1942 in film

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The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.

Events

• January 16 - Actress Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash west of Las Vegas while returning home to Los Angeles from a War Bond tour.
• June 4 - Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York, in what will become a record-breaking 10-week run.
• August 8 - Walt Disney's animated film Bambi opens in United Kingdom.
• November 11 - Road to Morocco, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, premieres.
• November 26 - The film Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

Rank	Title	Studio	Leading Star
1.	Mrs. Miniver	MGM	Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
2.	Desperate Journey	Warner Bros.	Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan
3.	Random Harvest	MGM	Ronald Colman and Greer Garson
4.	Yankee Doodle Dandy	Warner Bros.	James Cagney
5.	Gentleman Jim	Warner Bros.	Errol Flynn
6.	Springtime in the Rockies	20th Century Fox	Betty Grable
7.	Somewhere I'll Find You	MGM	Clark Gable and Lana Turner
8.	This Gun for Hire	Paramount	Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd
9.	Reap the Wild Wind	Paramount	John Wayne and Paulette Goddard
10.	Footlight Serenade	20th Century Fox	Betty Grable and Victor Mature
11.	Road to Morocco	Paramount	Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope
12.	The Pride of the Yankees	RKO	Gary Cooper
13.	I Married a Witch	Paramount/United Artists	Veronica Lake and Fredric March
14.	Song of the Islands	20th Century Fox	Betty Grable and Victor Mature
15.	Casablanca	Warner Bros.	Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
16.	The Glass Key	Paramount	Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake
17.	Johnny Eager	MGM	Robert Taylor and Lana Turner
18.	Tortilla Flat	MGM	Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield
19.	Woman of the Year	MGM	Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
20.	The Spoilers	Universal	Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Mrs. Miniver - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Best Director: William Wyler - Mrs. Miniver
• Best Actor: James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Best Actress: Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver
• Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin - Johnny Eager
• Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright - Mrs. Miniver
• Special Academy Award: In Which We Serve

Notable films released in 1942

U.S.A unless stated

AB

• Across the Pacific, starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor
• A-Haunting We Will Go, starring Laurel and Hardy
• Ala-Arriba! - (Portugal)
• Alias Boston Blackie, Starring Chester Morris, Adele Mara, and Richard Lane
• Alibi, starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason - (GB)
• American Empire, starring Richard Dix
• Andy Hardy's Double Life, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
• Aniki-Bóbó - (Portugal)
• Arabian Nights, starring Sabu, Jon Hall, Maria Montez
• Attack on Baku, starring Willy Fritsch, René Deltgen (Germany)
• El Baisano Jalil - (Mexico)
• Bambi
• The Battle of Midway, documentary directed by John Ford
• The Big Blockade, starring Leslie Banks, Michael Redgrave and Will Hay - (UK)
• The Big Shot, starring Humphrey Bogart
• The Big Street, starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall, starring Will Hay and John Mills - (GB)
• The Black Swan, starring Tyrone Power
• Bullet Scars, starring Regis Toomey

CD

• Captains of the Clouds, starring James Cagney
• Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz (Oscar winner), starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains
• Cat People, starring Simone Simon and Tom Conway
• Commandos Strike at Dawn, starring Paul Muni
• The Corpse Vanishes, starring Bela Lugosi
• The Courtship of Andy Hardy, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden
• Derailed (Afsporet) - (Denmark)
• Desperate Journey, starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan
• The Devil's Envoys (Les Visiteurs du Soir), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Arletty - (France)

EF

• Eagle Squadron, directed by Arthur Lubin
• The First of the Few, directed by Leslie Howard, starring Howard and David Niven - (GB)
• The Fleet's In, starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden
• Flying Tigers, starring John Wayne
• The Foreman Went to France, starring Clifford Evans and Tommy Trinder - (GB)
• For Me and My Gal, starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly
• Four Steps in the Clouds (Quattro passi fra le nuvole) - (Italy)

