1945 in film

The top ten 1945 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

• January 26 – The film National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp and Anne Revere, is released nationally in the United States. The film is an instant critical and commercial success, propelling 12-year-old Taylor to stardom and earning Revere the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
• January 30 – Restricted release of Kolberg, an historical epic which is one of the last Nazi Germany propaganda pieces, in war-torn Berlin. Given its cast of 187,000, probably fewer people view it than appear in it.
• April 20 – Release of Son of Lassie, the 2nd Lassie film and the first film ever to be filmed using the Technicolor Monobook method, where a single magazine of film is used to record all of the primary colors. Prior to this method, the most popular recording method was 3-Strip Technicolor, which simultaneously used 3 individual film magazines to record the primary colors.
• August 10 – Animated Donald Duck short Duck Pimples is released.
• September 27 – Release of Roberto Rossellini's Roma Città aperta marks the beginning of Italian neorealism in film.
• October 5 – A strike between the set decorators' union and the studios boils over and becomes known as the Hollywood Black Friday.
• November 16 – Paramount Pictures releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, introducing a ghost named Casper.
• November 29 – At the Nuremberg trials a documentary on the Nazi concentration camps directed by John Ford is exhibited as evidence.
• December 28 – Release of Spellbound, a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, across the United States.

United States unless stated

• Brenda Starr, Reporter, starring Joan Woodbury
• Federal Operator 99, starring Marten Lamont
• Jungle Queen, starring Edward Norris and Eddie Quillan
• Jungle Raiders
• Manhunt on Mystery Island, starring Richard Bailey and Linda Stirling
• The Master Key, starring Dennis Moore
• The Monster and the Ape, starring Robert Lowery
• The Purple Monster Strikes, starring Dennis Moore and Linda Stirling
• The Royal Mounted Rides Again
• Secret Agent X-9, starring Lloyd Bridges
• Who's Guilty?

• Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
• Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
• Terrytoons (1930–1964)
• Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
• Scrappy (1931–1941)
• Popeye (1933–1957)
• Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
• Donald Duck (1937–1956)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Bugs Bunny (1940–1962)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Swing Symphonies (1941-1945)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943–1949)
• Droopy (1943–1958)
• Screwball Squirrel (1944–1946)
• Yosemite Sam (1945–1963)

• January 25 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
• January 28 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress
• January 29 – Tom Selleck, American actor
• February 9 – Mia Farrow, American actress
• February 12 – Maud Adams, Swedish actress
• February 16 – Jeremy Bulloch, English actor (died 2020)
• February 17 – Brenda Fricker, Irish actress
• February 20 – Brion James, American actor (died 1999)
• February 24 – Barry Bostwick, American actor
• February 28 – Bubba Smith, American professional football player and actor (died 2011)
• April 2 – Linda Hunt, American actress
• March 28 – Raine Loo, Estonian actress
• May 24 – Priscilla Presley, American actress
• May 31 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German director, producer and screenwriter (died 1982)
• June 2 – Jon Peters, American producer
• June 6 – David Dukes, American actor (died 2000)
• June 11 – Adrienne Barbeau, American actress
• July 23 - Edie McClurg, American actress and voice actress
• July 26 – Helen Mirren, English actress
• August 2 – Joanna Cassidy, American actress
• August 5 – Loni Anderson, American actress
• August 14
  • Steve Martin, American actor and comedian
  • Wim Wenders, German director, producer and screenwriter
• August 21 – Patty McCormack, American actress
• August 23 – Bob Peck, English actor (died 1999)
• September 17 – Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
• September 22 – Paul Le Mat, American actor
• October 7 – Michael Wallis, American journalist, popular historian, author speaker and voice actor
• October 18 – Huell Howser, American actor, television personality, host, comedian (died 2013)
• October 19 – John Lithgow, American actor
• October 26 – Jaclyn Smith, American actress
• October 27 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (died 2004)
• October 30 – Henry Winkler, American actor
• October 31 – Brian Doyle-Murray, American actor and comedian
• November 21 – Goldie Hawn, American actress
• November 27 – James Avery, American actor (died 2013)
• December 1 – Bette Midler, American actress, comedian and singer
• December 17 – Ernie Hudson, American actor
• December 21 – Mari Lill, Estonian actress
• December 24 – Nicholas Meyer, American screenwriter, director and producer
• December 31 – Barbara Carrera, Nicaraguan-born American actress

• January 14 – Heinrich Schroth, 73, German actor, Dr. Hart's Diary, Melody of a Great City, Die Entlassung, Rembrandt
• February 23 – Reginald Barker, 58, American director, Civilization, The Bargain, The Coward, The Moonstone
• March 4 – Lucille La Verne, 72, American actress, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Abraham Lincoln, Orphans of the Storm, A Tale of Two Cities
• March 4 – Mark Sandrich, 44, American director, The Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet, Holiday Inn
• March 30 – Béla Balogh, 60, Hungarian director
• April 10 – Gloria Dickson, 27, American actress, Lady of Burlesque, They Won't Forget
• April 29 – Malcolm McGregor, 52, American silent screen star, Lady of the Night, The Circle, The Whispering Shadow, The Ladybird
• May 4 – Anna Dodge, 77, American actress, The Extra Girl, Ride for Your Life
• July 13 – Alla Nazimova, 66, Ukrainian-born stage and film actress, Blood and Sand, Salomé, Since You Went Away, Madame Peacock
• August 11 – Stefan Jaracz, 61, Polish actor, Countess Walewska
• September 1 – Terry, 11, American performing Cairn Terrier, The Wizard of Oz
• November 11 – Jerome Kern, 60, American composer, Show Boat, Swing Time
• November 12 – Jaro Fürth, 74, Austrian actor, Diary of a Lost Girl, Joyless Street
• November 21 – Robert Benchley, 56, American writer and actor, Foreign Correspondent, You'll Never Get Rich, Road to Utopia

• Vittorio Gassman – Inconto con Laura
• Jane Greer – Pan-Americana
• Silvana Mangano – The Last Judgment
• Dean Stockwell – The Horn Blows at Midnight
• Lizabeth Scott – You Came Along
• Betty White – Time to Kill