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The majority of the film takes place within the confines of the Church of St. Dominic in New York City. The church has been there for 45 years, and for that entire duration its pastor has been Father Fitzgibbon (Barry Fitzgerald). Unfortunately, the church has fallen on hard times, unable to keep up with repairs (such as a new heater) and the mortgage (5 missed payments). The representative from Knickerbocker Savings & Loan is Ted Haines Sr. (Gene Lockhart) and he's at the church with his son, Ted Jr. (James Brown...no, not THAT one). He says he hates to have to foreclose on the church, but it may come to that. In reality, Ted really doesn't have much sympathy for the church's plight as he's ready to tear it down and build a new parking lot. Enter Father Chuck O'Malley (Crosby), who's been transferred to the church from St. Louis by "The Bishop", who we never see but I'm assuming is all-powerful and deserves a capitalized name since he's able to send priests halfway across the country as he sees fit. O'Malley arrives in a sweatsuit since his suit got dirtied on the way to the church, and Fitzgibbon is a bit taken aback on first sight.
Fitzgibbon shows O'Malley around the churchyard when O'Malley receives a visit from Father O'Dowd (Frank McHugh). The two sing a bit and then O'Dowd sees if O'Malley wants to hit the golf course later. They echo the invite to Fitzgibbon, but the elder pastor finds golfing to be a waste of time as he has an entire dedication to church matters and always has. When Fitzgibbon leaves them to chat, O'Dowd mentions that he's aware that O'Malley was sent here to take over the church's affairs although Fitzgibbon would remain as the pastor. O'Malley has decided to not tell Fitzgibbon that yet in order to spare his feelings, and for now just take on the role of his assistant.
We meet a bunch of kids, a gang of sorts led by Tony Scaponi (Stanley Clements). Several of them steal a turkey from a delivery truck (as O'Malley witnesses the theft from a distance) and cut through the churchyard as they escape. They wind up coming face-to-face with Fitzgibbon and, to cover their tracks, give him the turkey as a gift to the church. That night, church assistant Mrs. Carmody (Eily Malyon) cooks up the turkey and Fitzgibbon dines on it with O'Malley. As they eat, O'Malley discusses the kids of the area. Fitzgibbon knows about some of them being rascals but he finds them to be reputable because of their frequent church attendance. O'Malley gets a visit from Officer McCarthy (Pat Dillon) of the police force, who has brought the turkey thieves to him as requested. O'Malley makes no mention of the theft but instead invites all the kids to join him at a baseball game. They accept, and O'Malley sends them on their way before returning to the dinner table and letting Fitzgibbon know that there was one turkey stolen from the delivery truck earlier today. Fitzgibbon stops eating as he realizes they're eating it.
Officer McCarthy brings another visitor to the church the next day. It's Carol James (Jean Heather), an 18-year-old who's run away from home. O'Malley chats her up and discovers she likes to sing, so he plays the piano while she sings "The Day After Forever". As she sings, she waves her hands and arms a lot. When finished, O'Malley tells her she should put less energy into swinging and more into the actual lyrics. Fitzgibbon heard the singing and has come downstairs. O'Malley tells him Carol is seeking work and a place to live. Fitzgibbon suggests she could help with the upkeep, but O'Malley objects saying she should be singing. Ultimately, Fitzgibbon tells her she should just return home and down the line, be a good wife and mother. O'Malley convinces Fitzgibbon to loan Carol $10 and she goes on her merry way.
The kids are all at the church, having returned from the baseball game with O'Malley. Tony and another kid, Herman (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer), debate about O'Malley and his good intentions, with Tony believing O'Malley is a good man who's looking out for them. O'Malley arrives and before he addresses the kids, Tony tells him he better not double-cross the gang. O'Malley laughs and says not to worry. He then tells all the kids since they're all regular attendees already, they should become the church choir. There's some initial reluctance, especially from Herman (who Tony has to chase down, slap about 37 times and convince to come back to the group), but an initial test by O'Malley giving them all a note to sing comes out sounding wonderful and harmonious, so the kids (including Herman) are all on board with the idea.
