Video: 'Mildred Pierce' trailer
(Friday, November 16, 1945) — The Lost Weekend, a drama film about a writer fights to overcome his addiction to liquor, was released today in the U.S.
Directed by Billy Wilder, the film starred Ray Milland and Jane Wyman.
Video: 'Casper The Friendly Ghost (1945) Full Movie'
(Friday, November 16, 1945) — The Friendly Ghost, an animated short featuring the debut of Casper, was released today by Paramount’s cartoon division.
Directed by I. Sparber, the film featured the voices of Frank Gallop, Mae Questel, Cecil H. Roy (Casper) and Jackson Beck.
Video: 'Mildred Pierce' trailer
(Friday, September 28, 1945) — Mildred Pierce, a drama film about a woman who turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society, opened today at the Strand Theatre in New York City.
Directed by Michael Curtiz, the film starred Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden and Ann Blyth.
Video: 'ABBOT & COSTELLO The Naughty Nineties_ 1'
(Wednesday, June 20, 1945) — The Naughty Nineties, a film containing perhaps the best recorded rendition of the Abbott and Costello comedy team’s classic “Who’s on First?” routine, opened today at Loew’s Criterion in New York City. Continue reading ‘The Naughty Nineties’ opens in New York City 70 years ago today (June 20 1945)
(Monday, May 21, 1945, shortly after noon EWT; during World War II) — Actors Humphrey Bogart, 45, and Lauren Bacall, 20, were married today in the spacious hallway of the twenty-room house of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield on Malabar Farm in Lucas, Ohio, in a three-minute ceremony.
It was his fourth marriage, her first, and would last until Bogart’s death in 1957.
Video: '1944 Oscar Winners'
(Thursday, March 15, 1945, 8:00 p.m. PST) — Going My Way won seven Oscars tonight, including Best Motion Picture, Best Director (Leo McCarey) and Best Actor (Bing Crosby) at the 17th Academy Awards ceremony at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.
Ingrid Bergman won the Best Actress award for Gaslight. The ceremonies at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood were hosted by John Cromwell and Bob Hope.
Video: 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (trailer)
(Thursday, March 1, 1945) — The Picture of Dorian Gray, a horror-drama film about a man who remains young and handsome while his portrait shows the ravages of age and sin, premiered today at Capitol Theatre in New York City.
Directed by Albert Lewin, the film starred George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury and Peter Lawford.
(Saturday, February 10, 1945; during World War II) — During a luncheon today at the National Press Club, Vice President Harry Truman sat down at the piano to play the “Missouri Waltz” when suddenly 20-year-old actress Lauren Bacall perched herself on top of the piano for some publicity portraits, showing a rather daring amount of leg by 1945 standards (click here for a relevant clip from “American Experience: Truman” at 1:27:35).
Video: 'Meet Me in St. Louis' (trailer)
(Wednesday, November 22, 1944) — Meet Me in St. Louis, a musical film about an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair in 1904, premiered today in St. Louis (it would premiere in New York on Nov. 28, 1944).
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the film starred Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake and Marjorie Main.
Video: 'To Have and Have Not' (trailer)
(Wednesday, October 11, 1944) — To Have and Have Not, a romance-war-adventure film that follows a skipper-for-hire’s romance with a beautiful drifter complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance, opened today at the Hollywood in New York City.
Directed by Howard Hawks, the film starred Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Moran and Hoagy Carmichael.
