The 17th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 1945, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, honoring the films of 1944. This was the first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally, on the Blue Network (later ABC Radio). Bob Hope hosted the 70-minute broadcast, which included film clips that required explanation for the radio audience.
Darryl F. Zanuck and 20th Century-Fox spent a fortune promoting Wilson out of determination to have it win the Best Picture Oscar, but it lost to Going My Way, which made Zanuck bitter.
This year was notable for being the only time an individual was nominated for two acting awards for the same role in the same film: Barry Fitzgerald received nominations for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Father Fitzgibbon in the Best Picture winner Going My Way. Fitzgerald won for Best Supporting Actor, while his co-star Bing Crosby won Best Actor.
Winners and nominees
Awards Nominees were announced on February 3, 1945. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Going My Way – Leo McCarey for ParamountDouble Indemnity – Joseph Sistrom for Paramount Gaslight – Arthur Hornblow Jr. for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Since You Went Away – David O. Selznick for United Artists Wilson – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox | valign="top" width="50%" |Leo McCarey – Going My Way Billy Wilder – Double Indemnity Otto Preminger – Laura Alfred Hitchcock – Lifeboat Henry King – WilsonBing Crosby – Going My Way as Father Chuck O'Malley Charles Boyer – Gaslight as Gregory Anton/Sergius Bauer Barry Fitzgerald – Going My Way as Father Fitzgibbon Cary Grant – None but the Lonely Heart as Ernie Mott Alexander Knox – Wilson as Woodrow WilsonIngrid Bergman – Gaslight as Paula Alquist Anton Claudette Colbert – Since You Went Away as Mrs Anne Hilton Bette Davis – Mr. Skeffington as Frances Beatrice "Fanny" Trellis Skeffington Greer Garson – Mrs. Parkington as Susie Parkington Barbara Stanwyck – Double Indemnity as Phyllis DietrichsonBarry Fitzgerald – Going My Way as Father Fitzgibbon Hume Cronyn – The Seventh Cross as Paul Roeder Claude Rains – Mr. Skeffington as Job Skeffington Clifton Webb – Laura as Waldo Lydecker Monty Woolley – Since You Went Away as Colonel William G. SmollettEthel Barrymore – None but the Lonely Heart as Ma Mott Jennifer Jones – Since You Went Away as Jane Deborah Hilton Angela Lansbury – Gaslight as Nancy Oliver Aline MacMahon – Dragon Seed as Ling Tan's Wife Agnes Moorehead – Mrs. Parkington as Baroness Aspasia ContiGoing My Way – Leo McCareyA Guy Named Joe – David Boehm and Chandler Sprague Lifeboat – John Steinbeck None Shall Escape – Alfred Neumann and Joseph Than The Sullivans – Edward Doherty and Jules Schermer | valign="top" width="50%" |Wilson – Lamar TrottiHail the Conquering Hero – Preston Sturges The Miracle of Morgan's Creek – Preston Sturges Two Girls and a Sailor – Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X – Jerome Cady |- | valign="top" width="50%" |Going My Way – Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, based on a story by Leo McCareyDouble Indemnity – Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, based on Double Indemnity in Three of a Kind by James M. Cain Gaslight – John L. Balderston, Walter Reisch, and John Van Druten, based on Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton Laura – Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Betty Reinhardt, based on the novel by Vera Caspary Meet Me in St. Louis – Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, based on the novel by Sally Benson | valign="top" width="50%" |The Fighting Lady – United States Navy Resisting Enemy Interrogation – United States Army Air ForceWith the Marines at Tarawa – United States Marine Corps Hymn of the Nations – United States Office of War Information, Overseas Motion Picture Bureau New Americans – RKO RadioWho's Who in Animal Land – Jerry Fairbanks Blue Grass Gentlemen – Edmund Reek Jammin' the Blues – Gordon Hollingshead Movie Pests – Pete Smith Screen Snapshots' 50th Anniversary of Motion Pictures – Ralph StaubI Won't Play – Gordon Hollingshead