Who's NOT on board with the idea is Fitzgibbon, as he hears the kids singing "Three Blind Mice" (another O'Malley test to get everyone harmonized) and doesn't like the noise. He decides to go see "The Bishop". When he comes back, he asks Mrs. Carmody to get O'Malley for him, which she does. Fitzgibbon tells O'Malley he just went to see "The Bishop" and he admits that the purpose of his visit was to request that O'Malley be transferred since he disagrees with O'Malley's church methods. However, during the visit he realized from "The Bishop"'s tone that "The Bishop" had brought O'Malley here to take charge of the church. Fitzgibbon, to avoid an uncomfortable situation, does not ask for the transfer but instead asks for O'Malley to indeed be put in charge. Resigned to his fate, he informs
O'Malley of his new role.
That evening, Fitzgibbon doesn't come down for dinner, so Mrs. Carmody
goes up to check on him. She comes back downstairs worried as
Fitzgibbon has packed his bags and apparently left. O'Malley sets off
to find him, recruiting Officer McCarthy to help. McCarthy finds him later that night and brings him back to the church. O'Malley and Mrs. Carmody are glad to see him and they bring him upstairs into bed where they bring him his dinner. Later, O'Malley and Fitzgibbon bond over some whiskey that Fitzgibbon keeps stashed in the bookcase. He drinks it sparingly but gets a full year out of it each time. He gets one each year from his mother back in Ireland, who he hasn't seen in 45 years since coming to America. O'Malley sings Fitzgibbon to
sleep with the Irish lullaby, "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral".
O'Malley is walking down the street and we meet an old girlfriend of his, Jenny Linden (Risë Stevens), who brings him inside her workplace. He realizes he's in a theater and the opera Carmen is being performed. Jenny shows him her dressing room as she herself, now going by the name Genevieve Linden, is starring in the title role. He watches her perform from backstage and is thrilled she's achieved her dream.
O'Malley has another order of business now as he's learned that Carol is living in sin with Ted Haines Jr. He goes to the apartment they inhabit and is curious why Ted Jr. allows Carol to stay here for free when his father is busy evicting others out of their apartments. The three chat for awhile and Carol asks O'Malley about his music, if anything's been published. He says no, he hasn't tried to have any of his works published. She asks him to sing one of the unpublished numbers, and he plays the piano while singing "Going My Way". The lyrics describe to the young couple his calling in life to "go His way", which
to O'Malley means to follow after the joyous side of religion and lead
others to do the same.
Back at the church, O'Malley, O'Dowd and Jenny/Genevieve are all singing with the choir. After the choir heads for home, O'Malley mentions to Jenny that O'Dowd has a publisher friend who is going to check out his lyrics and possibly publish. O'Dowd tells O'Malley that he actually already saw his friend, and the song got rejected as the publisher doesn't think that song would sell to the masses. O'Malley shrugs and says oh well.
Ted Sr. visits the apartment where he finds Carol and Ted Jr. Ted Sr. isn't happy that this empty apartment is in use because that means he can't rent it out. Ted Jr., who quite the S&L job recently, seems flippant to the situation because he's just madly in love with Carol, and vice versa. He even tells his dad they eloped and are now married, having done so at the Church of St. Dominic with Father O'Malley presiding. Ted Sr. isn't sure what to think, and he sits on the couch telling Carol he's failed as a father while Ted Jr. gets dressed to head out. Ted Jr. comes out dressed in full military gear and thanks his dad for the private plane he had growing up, as it's inspired him to become an Armed Forces pilot. He's off to serve his country. The Teds shake hands and Ted Sr. feels much better about everything, including Carol.
O'Dowd makes another call to his publisher friend and tells him he needs to come to the Metropolitan Opera to hear the song performed live. The publisher, Max Dolan (William Frawley), does so. He hears the song and likes it, but echoes his earlier statement that it's not the kind of song the younger audience buys these days. As he heads out, the gang sing a second song, "Swinging on a Star", which Max loves and buys on the spot. With the song bought, the church can now eliminate its debt.
