Going My Way
Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown, Gene Lockhart
Directed by: Leo McCarey
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Musical
1944

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby) joins a new parish with the task of turning it around and connecting even better with the surrounding community. His unorthodox style clashes with the old way of doing things.

Review:

Tim: I really, really enjoyed Going My Way. I liked it even better than I thought I would. This is a powerful, fun movie that also carries with it some very good messages. The film centers around a Catholic church, and the priests who live and work there. This isn't the most popular topic for movies, but I desperately wish they'd make more movies like this. This is a very strong movie- one that just misses out on being great. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of the big criticisms of this film is that it's a propoganda film for the Catholic church. I really disagree with this. Yes, the Church comes across as looking pretty good, but this story is just highlighting the best aspects of the Church (I admit it has a great deal of problems, too). Priests are interesting people- they have dedicated their lives to God and to helping others. Their plight is not a fancy one, but it can make for a very interesting story. While this movie is about Catholic priests, on an even more basic level, it's really about being a good person and helping out those around you. These are lessons all of us can learn from.

The biggest reason for this film's success is Bing Crosby's excellent portrayal of Father O'Malley. While O'Malley is a very fun character (a "cool" priest who understands the ways of the world), he is such a terrific, memorable one because of Crosby. I loved Crosby's quiet, relaxed, soft-spoken performance here. While that is similar to many of his other performances, it perfectly fits Father O'Malley. He is someone you immediately like and respect, and I had a great deal of fun watching him in this film. Crosby won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance here, and he absolutely deserved it. He makes us truly care about this character, which is always a remarkable feat.

What is equally as impressive is Barry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald plays the older Father Fitzgibbon. I am trying to describe why he's so incredible, but it is hard to put my finger on it. He just radiates warmth and kindness. I truly believed him as this older priest, who has dedicated his life to the Church and to helping others. His accent is perfect and just adds to his character. He's someone interesting, and someone we can identify with. He interacts very well with Crosby, and when his character gets his big dramatic moments near the end, we really care about what happens to him. Fitzgerald also has an interesting piece of history attached to his name here. At this point, Academy voters could vote for a performance for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor- the guidelines were less strict than they are today. Voters loved Fitzgerald, and he got enough votes to be nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He's the only actor in history to be nominated for two acting awards for the exact same role. As the Academy changed the rules after this, no one will ever repeat this feat. What's more amazing is that even with two nominations, which would have theoretically split the vote, Fitzgerald still managed to win Best Supporting Actor. He deserved it, because he is incredible.

I really enjoyed the majority of the movie. It was interesting to see Father O'Malley make his awkward, difficult entrance, and then slowly win over the hearts and minds of the parish and the community. It makes you realize that people work "miracles" every day. Now, while most of the movie is good, there was one plot point I didn't care for at all. I understand Father O'Malley loves to sing, which is a convenient way for Crosby to showcase his pipes. I felt it was completely ridiculous that a priest would be able to write a song and sell it to a record company. I'm sure this is possible, but it just felt so convenient and so Hollywood. Everything else in the film felt somewhat believable, but I had a hard time buying that. Selling a song you wrote to get a lot of money from a record company is definitely a Hollywood solution, and I felt it was a bit disingenuous with the rest of the film.

So, while I loved Going My Way, I don't know if I could quite call it a truly great film. It is impressive that it picked up 7 Academy Awards- Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Original Story, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. Regardless of how you rank it, this is a solidly made, entertaining, very, very good film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Bells of St. Mary's, Holiday Inn, White Christmas