Bombalera – Louis Harris Main Street Today – Jerry Bresler and Herbert MoultonMouse Trouble – Fred Quimby And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street – George Pal Dog, Cat and Canary – Raymond Katz Fish Fry – Walter Lantz How to Play Football – Walt Disney My Boy, Johnny – Paul Terry Swooner Crooner – Edward SelzerSince You Went Away – Max Steiner Address Unknown – Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch The Adventures of Mark Twain – Max Steiner The Bridge of San Luis Rey – Dimitri Tiomkin Casanova Brown – Arthur Lange Christmas Holiday – H. J. Salter Double Indemnity – Miklós Rózsa The Fighting Seabees – Walter Scharf and Roy Webb The Hairy Ape – Edward Paul and Michel Michelet It Happened Tomorrow – Robert Stolz Jack London – Frederic Efrem Rich Kismet – Herbert Stothart None but the Lonely Heart – Hanns Eisler and C. Bakaleinikoff The Princess and the Pirate – David Rose Summer Storm – Karl Hajos Three Russian Girls – Franke Harling Up in Mabel's Room – Edward Paul Voice in the Wind – Michel Michelet Wilson – Alfred Newman The Woman of the Town – Miklós RózsaCover Girl – Morris Stoloff and Carmen Dragon Brazil – Walter Scharf Higher and Higher – C. Bakaleinikoff Hollywood Canteen – Ray Heindorf Irish Eyes Are Smiling – Alfred Newman Knickerbocker Holiday – Werner R. Heymann and Kurt Weill Lady in the Dark – Robert Emmett Dolan Lady, Let's Dance – Edward Kay Meet Me in St. Louis – Georgie Stoll The Merry Monahans – H. J. Salter Minstrel Man – Ferde Grofé and Leo Erdody Sensations of 1945 – Mahlon Merrick Song of the Open Road – Charles Previn Up in Arms – Ray Heindorf and Louis Forbes"Swinging on a Star" from Going My Way – Music by James Van Heusen; Lyrics by Johnny Burke "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" from Higher and Higher – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Harold Adamson "I'll Walk Alone" from Follow the Boys – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn "I'm Making Believe" from Sweet and Lowdown – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Mack Gordon "Long Ago and Far Away" from Cover Girl – Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin "Now I Know" from Up in Arms – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ted Koehler "Remember Me to Carolina" from Minstrel Man – Music by Harry Revel; Lyrics by Paul Webster "Rio de Janeiro" from Brazil – Music by Ary Barroso; Lyrics by Ned Washington "Silver Shadows and Golden Dreams" from Lady, Let's Dance – Music by Lew Pollack; Lyrics by Charles Newman "Sweet Dreams Sweetheart" from Hollywood Canteen – Music by M. K. Jerome; Lyrics by Ted Koehler "Too Much in Love" from Song of the Open Road – Music by Walter Kent; Lyrics by Kim Gannon "The Trolley Song" from Meet Me in St. Louis – Music and Lyrics by Ralph Blane and Hugh MartinWilson – Edmund H. Hansen Brazil – Daniel J. Bloomberg Casanova Brown – Thomas T. Moulton Cover Girl – John P. Livadary Double Indemnity – Loren L. Ryder His Butler's Sister – Bernard B. Brown Hollywood Canteen – Nathan Levinson It Happened Tomorrow – Jack Whitney Kismet – Douglas Shearer Music in Manhattan – Stephen Dunn Voice in the Wind – W. M. DalgleishGaslight – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and William Ferrari; Interior Decoration: Paul Huldschinsky and Edwin B. Willis Address Unknown – Art Direction: Lionel Banks and Walter Holscher; Interior Decoration: Joseph Kish The Adventures of Mark Twain – Art Direction: John Hughes; Interior Decoration: Fred M. MacLean Casanova Brown – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson; Interior Decoration: Julia Heron Laura – Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and Leland Fuller; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little No Time for Love – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; Interior Decoration: Samuel M. Comer Since You Went Away – Art Direction: Mark-Lee Kirk; Interior Decoration: Victor A. Gangelin Step Lively – Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino and Carroll Clark; Interior Decoration: Darrell Silvera and Claude Carpenter Song of the Open Road – N/A (nomination withdrawn by production