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.)^[1]

Box office numbers were reported at the time as a percentage compared to 'normal' business at each theater. For example, Mrs. Miniver performed at 244% while Billy Wilder's directorial debut The Major and the Minor did a solid 155%. This is why exact dollar grosses for the period are unreliable at best.

Rank	Title	Studio
1.	Mrs. Miniver	MGM
2.	Yankee Doodle Dandy	Warner Bros.
3.	Random Harvest	MGM
4.	Road to Morocco	Paramount
5.	Reap the Wild Wind	Paramount
7.	Somewhere I'll Find You	MGM
8.	Holiday Inn	Paramount
9.	Casablanca	Warner Bros.
10.	Wake Island	Paramount
11.	The Black Swan	20th Century Fox
	Eagle Squadron	Universal
12.	For Me and My Gal	MGM
13.	The Major and the Minor	Paramount
	My Favorite Blonde	Paramount
14.	The Pride of the Yankees	RKO
15.	Pardon My Sarong	Universal
	My Sister Eileen	Columbia
16.	This Above All	20th Century Fox
17.	Who Done It?	Universal
18.	The Talk of the Town	Columbia

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

1942 film releases

U.S.A unless stated

Notable films released in 1942

U.S.A unless stated

A

Across the Pacific, starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine, starring Dennis O'Keefe and Ruth Terry
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)
All Through the Night, starring Humphrey Bogart
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)

B

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

C-D

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)

E-F

Eagle Squadron, directed by Arthur Lubin
Escape from Hong Kong, starring Marjorie Lord
Eyes in the Night, directed by Fred Zinneman, starring Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Donna Reed
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 Fortress, starring Richard Greene (GB)
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)

G-H

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 Impersonation, directed by John Rawlins, starring Ralph Bellamy
The Great King (Der große König) - (Germany)
The Great Man's Lady, directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck
The Great Mr. Handel, directed by Norman Walker, starring Wilfrid Lawson (GB)
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)

I

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

J-K

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)

L-M

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

N-O

'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.

P

The Palm Beach Story, directed by Preston Sturges, starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallée
Panama Hattie, starring Ann Sothern and Lena Horne
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 Szőts - (Hungary)
The Pied Piper, starring Monty Woolley and Roddy McDowall
A Pistol Shot, starring Assia Noris, Fosco Giachetti (Italy)
Pittsburgh, starring John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, Shemp Howard
Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan, Babe Ruth

Q-R

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

S

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, John Payne, Carmen Miranda and Cesar Romero
Sweater Girl, starring Eddie Bracken, June Preisser, and Betty Jane Rhodes

T-V

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
Ten Gentlemen from West Point, starring George Montgomery and Maureen O'Hara
Tennessee Johnson, starring Van Heflin and Ruth Hussey
There Was a Father (chichi ariki), directed by Yasujirō Ozu (Japan)
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)

W-Z

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
Whom the Gods Love, directed by Karl Hartl (Germany-Austria)
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

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 10 - Walter Hill, American director, producer and screenwriter
January 19 - Michael Crawford, English actor and singer
February 21 - Margarethe von Trotta, German director
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
August 7 - Tobin Bell, actor
September 29
- Madeline Kahn, American actress (died 1999)
- Ian McShane, English actor
October 4 - Christopher Stone, American actor (died 1995)
October 6 - Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
October 13 - Suzzanna, Indonesian actress (died 2008)
October 22 - Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (died 2013)
October 26
- Bob Hoskins, English actor and director (died 2014)
- Eili Sild, Estonian actress
October 31 - David Ogden Stiers, American actor (died 2018)
November 17 - Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
November 24 - Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor
December 4 - Gemma Jones, English actress

Deaths

January 16 - Carole Lombard, 33, American actress, To Be or Not to Be, My Man Godfrey, Made for Each Other, Nothing Sacred
January 31 - Rolf Wenkhaus, 24, German actor, Emil and the Detectives, S.A.-Mann Brand
April 10 - Carl Schenstrøm, 60, Danish actor, Cocktails, The Last Laugh
May 29 - John Barrymore, 60, American actor, Grand Hotel, Twentieth Century, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dinner at Eight
June 4 - Virginia Lee Corbin, 31, American actress, Hands Up!, X Marks the Spot
July 5 - Karin Swanström, 69, Swedish actress, director, His English Wife, Black Roses
August 18 - Rafaela Ottiano, 54, Italian-born American actress, Grand Hotel, She Done Him Wrong, The Devil-Doll, Curly Top
October 20 - May Robson, 84, Australian-born American stage & film actress, Bringing Up Baby, A Star is Born, Lady for a Day, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
October 22 - Olga Svendsen, 59, Danish actress, Kidnapped
November 5 - George M. Cohan, 64, American actor, songwriter, entertainer, The Phantom President, Broadway Jones, subject of Yankee Doodle Dandy
November 9 - Edna May Oliver, 59, American stage & film actress, David Copperfield, Drums Along the Mohawk, Little Women, A Tale of Two Cities
November 12 - Laura Hope Crews, 62, American stage & screen actress, Gone with the Wind, Camille, Angel, The Blue Bird
November 15 - Sidney Fox, 30, American actress, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Bad Sister, Six Cylinder Love
December 12 - Helen Westley, 67, American stage & screen actress, Heidi, Roberta, All This, and Heaven Too, Alexander's Ragtime Band

Film Debuts

Richard Attenborough - In Which We Serve
Betty Hutton - The Fleet's In
Anne Jeffreys - Billy the Kid Trapped
Gene Kelly - For Me and My Gal
Harry Morgan - To the Shores of Tripoli
Eleanor Parker - The Big Shot
Simone Signoret - Bolero
Elizabeth Taylor - There's One Born Every Minute
Peter Ustinov - One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
Esther Williams - Andy Hardy's Double Life
Tweety Bird - A Tale of Two Kitties

References

^ Box Office Digest, June 1943, p.18

[1] Box Office Digest, June 1943, p.18

[1]