Fitzgibbon is in great spirits and even joins O'Malley and O'Dowd on a golf outing. They play checkers later until they all get tired. O'Dowd leaves but soon returns panicking, exclaiming that the church is on fire. They all run out to see the blaze being extinguished, but extensive damage having occurred. Fitzgibbon takes ill from the stress, although when he learns that Jenny and the choir are on a concert tour to raise funds for the church to be rebuilt, his spirits bounce back once again.
O'Malley prepares to move on to a new assignment from "The Bishop". Fitzgibbon is once ahead put in charge of running the church's affairs, and Father O'Dowd will transfer here to be Fitzgibbon's new assistant. O'Malley also puts Tony in
charge of the choir. On Christmas Eve, everyone in the community--including all the players we've seen during the film, even Ted Sr. who now is much more charitable to his fellow man--gather in a temporary
church for a service that also serves as O'Malley's farewell. But O'Malley has one final surprise for Fitzgibbon as a going-away present. He's flown in Fitzgibbon's mother from Ireland. As Fitzgibbon is speaking, the choir quietly starts to sing the Irish lullaby. Fitzgibbon turns and sees his mother, and the two reunite and embrace as O'Malley quietly leaves, his work at the Church of St. Dominic finished.
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The boys in the film were all actually the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir, who appeared in many films over the years with different members. In this film, Andy Williams is one of the boys.....A 1945 sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's, actually was written first, and also had Crosby playing Father O'Malley. He was Oscar-nominated both times, the first time in history an actor had been nominated twice for playing the same part in two different films.....Life imitates art: Risë Stevens played the title role in Carmen at the New York Metropolitan Opera during this film as part of the storyline. She then did that very thing in real life the following year.....Although the film is set in New York, parts of the film were actually shot at the St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, CA.....A TV series based on the film ran for one season in 1962-63 with Gene Kelly playing Father O'Malley.
In the opening paragraph, I said we may figure out how this film was so Oscar-decorated. When I watched it, I think I have my answer. That final scene. The reunion of Father Fitzgibbon and his 90-year-old mother was a tremendously emotional scene, and Father O'Malley quietly slipping out of the church so as not to draw away attention from the reunion really capped it. That is awesome storytelling. With that said, I still think the film was just OK. It ran a little long, it ran a little slow. I think perhaps it's just one of those films that shows its age a little worse than others do. In 1944, it was the favorite, garnering 10 Oscar nominations and 7 wins. A little Oscar trivia here, as two of the nominations were actually to Barry Fitzgerald for his performance. Since the rules didn't say this couldn't be done, Fitzgerald found himself making the nominees list for both Best Lead Actor and Best Supporting Actor, as apparently those responsible for the nominations process split their opinions as to which category he should go into. This rule was amended immediately after the 17th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, so we have and will never again see one actor/role be nominated in two different categories.
Losses were for Black-and-White Cinematography, Film Editing, and in regards to Fitzgerald's nomination, Best Lead Actor. That last one went to Crosby, and Fitzgerald wound up taking home the Supporting Actor prize. Other wins were for Original Motion Picture Story (McCarey), Screenplay (Frank Butler and Frank Cavett), Song ("Swinging on a Star"), Director (McCarey again) and Best Picture (Paramount, including McCarey, a trifecta). The Best Picture win came over four other films, two of which I personally feel are superior, especially Double Indemnity, an all-time favorite film of mine and what is, to me, the ultimate film noir. I also preferred Gaslight. The other two are Since You Went Away and Wilson, neither of which I've seen so in fairness, I can't compare them. There's certainly nothing wrong with Going My Way, but if I was to tell you to check out a great film from 1944, it's not the one I'd be handing you a DVD of.
[NOTE: I have no idea why this trailer says the film won 8 Oscars. It won 7.]
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