'a feel-good movie' and I started with 'The Song of Bernadette'. My follow up was 'Going My Way' and they loved it -- so did my husband who had never seen it growing up. We're 70s kids, by the way, and 'Going My Way' has timeless relevance. Quite the heady responsibility Fr. O'Malley has of turning things around at St. Dominic's! However, with prayer, faith and determination, it is all possible. Fr. Fitzgibbons is so set in his ways that he's not receptive to Fr. O'Malley (who unfortunately gets off to a bad start). In time, though, their friendship deepens and never once does Fr. O'Malley force his new role on the aging Pastor. The scene where, after visiting the bishop to initially have Fr. O'Malley removed, Fr. Fitzgibbons sits in a chair and tells of how, without needing so many words, he now understands the real reason that Fr. O'Malley was sent is very moving. There's a lot of music in this film (perfectly fine when you have Bing Crosby in it!) and a bit of opera from 'the Met' -- definitely got my kids asking about the particular opera they featured. I hope you will show these types of movies to your children, as I have now begun to. All the pieces come together and you can feel the segue to a 'sequel' in the last ten or fifteen minutes of the film. It personifies what putting the needs of others before your own truly means, and how God works in those ways will cause you to experience a wide range of emotions. Overall, this is a terrific film and tonight, we will watch the 'sequel', The Bells of St. Mary's.

Going My Way fmovies. St. Dominic's Church is in financial trouble under the guidance of Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald) and so Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) is sent by the bishop to turn things around. The two holy men work side by side but have a different approach to life - O'Malley's youthful outlook is not shared by Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon goes to the bishop to complain but ends up finding out the truth as to why O'Malley has been appointed. We follow the story of how fortune changes for St. Dominic's.

Bing is good as he breezes through the film in his likable manner but the star of the film is Barry Fitzgerald. He is excellent as a restrained grumpy old man who doesn't care for "Three Blind Mice". I think that the songs could have been better and the film definitely did not need an opera singer Genevieve (Rise Stevens) to sing a couple of songs in that fake way that only opera singers can by deliberately pronouncing every word so that it sounds wrong. For example "amen" becomes "aauurrmmiiin" - that kind of nonsense. The film goes on for too long, so, of course, it won an Oscar but there are better films that were made in 1944.......I could name about 30. However, it is a feelgood story that hooks you in from the beginning.

Leo McCarey's sentimental 1944 film, "Going My Way" is a positive film that dealt with the problems of the inner city back when the term hadn't been coined. St. Dominic's Church is an oasis in the middle of the area that has seen better days. We realize how deeply in trouble the parish is from the start as Mr. Haines is trying to give Father Fitzgibbon an idea of how much he owes the bank and the fact the church will disappear soon.

When Father Chuck O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic to try to save it from its uncertain future, Father Fitzgibbon doesn't have a clue the younger man is going to be over him in all matters of importance. Yet, Father O'Malley never steps over the older priest's shoes to make his rank felt.

This film was shot after the more successful, and better made "The Bells of St. Mary's", but it was released earlier than the other film, probably to capitalize on Bing Crosby's popularity. The film, in fact, is a showcase for Mr. Crosby, who was a likable actor and singer. He has good opportunities in the movie.

As good as Mr. Crosby was in the film, Barry Fitzgerald steals the movie with his Father Fitzgibbon. Mr. Fitzgerald's crusty priest was one of the best creations of his long career. Frank McHugh, another excellent character actor of the era is seen as Father O'Dowd. Gene Lockhart also has a small role as the money man, Mr. Haines. Rise Stevens, the soprano is seen and heard in the film singing in her inimitable style.

The film is a classic that should be seen during the holidays, as it brings cheer and hope to everyone lucky enough to catch a screening of it during Christmas.

This kind of picture would normally just be a pleasant, upbeat movie worthwhile for casual viewing, but "Going My Way" is made more memorable by Barry Fitzgerald, who co-stars with Bing Crosby. There's nothing wrong with Crosby, since he is his usual self, low-key and amiable, and he has a few chances to sing as well. But Fitzgerald and his character are what adds the depth to an otherwise fairly simple story.

Crosby is rather well-cast as a young priest, since his benevolent persona seems to fit rather well in the role. As his older, more inflexible colleague, Fitzgerald delivers one of his many fine supporting performances, and in this case he has much more room than usual to develop his character as the movie proceeds. He makes the rather crabby old priest both interesting and endearing, and the character provides a valuable balance to Crosby's straightforward, well-meaning character.

The story is worthwhile, and though it is simple, the interplay between the two priests makes the rest of it work much better than it would have on its own. The somewhat episodic plot generally works well, and it provides many good moments, in addition to having some worthwhile thoughts to communicate.