company)Wilson – Art Direction: Wiard Ihnen; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little The Climax – Art Direction: John B. Goodman and Alexander Golitzen; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb Cover Girl – Art Direction: Lionel Banks and Cary Odell; Interior Decoration: Fay Babcock The Desert Song – Art Direction: Charles Novi; Interior Decoration: Jack McConaghy Kismet – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Daniel B. Cathcart; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Richard Pefferle Lady in the Dark – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Raoul Pene Du Bois; Interior Decoration: Ray Moyer The Princess and the Pirate – Art Direction: Ernst Fegté; Interior Decoration: Howard BristolLaura – Joseph LaShelle Double Indemnity – John F. Seitz Dragon Seed – Sidney Wagner Gaslight – Joseph Ruttenberg Going My Way – Lionel Lindon Lifeboat – Glen MacWilliams Since You Went Away – Stanley Cortez and Lee Garmes Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo – Robert L. Surtees and Harold Rosson The Uninvited – Charles Lang The White Cliffs of Dover – George J. FolseyWilson – Leon Shamroy Cover Girl – Rudolph Maté and Allen M. Davey Home in Indiana – Edward Cronjager Kismet – Charles Rosher Lady in the Dark – Ray Rennahan Meet Me in St. Louis – George J. Folsey Wilson – Barbara McLean Going My Way – Leroy Stone Janie – Owen Marks None but the Lonely Heart – Roland Gross Since You Went Away – Hal C. Kern and James E. NewcomThirty Seconds Over Tokyo – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie, Donald Jahraus and Warren Newcombe; Sound Effects: Douglas Shearer The Adventures of Mark Twain – Photographic Effects: Paul Detlefsen and John Crouse; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson Days of Glory – Photographic Effects: Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects: James G. Stewart and Roy Granville Secret Command – Photographic Effects: David Allen, Ray Cory and Robert Wright; Sound Effects: Russell Malmgren and Harry Kusnick Since You Went Away – Photographic Effects: John R. Cosgrove; Sound Effects: Arthur Johns The Story of Dr. Wassell – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: George Dutton Wilson – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Roger Heman Sr.
Special awards To Margaret O'Brien, outstanding child actress of 1944. To Bob Hope for his many services to the Academy.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Darryl F. Zanuck
Presenters and performers Presenters (in order of appearance)
Walter Wanger (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Bob Hope) Bob Hope (Presenter: Best Art Direction (Black-and-White), Best Art Direction (Color), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White), Best Cinematography (Color), Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Film Editing, Best Live Action Short Subject (One-Reel), Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Song, Best Sound Recording, Best Special Effects, and the Scientific & Technical Awards) Hugo Butler (Presenter: Best Screenplay, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Motion Picture Story) Mervyn LeRoy (Presenter: Best Director) Hal B. Wallis (Presenter: Best Picture) Norma Shearer (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award) Bob Hope (Presenter: Academy Juvenile Award) Charles Coburn (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor) Teresa Wright (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress) Gary Cooper (Presenter: Best Actor) Jennifer Jones (Presenter: Best Actress)
Multiple nominations and awards
+ multiple nominationsNominationsFilm 10 Going My Way Wilson 9 Since You Went Away 7 Double Indemnity Gaslight 5 Cover Girl Laura 4 Kismet Meet Me in St. Louis None but the Lonely Heart 3 The Adventures of Mark Twain Brazil Casanova Brown Hollywood Canteen Lady in the Dark Lifeboat 2 Address Unknown Dragon Seed Higher and Higher It Happened Tomorrow Lady, Let's Dance Minstrel Man Mr. Skeffington Mrs. Parkington The Princess and the Pirate Song of the Open Road Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Up in Arms Voice in the Wind