17th Academy Awards

The 17th Academy Awards were held on March 15, 1945 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, honoring the films of 1944. This was the first time the complete awards ceremony was broadcast nationally, on the Blue Network (later ABC Radio). Bob Hope hosted the 70-minute broadcast, which included film clips that required explanation for the radio audience.

Darryl F. Zanuck and 20th Century-Fox spent a fortune promoting Wilson out of determination to have it win the Best Picture Oscar, but it lost to Going My Way, which made Zanuck bitter.

This year was notable for being the only time an individual was nominated for two acting awards for the same role in the same film: Barry Fitzgerald received nominations for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Father Fitzgibbon in the Best Picture winner Going My Way. Fitzgerald won for Best Supporting Actor, while his co-star Bing Crosby won Best Actor.

Awards
Nominees were announced on February 3, 1945. Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Academy Honorary Award

 * Bob Hope "life membership for his many services to the Academy".

Academy Juvenile Award

 * Margaret O'Brien

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

 * Darryl F. Zanuck

Presenters
(in order of appearance)


 * Walter Wanger (Presenter: Academy Honorary Award to Bob Hope)
 * Bob Hope (Presenter: Best Art Direction (Black-and-White), Best Art Direction (Color), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White), Best Cinematography (Color), Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Film Editing, Best Live Action Short Subject (One-Reel), Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Song, Best Sound Recording, Best Special Effects, and the Scientific & Technical Awards)
 * Hugo Butler (Presenter: Best Screenplay, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Motion Picture Story)
 * Mervyn LeRoy (Presenter: Best Director)
 * Hal B. Wallis (Presenter: Best Picture)
 * Norma Shearer (Presenter: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award)
 * Bob Hope (Presenter: Academy Juvenile Award)
 * Charles Coburn (Presenter: Best Supporting Actor)
 * Teresa Wright (Presenter: Best Supporting Actress)
 * Gary Cooper (Presenter: Best Actor)
 * Jennifer Jones (Presenter: Best Actress)