GH

• Un Garibaldino al Convento, directed by Vittorio De Sica - (Italy)
• The Gaucho War (La guerra gaucha) - (Argentina)
• Gentleman Jim, a biopic of boxer James J. Corbett, starring Errol Flynn
• George Washington Slept Here, starring Jack Benny
• The Ghost of Frankenstein starring Lon Chaney Jr.
• The Glass Key, starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake
• The Goose Steps Out, starring Will Hay - (GB)
• The Great King (Der große König) - (Germany)
• The Great Man's Lady, directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck
• The Great Impersonation, directed by John Rawlins, starring Ralph Bellamy
• Hatter's Castle, starring Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr, James Mason - (GB)
• Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
• Historia de un gran amor (A Great Love Story) - (Mexico)

IJK

• I Married a Witch, starring Veronica Lake and Fredric March
• In Old California, starring John Wayne
• In This Our Life, starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland
• In Which We Serve, directed by David Lean and Noël Coward, starring Coward and John Mills - (GB)
• Invisible Agent, starring Jon Hall
• Jackass Mail, starring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main
• Johnny Eager, starring Robert Taylor and Lana Turner
• Jungle Book, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Sabu
• Kid Glove Killer, the directorial debut of Fred Zinnemann
• The Kids Grow Up (Los Chicos crecen) - (Argentina)
• Kings Row, starring Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan, Claude Rains
• Kokoda Front Line!, an Academy Award winning documentary film - (Australia)

LM

• Larceny, Inc., starring Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford
• Listen to Britain, propaganda film directed by Humphrey Jennings - (GB)
• The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe, starring Linda Darnell
• The Magnificent Ambersons, directed by Orson Welles, starring Joseph Cotten and Dolores Costello
• The Major and the Minor, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland
• The Male Animal, starring Henry Fonda and Olivia De Havilland
• The Man Who Came to Dinner, starring Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, Jimmy Durante
• The Man Who Wanted to Kill Himself (El hombre que se quiso matar) - (Spain)
• Miss Annie Rooney, starring Shirley Temple
• Moontide, starring Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino
• Mrs. Miniver, directed by William Wyler, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
• The Mummy's Tomb, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
• The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (L'Assassin habite au 21), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Pierre Fresnay - (France)
• My Favorite Blonde, starring Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll
• My Gal Sal, starring Rita Hayworth
• My Sister Eileen, starring Rosalind Russell

NOP

• 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge, starring The East Side Kids
• The Next of Kin, starring Mervyn Johns - (GB)
• Now, Voyager, starring Bette Davis and Paul Henreid
• One of Our Aircraft is Missing, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - (GB)
• Overland Mail, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Noah Beery, Jr., Noah Beery, Sr.
• The Palm Beach Story, directed by Preston Sturges, starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallée
• Pardon My Sarong, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• O Pátio das Cantigas (The Courtyard of Songs) - (Portugal)
• People of the Mountains, directed by István Szöts - (Hungary)
• The Pied Piper, starring Monty Woolley and Roddy McDowall
• Pittsburgh, starring John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, Shemp Howard
• Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan, Babe Ruth

QRS

• Random Harvest, starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson
• Reap the Wild Wind, starring John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland
• Reunion in France, starring Joan Crawford
• Ride 'Em Cowboy, starring Abbott and Costello
• Rings on Her Fingers, starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney
• Rio Rita, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Road to Morocco, starring Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Bob Hope
• The Rock of the Souls (El Peñón de las Ánimas) - (Mexico)
• Roti (Bread) - (India)
• Roxie Hart, starring Ginger Rogers
• Saboteur, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings
• Saludos Amigos, a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Goofy (released in South America in 1942 and in the U.S. in 1943)
• Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
• Somewhere I'll Find You, starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner
• Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney
• Song of the Islands, a Darryl F. Zanuck production starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature
• Sons of the Pioneers, starring Roy Rogers and George 'Gabby' Hayes
• The Spoilers, starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne
• Springtime in the Rockies, starring Betty Grable
• Sweater Girl, starring Eddie Bracken, June Preisser, and Betty Jane Rhodes

