Best Motion Picture

Best Actor: Bing Crosby

Best Supporting Actor: Barry Fitzgerald

Best Directing: Leo McCarey

Best Song: "Swinging on a Star"

Best Original Story: Leo McCarey

Best Screenplay: Butler and Cavett

The Oscar ceremonies were broadcast live over radio on March 15, 1945, with Bob Hope as emcee. Paramount had to locate Bing on the golf course and virtually command him to attend the ceremonies, where he was handed his Oscar by his old friend Gary Cooper. Bing actually received two Oscars for his role in Going My Way. The second was a duplicate he requested for Gonzaga University. The original is still in the possession of Bing's second wife, Kathryn.

Bing recorded Swinging on a Star for the Decca label and it topped the charts for 9 weeks in the summer of '44. Other hits from the movie include "Too ral loo ral loo ral," "Day After Forever" and the title tune. The Crosby soundtrack to "Going My Way" was released by MCA Records on compact disc #31367. Although "Going My Way" usually shows up on TV only around Christmas, it was first released in May of 1944 and was not intended as a holiday movie.

Going Which Way? Catholicism and Pop Culture