JohnHowardReid Conflict is the essence of great entertain¬ment. Here we have not only conflict between young and old, but between go-ahead and conservative, between the money-grubbing and idealistic. The characters are cleverly shaded, their opposing points of view made more palatable and sympathetic by giving them human qualities with which audiences can identify. The old priest may be a bit crusty and cantankerous, he may be over-set in his ways, he may be naive and even simplistic, but his heart runneth over with pure gold. All the same, he is somewhat refreshingly removed from Hollywood's usual conception of the do-gooder priest. His young colleague is much more the smilingly humanitarian stereotype - though even he is allowed a few unusual quirks. For instance, he sings, (You have to remember that although we now completely accept Crosby in a priestly role, such casting was a major deviation from the norm back in 1944. Although time has now diminished the dramatic impact of this mind-boggling break with tradition, McCarey deserves a great deal of credit for pushing ahead with this unthinkable innovation despite the strenuous objections of Paramount executives).The casting of Crosby and Fitzgerald could not have been more felicitous. Although Crosby's career was already in full swing (in 1943 he was voted by U.S. exhibitors as the country's number four box-office star), Going My Way catapulted him into super-star status. From 1944 to 1948 he was the most popular star in America (and Australia as well), only dropping into second position in 1949 due to the huge success of Bob Hope's The Paleface. In fact, Going My Way was second only to The Paleface as Paramount's most popular Australian release of the 1940's.For Fitzgerald, Going My Way lifted his career from the character-player league to major star.The other players lend excellent support, although the film failed to make any appreciable impact on their overall careers. It is Crosby's and Fitzgerald's movie. Although Stevens takes time out to sing Carmen, she doesn't stay in the memory. It's Crosby's jaunty air, his crooning of "Too-ra-loo-ra", his swinging on a star and his breaking down of Fitzgerald's distrust and antipathy that we remember.As might be expected, the movie is superbly crafted in all departments. In fact, in his book on The Films of Bing Crosby, Robert Bookbinder wisely points out that the very excellence of Crosby and Fitzgerald in his picture's leading roles tends to overshadow McCarey's contribution. Some critics would argue that this is as it should be: the more perfect a director's work, the more unobtrusive. On this basis, McCarey certainly deserved his Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' award for Directing as well as his award for Original Story.

TheLittleSongbird 'Going My Way' is an immensely likable film and very easy to be charmed by. Should it have won Best Picture? That's debatable in a year with films like 'Double Indemnity', 'Laura' and 'Gaslight', but there are worse Best Picture winners around before and after.The romance does bog the film down a little and could have been developed more, and the scenes with the inner-city street urchins transforming into angelic choir boys are a bit cheesy and suspending of disbelief is somewhat needed. Despite being a long film and a film that moves slowly and takes its time to unfold (things that may alienate some), they didn't come over as problems at all because the emotions all through the story and the winning performances make 'Going My Way' so engrossing.Bing Crosby has never been better dramatically, appealing street-wise and likable, and as ever his voice is beautiful and mellow, the kind of voice you can listen to for hours and not get tired of it, particularly in the Oscar-winning song "Swinging on a Star". Barry Fitzgerald's peppery and charmingly twinkling performance is also among his best, along with 'And Then There Were None' and 'The Quiet Man'. Love the chemistry between the two of them too. Rise Stevens brings some affecting heart and mystery, and as ever sings with an angelic richness, the film also sees a glimpse of the role she was most famous for for very good reason in "Habanera" from Bizet's 'Carmen'.It's a lovely-looking film visually, with a real elegance and it's beautifully photographed too. The music is wonderful, especially "Swinging on a Star" and "Habanera" and "Ave Maria" are effectively utilised. The story is incredibly moving and makes one feel good, while the direction is focused for a long film with a number of plot strands and the script expertly balances humour, charm, heart and pathos.In summary, while not my pick for Best Picture that year there is definitely a lot of love for 'Going My Way'. 9/10 Bethany Cox