TUV

• Tales of Manhattan, directed by Julien Duvivier with an all-star cast
• The Talk of the Town, starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman
• Tarzan's New York Adventure, starring Johnny Weissmuller
• Tennessee Johnson, starring Van Heflin and Ruth Hussey
• There's One Born Every Minute, starring Hugh Herbert and Peggy Moran
• This Above All, starring Tyrone Power
• This Gun for Hire, starring Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd
• This Was Paris, starring Ann Dvorak - (GB)
• Thunder Rock, starring Michael Redgrave and James Mason - (GB)
• To Be or Not to Be, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jack Benny and (in her last film) Carole Lombard
• Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die, starring Richard Dix
• Tortilla Flat, starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield
• Uncensored, directed by Anthony Asquith - (GB)
• The Undying Monster, starring James Ellison
• Valentin the Good (Valentin Dobrotivý), directed by Martin Frič - (Czechoslovakia)

WXYZ

• Wake Island, starring Brian Donlevy and Robert Preston
• Went the Day Well?, directed by Cavalcanti, starring Leslie Banks and Mervyn Johns - (GB)
• Who Done It?, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
• Woman of the Year, starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn
• Yankee Doodle Dandy, starring James Cagney
• The Young Mr. Pitt, directed by Carol Reed, starring Robert Donat - biopic of William Pitt the Younger - (GB)
• You Were Never Lovelier, starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth

Serials

• Captain Midnight, starring Dave O'Brien, directed by James W. Horne
• Don Winslow of the Navy
• Gang Busters
• Junior G-Men of the Air, starring the Dead End Kids
• King of the Mounties, starring Allan Lane, directed by William Witney
• Overland Mail
• Perils of Nyoka, starring Kay Aldridge & Clayton Moore, directed by William Witney
• Perils of the Royal Mounted, directed by James W. Horne
• The Secret Code, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
• Spy Smasher, starring Kane Richmond, directed by William Witney
• The Valley of Vanishing Men, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

Short film series

• Laurel and Hardy (1921–1943)
• Our Gang (1922–1944)
• The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series

• 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)
• Pluto (1937–1951)
• Walter Lantz Cartune (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies) (1938-1942)
• Goofy (1939–1955)
• Andy Panda (1939–1949)
• Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
• Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
• Swing Symphonies (1941–1945)
• The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)

Births

• January 3 - John Thaw, English actor (died 2002)
• January 8 - Yvette Mimieux, American actress
• January 19 - Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
• March 25 - Richard O'Brien, English actor and writer
• March 27 - Michael York, English actor
• March 28 - Mike Newell, English director and producer
• April 3 - Marsha Mason, American actress
• April 6 - Barry Levinson, American director, producer and screenwriter
• April 23 - Sandra Dee, American actress (died 2005)
• April 24 - Barbra Streisand, American actress, singer, director and producer
• June 18 - Roger Ebert, American film critic of the Chicago Sun Times (died 2013)
  • Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
• July 1 - Geneviève Bujold, French-Canadian actress
• July 9 - Richard Roundtree, American actor
• July 13 - Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
• July 24 - Chris Sarandon, American actor
• September 29 - Madeline Kahn, American actress (died 1999)
• October 4 - Christopher Stone, American actor (died 1995)
• October 6 - Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
• October 22 - Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (died 2013)
• October 26 - Bob Hoskins, English actor and director
• October 31 - David Ogden Stiers, American actor
• November 17 - Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
• December 4 - Gemma Jones, English actress

Deaths

• January 16 - Carole Lombard, American actress (born 1908)
• January 31 - Rolf Wenkhaus, German actor (born 1917)
• April 10 - Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor (born 1881)
• May 29 - John Barrymore, American actor (born 1882)
• August 18 - Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-born American actress (born 1888)
• October 20 - May Robson, Australian-born American stage & film actress (born 1858)
• October 22 - Olga Svendsen, Danish actress (born 1883)
• November 5 - George M. Cohan, American actor, songwriter, entertainer (born 1878)
• November 9 - Edna May Oliver, American stage & film actress (born 1883)
• November 12 - Laura Hope Crews, American stage & screen actress (born 1879)
• December 12 - Helen Westley, American stage & screen actress (born 1875)

Film Debuts

• Richard Attenborough
• Anne Jeffreys
• Gene Kelly
• Norman Lloyd
• Harry Morgan
• Simone Signoret
• Elizabeth Taylor
• Esther Williams