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The History of American Cinema: 1945

July - December

10/9 -

Frank Borzage’s Technicolor adventure The Spanish Main is released.   Maureen O'Hara and Paul Henreid star. [ADD]

5/10 -

A six month strike of set decorators organised by the Conference of Studio Unions boils over into a riot as scabs try to report for work at the Warner Bros. studios. [ADD]

20/10 -

In her first screen appearance since 1943 (apart from a cameo in Hollywood Canteen) Joan Crawford gives an Oscar-winning performance in Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce for Warner Bros.   Zachary Scott and Ann Blyth also star. [ADD]

1/11 -

Spellbound, Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of Francis Beeding’s novel, is released.   The film stars Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman, and features a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali. [ADD]

16/11 -

Ray Milland stars as failed alcoholic writer Don Birnam in Billy Wilder's adaptation of Charles Jackson’s The Lost Weekend.   Jane Wyman, Howard da Silva, and Frank Faylen also appear.   The film was nearly shelved following poor previews at Santa Barbara, during which the audience laughed and pronounced the film ‘tasteless.’ [ADD]

16/11 -

Casper the Ghost makes his debut in The Friendly Ghost, released by Paramount’s Famous Studios. [ADD]

27/12 -

Bing Crosby once again dons a priest’s garb for Leo McCarey’s The Bells of St. Mary’s, the sequel to 1944’s Going My Way.   Ingrid Bergman stars as a nun helping Crosby’s Father O’Malley to save a school. [ADD]

28/12 -

Victor Fleming’s Adventure, Clark Gable’s first film since returning from war service, is released.   Greer Garson also stars as a timid librarian who catches roustabout Gable’s eye, and Joan Blondell, Thomas Mitchell and Tom Tully lend support. [ADD]

– Warner Bros temporarily withdraws from membership of the MPPDA. [ADD]

– Soon after the retirement of Will Hays, the MPPDA is renamed the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) [ADD]

– The Motion Picture Export Association of America (MPEAA) is created from a merger of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the overseas branch of the Office of War Information. [ADD] 

– The Screen Extras Guild is formed. [ADD]

– Approximately 8% of Hollywood feature films are made in colour in this year. [ADD]

– A boom in the construction of drive-in cinemas begins after the Supreme Court overturns the Hollingshead patent. [ADD]

– The Office of War Information and the Bureau of Motion Pictures are abolished. [ADD]

– Roy Disney becomes President of the Disney Studios. [ADD]

– The Industrial Films and Poster Service animation production company renames itself United Productions of America (UPA) following the success of its cartoon Hell-Bent for Election. [ADD] 

Top Ten US Box-office Stars of 1945

1.      Bing Crosby

2.      Van Johnson

3.      Greer Garson

4.      Betty Grable

5.      Spencer Tracy

6.      Humphrey Bogart

7.      Gary Cooper

8.      Bob Hope

9.      Judy Garland

10.    Margaret O’Brien

(Source: Quigley Poll)

Other Key American Films of 1945

Brotherhood of Man (Robert Cannon) [ADD]

The House I Live In (Mervyn LeRoy) [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1945