lasttimeisaw It is galling that this vintage Oscar BEST PICTURE winner (7 wins, including BEST DIRECTOR, BEST LEADING and SUPPORTING ACTORs) might be best remembered for the sole happenstance in the Oscar history when Barry Fitzgerald was nominated in both LEADING ACTOR and SUPPORTING ACTOR categories for the same performance (which he won the latter), although the Academy speedily changed the rules to stave off any future embarrassment, nevertheless, it belies the perpetually ongoing category placement controversy which has been widespread until today.Directed by the prominent comedy maestro Leo McCarey, and green-lit as a Bing Crosby showcase, GOING MY WAY tells the story of a young and forthcoming priest Father Charles O'Malley (Crosby), aka. Chuck, who is commissioned by the bishop to take over the parish in NYC from an elder pastor Father Fitzgibbon (Fitzgerald), who has presided over the church since day one, for almost 45 years, only now, the church has been in the mire of financial difficulties, and Father Charles is sent to straighten out the problem and make the transition as smooth as possible.So, a major plot device is that Father Fitzgibbon has no inkling of the function transference in the first place, Chuck is introduced simply as his assistant, so when the lid is blown off, a dramatic collision is what viewers would expect. However, against the hype, in McCarey's staunch execution, the revelation comes quite early in the storyline, and is rendered with utter aplomb and mutual understanding, as two mature clergymen, there is no need of making a scene, albeit their different approaches (the blasé traditional vs. unorthodox tug-of-war, only milder), they are fighting for the same honorable cause, it may sound like church propaganda on paper, yet in the film, the cordial atmosphere and contagious compassion is superbly tangible.There are no villain or whatsoever in the story, the parishioners, from a juvenile street gang lead by Tony (Clements) to a young maiden Carol (Heather), who has run away from home and resolves to find her footing in one way or another, music is wielded as the ultimate gospel, Chuck forms a boy choir and hones up their skills, eventually it will pay back lucratively to save the church from its dire situation. The romance between Carol and Ted Haines Jr. (Brown), the son of the church's mortgage-holder, Ted Haines Sr. (Lockhart), has also keenly and timely goaded through Chuck's music, the titular tune GOING MY WAY, into marriage instead of living in a sinful status. And a completely platonic friendship between Chuck and his old-time girlfriend Jenny (the mezzo- soprano Risë Stevens), never risks betraying any carnal attachment and Jenny's one-sided munificence can be only justified by her hail-fellow-well-met good nature.For my money, Fitzgerald and Crosby are the two co-leads here, and the former doesn't has recourse to singing bent to win over audience, on the contrary, Fitzgerald's performance is decidedly more evocative of sympathy, laughter and esteem than Crosby's pristine, but comparatively stale apotheosis of a stand-up guy who is aggravatingly flawless and is tailor-made to elicit nonjudgmental bonhomie, but the truth is, Crosby is such a nonpareil crooner, that's where lies the abiding charm of the picture if its gently preachy modus operandi tends to be rather impertinent and spoon-feeding by today's yardstick.In sum, GONIG MY WAY is a beatific but regressively antiseptic tribute of Catholic church's noble vocation and suggests a more liberal viewpoint in its progress, as though it were the cure-all for all our mundane problems, indeed, the biggest accomplishment of the movie is that it makes us wish only if it were true!

SanteeFats Another great movie from Bing Crosby. Here a worldly man who has chosen to become a Catholic priest comes to a church that is failing and tries to turn it around. The resident, older priest played very capably by the great Barry Fitzgerald, is at first very reluctant to embrace the newer ideas that the younger priest brings up. He does come around when the church is under threat of closure. They eventually save the church with the help of some street kids that Bing turns into an excellent church choir. I also like when Bing takes the young aspiring women under his wing so she does not end up on the mean streets. Overall this is an extremely well done and acted movie.