The 17th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 1945, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, honoring the films of

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

. This was the first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally, on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the ...

(later ABC Radio).

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

hosted the 70-minute broadcast, which included film clips that required explanation for the radio audience. Darryl F. Zanuck and

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...

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 ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ...

''. Fitzgerald won for Best Supporting Actor, while his co-star

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

won Best Actor.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Nominees were announced on February 3, 1945. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Special Awards

* To Margaret O'Brien, outstanding child actress of 1944. * To

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) *

(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 Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. During the 1930s, he was one of the two great practitioners of economical and effective film directing at Warner Bros., Warner Brothers studios, ...

(Presenter: Best Director) * Hal B. Wallis (Presenter: Best Picture) * Norma Shearer (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award) *

(Presenter: Academy Juvenile Award) * Charles Coburn (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor) * Teresa Wright (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress) *

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

(Presenter: Best Actor) *

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental-health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned more than five decades, she was nomin ...

(Presenter: Best Actress)

Multiple nominations and awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Awards, 17 Academy Awards ceremonies 1944 film awards 1945 in American cinema 1945 in Los Angeles ABC radio programs March 1945 in the United States