Do you want to see ‘Going My Way’?

Going My Way (1944)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 5

Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald are eminently likable, and film is pleasantly sentimental, but it suffers from a surplus of sweetness.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1

Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald are eminently likable, and film is pleasantly sentimental, but it suffers from a surplus of sweetness.

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Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 5,197

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Movie Info

It took some doing to persuade the staunchly Catholic Bing Crosby to play a happy-go-lucky priest in Going My Way; luckily he acquiesced, winning an Academy Award in the process. Crosby is cast as Father Chuck O'Malley, newly arrived at rundown, heavily in debt St. Dominic's Church. Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald), the cranky, set-in-his-ways curate of St. Dominic's, is none too pleased with O'Malley's breezy, "modernistic" methods. Fitzgibbon is content to adhere to the policies he has

Unrated, 2 hr. 6 min.

Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

Directed By: Leo McCarey

Written By: Frank Butler, Frank Cavett

In Theaters: May 3, 1944 Wide

On DVD: Feb 6, 2007

Paramount Pictures

Going My Way Trailer & Photos

Cast

Bing Crosby
Father Chuck O'Malley
Rise Stevens
Genevieve Linden
Barry Fitzgerald
Father Fitzgibbon
Gene Lockhart
Ted Haines Sr.
Frank McHugh
Father Timothy O'Dowd
James Brown
Ted Haines Jr.
Jean Heather
Carol James
Eily Malyon
Mrs. Carmody
Stanley Clements
Tony Scaponi
Fortunio Bonanova
Tomasso Bozzani
Anita Bolster
Mrs. Quimp
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
Herman Langerhanke Swit...
Porter Hall
Mr. Belknap
Thomas P. Dillon
Officer McCarthy
Jimmie Dundee
Fireman
William Frawley
Max Dolan
Martin Garralaga
Zuniga
Julie Gibson
Cab Driver
Gibson Gowland
Parishioner
William Henry
Doctor
Sybil Lewis
Maid at Opera House
Hugh Maguire
Pitch Pipe
George McKay
Mr. Van Heusen
George Nokes
Pee Wee
Jack Norton
Mr. Lilley
Adeline de Walt Reynolds
Mother Fitzgibbon
Robert Tafur
Don Jose
Tom Dillon
Police Officer

Critic Reviews for Going My Way

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (15) | Rotten (5) | DVD (3)

There's nothing special or memorable about this overlong endeavor, the first of two motion pictures to feature Bing Crosby's insufferably noble Father Chuck O'Malley.

August 31, 2010 Full Review Source: ReelViews

| Comment

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

It offers, in the performance of nutcracker-faced, 56-year-old Barry Fitzgerald, the finest, funniest and most touching portrayal of old age that has yet reached the screen.

February 17, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Major thread of gaiety runs through the proceedings, and McCarey has liberally sprinkled sparkling individual episodes along the way for cinch audience reaction.

January 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Rich, warm and human to the core.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

Gooey, warm, comfortable.

January 13, 2011 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Feel-good religious drama wasn't going my way, but it's hard to resist such good-hearted schmaltz.

March 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A warm and moving sleeper hit.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Glossy escapist entertainment that's fun to watch but says nothing terribly noteworthy about the human condition.

October 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

| Comment

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

Go anywhere to avoid it.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment (1)

Time Out

A sentimental crowd-pleaser, well-directed by Le McCarey, this tale about a priest (Bing Crosby) assigned to a problematic parish was so popular that Paramount reteamed the same players for The Bells of St. Mary's.

December 12, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Even though I love a good family film now and then, this was too much even for me. It was like having a root canal of cream filling.

September 15, 2003 Comment

Matt Easterbrook

Matt's Movie Reviews

It is so well directed by McCarey and played with such a sure touch that it just manages to avoid sermonizing or oversentimentality.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Best Picture? Wow. They had cynics back then, didn't they?

March 4, 2003 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Overly corny, this feel-good musical is delightful in its naivety, even for the time.

August 30, 2002 Full Review Source: Zap2it.com

| Comment

Michael Szymanski

Zap2it.com

The last scene alone justifies the film and Leo McCarey's reputation

July 30, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Crosby and Fitzgerald work pure magic together.

July 25, 2002 Comment

Chuck Rudolph

Matinee Magazine

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Audience Reviews for Going My Way

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An unconventional priest works to reform a failing parish.I'm a big fan of Bing Crosby's voice; so easy and melodic, he makes it seem as though anyone can sing like him, which of course no one can. But this isn't a musical. It isn't a drama or comedy either. If anything, it's two hours of the most saccharine

October 29, 2011