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In: The Argus Week-end Magazine

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Sat 24 Mar 1945 - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)
Page 8 - Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite
-Warner Bros. Bette Davis, Hollywood's No. 1 character star, returns to "Best Ten."Help
Warner Bros.
Bette Davis, Hollywood's No. 1 character star, returns to "Best Ten."
Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite
Crooner Surprises by Winning Annual Box-office
Poll; Clark Gable Misses Place for First Time
By LON JONES, in Hollywood
TO THE COMPLETE SURPRISE
of Hollywood, which had never
regarded it as even remotely possible
that he would be named No 1
screen favourite of America and
Canada, Bing Crosby has been voted
Box Office Champion of 1944 by American
and Canadian exhibitors in the
annual poll conducted by the Motion
Picture Herald.
Crosby, now 40 and the father of
four boys, also earned the distinction
of being the first leading man to win
the poll since its inception 13 years
ago. Number one position in the 12
previous years was held three times
by character actors, seven times by
children, once by a pair of comedians
(Abbott and Costello), and once by a
leading woman, Betty Grable, who was
the winner last year. This would indicate
that the public is not as interested
in the so-called romantic stars
as studio publicity departments would
have the world believe. It would require
quite a stretch of the imagina-
tion to class Crosby as a romantic
star.
SOME HOLLYWOOD CRITICS are
trying to explain away Crosby's
victory by stating that he rose to first
place in public esteem this year on the
coat-tails of Barry Fitzgerald, who supported
the star in Going My Way,
but who actually stole the film from
the crooner. It is not unlikely that
Fitzgerald was the chief draw card of
this exceptionally popular film, which
has broken box-office records wherever
it has been exhibited.
It might be pointed out that this poll
is based on the amount of money
earned at the box-office by stars' films,
and is not a popularity poll in the accepted
sense of the term. This is the
only poll that counts in Hollywood, and
most stars would rather be placed
among the first 10 in this poll than
win an Academy Award.
Making up the "Best Ten" stars of
1944, behind Crosby and in the following
order, were: Gary Cooper, Bob
Hope, Betty Grable, Spencer Tracy,
Greer Garson, Humphrey Bogart, Abbott
and Costello, Cary Grant, and
Bette Davis.
Betty Grable fall from first to fourth
place in the short space of a year is
partially explained by the fact that
she appeared in but two films in 1944,
Sweet Rosy O'Grady and Pin-Up
Girl.
Gary Cooper, now a middle-aged actor
at 44, appears to improve with age, for
he moved up from fifth place last year.
Cooper has been among the "Best Ten
six times.
Bob Hope, in spite of the tremendous
publicity he received during the year
actually dropped down a notch from
second place in 1943. Reason given for
his fall is that he appeared in only one
film in 1944, Let's Face It.
Spencer Tracy, who will be 45 this
year, made a spectacular comeback to
move up from 19th place last year This
success was due to his fine performances
in A Guy Named Joe and
The Seventh Cross. This is Tracy's
sixth appearance among the coveted
first 10.
Greer Garson retained the position
she won last year, making the third
year in a row that she has been voted
one of the top money-making stars
Humphrey Bogart clung to seventh
position, which he won last year, the
first time he had been included among
the top stars of the year. Bogart is
another middle-aged star, being 45
The only newcomer to the ranks of
the "Best Ten" is Cary Grant in ninth
place. Though classed as one of
Hollywood's most romantic stars
Grant is 41 Reason this popular star
has never won a place in the poll until
this year is that in previous years he
confined his appearances on the screen
to one picture. In 1944 he was seen
in three films.
BETTE DAVIS, Hollywood's No 1
character star among the women,
returns to the "Best Ten" after a three
year absence. She was ninth in 1940
and eighth in 1941. Her reappearance is
due to her performance in one film in
1944, Mr Skeffington, which is a
great tribute to her ability
Although they dropped from third to
eighth place, Abbott and Costello can
claim to be the only comedy team in
the history of the poll to gain "Best
Ten" honours for three consecutive
years. They won the poll in 1942
It is interesting to note that Betty
Grable is the only star among this
year's first 10 who is under 30 years
of age. She is 28. Bette Davis will be
37 in April of this year (1945), while
Miss Garson is in her 30's, though her
exact age is one of her studies deepest
secrets.
Three famous names that disappeared
from this year's list were James Cagney
Mickey Rooney, and Clark Gable,
who held eighth, ninth, and tenth
places respectively last year.
This is the first time since the poll
was inaugurated 13 years ago that
Gable has failed to win a place His
failure is due to the fact that he has
been absent from the screen for two
years in the Army. He won last place
last year because of a revival of Gone
With the Wind. He returns to the
screen this year, however, and it will
be interesting to see whether he can
regain his former position in the box
office standings.
Rooney, who won first place three
years in succession, in 1939, 1940, and
1941, was drafted into the Army during
1944. He may make a comeback in
next year's poll, after National Velvet,
his last picture, is released It
is one of his finest performances and
the picture is likely to be voted one
of the best of the rear.
Behind this year's "Best Ten," in the
order named, were the following
players: Wallace Beery, Dorothy Lamour,
Walter Pidgeon, Judy Garland,
Alice Faye, and Red Skelton, Ginger
Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Claudette Colbert,
Irene Dunne, Margaret O'Brien,
and James Cagney, Barry Fitzgerald,
Roy Rogers, Betty Hutton, Fred MacMurray,
and Ingrid Bergman, Deanna
Durbin.
It is more than possible that Judy
Garland will be among the "Best Ten"
next year, because of her role in Meet Me
in St Louis, one of the best
musicals made in years, which is just
now being released.
Roy Rogers was voted the champion
Western star of 1944, his second victory
in succession. Then came the following
players in the order named
William Boyd, Smiley Burnette Gabby
Hayes, Bill Elliott, Johnny Mack
Brown, Don "Red" Barry, Charles
Starrett, Russell Hayden, and Tex
Ritter.
Article identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1110315
Page identifier
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page29990
APA citation
Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite (1945, March 24).The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 8 (The Argus Week-end Magazine). Retrieved April 16, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1110315
MLA citation
"Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite"The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 24 March 1945: 8 (The Argus Week-end Magazine). Web. 16 Apr 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1110315>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1945 'Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite',The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 24 March, p. 8. (The Argus Week-end Magazine), viewed 16 Apr 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1110315
Wikipedia citation
{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1110315 |title=Bing Crosby America's Screen Favourite |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]] |issue=30,755 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=24 March 1945 |accessdate=16 April 2025 |page=8 (The Argus Week-end Magazine) |via=National Library of Australia}}

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