1942 in film explained
The year of 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.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1942 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1942| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
|---|
| 1 | Mrs. Miniver | MGM | $5,358,000[1] |
|---|
| 2 | Random Harvest | $4,650,000 |
|---|
| 3 | Yankee Doodle Dandy | Warner Bros. | $4,631,000[2] |
|---|
| 4 | Reap the Wild Wind | Paramount | $4,000,000[3] |
|---|
| 5 | Road to Morocco | $3,800,000[4] |
|---|
| 6 | Holiday Inn | $3,750,000[5] |
|---|
| 7 | Wake Island | $3,500,000 |
|---|
| 8 | The Pride of the Yankees | RKO | $3,332,000[6] [7] |
|---|
| 9 | Kings Row | Warner Bros. | $3,143,000 |
|---|
| 10 | For Me and My Gal | MGM | $2,894,000 | |
|---|
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 – British-set wartime romantic drama 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. The film becomes MGM's highest-grossing film of the 1940s. At the 15th Academy Awards, Mrs. Miniver wins six awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (for William Wyler), Best Actress (for Greer Garson) and Best Supporting Actress (for Teresa Wright).
- August 8 – Walt Disney's animated film Bambi opens in the 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 Theatre in New York City. Released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943, it becomes one of the top-grossing pictures of 1943 and goes on to win the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the 16th Academy Awards.
Academy Awards
See main article: 15th Academy Awards.
Mrs. Miniver – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver
James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
Greer Garson – Mrs. Miniver
Van Heflin – Johnny Eager
Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver
1942 film releases
U.S.A. unless stated
January–March
- January 1942
- 1 January
- 6 January
- 8 January
- 10 January
- 19 January
- 22 January
- 23 January
- 24 January
- 29 January
- February 1942
- 2 February
- 6 February
- 16 February
- 19 February
- 20 February
- 21 February
- March 1942
- 3 March
- 7 March
- 10 March
- 11 March
- 13 March
- 18 March
- 20 March
- 21 March
- 27 March
April–June
- April 1942
- 1 April
- 2 April
- 3 April
- 4 April
- 19 April
- 22 April
- 24 April
- 29 April
- 30 April
- May 1942
- 8 May
- 12 May
- 13 May
- 21 May
- 22 May
- 29 May
- 31 May
- June 1942
- 13 June
- 15 June
- 16 June
- 22 June
- 26 June
- 27 June
July–September
- July 1942
- 2 July
- 8 July
- 9 July
- 10 July
- 16 July
- 22 July
- 29 July
- 31 July
- August 1942
- 4 August
- 5 August
- 7 August
- 10 August
- 18 August
- 20 August
- 21 August
- 24 August
- 25 August
- 28 August
- 31 August
- September 1942
- 1 September
- 4 September
- 14 September
- 15 September
- 16 September
- 17 September
- 18 September
- 21 September
- 25 September
October–December
- October 1942
- 1 October
- 8 October
- 16 October
- 21 October
- 23 October
- 24 October
- 30 October
- 31 October
- November 1942
- 6 November
- 9 November
- 10 November
- 19 November
- 20 November
- 25 November
- 27 November
- 28 November
- December 1942
- 4 December
- 5 December
- 6 December
- 7 December
- 9 December
- 11 December
- 17 December
- 18 December
- 23 December
- 24 December
- 25 December
- 30 December
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, directed by David Hand, starring Bobby Stewart, Donnie Dunagan, Hardie Albright and John Sutherland
- Basant, directed by Amiya Chakravorty and starring Madhubala and Mumtaz Shanti – (India)
- 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
- Blue, White and Perfect, starring Lloyd Nolan
- Bullet Scars, starring Regis Toomey
C
- 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
D
E
F
G
- 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)
H
I
J
K
L
M
- 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
P
- Pacific Rendezvous, starring Lee Bowman
- 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
- The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan, Babe Ruth
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 Secret Weapon - directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, co-starring Lionel Atwill as Moriarty
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror - directed by John Rawlins, starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, also featuring Evelyn Ankers and Henry Daniell
- Somewhere I'll Find You, starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner
- , 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
- Star Spangled Rhythm, featuring an all-star cast
- Sweater Girl, starring Eddie Bracken, June Preisser, and Betty Jane Rhodes
- Syncopation, starring Adolphe Menjou
T
- 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)
- Time to Kill, starring Lloyd Nolan
- 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
U
V
W
Y
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
Births
- January 3 – John Thaw, English actor (d. 2002)
- January 7 - Danny Steinmann, American director (d. 2012)
- January 8 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress (d. 2022)
- January 10 – Walter Hill, American director, producer and screenwriter
- January 11 - Joel Zwick, American director
- January 17 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001)
- January 19
- January 21 - Michael G. Wilson, American-British screenwriter and producer
- January 27 - John Witherspoon, American actor and comedian (d. 2019)
- January 29
- January 31 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress
- February 1
- Bibi Besch, Austrian-American actress (d. 1996)
- Terry Jones, Welsh comedic actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2020)
- February 8 – Robert Klein, American actor and comedian
- February 9
- February 13 - Carol Lynley, American actress, child model (died 2019)
- February 14 - Andrew Robinson, American character actor
- February 21 –
- March 9 - Ralph Peduto, American actor, playwright, writer and director (died 2014)
- March 15 - Molly Peters, English actress and model (died 2017)
- March 25
- March 27
- March 28 – Mike Newell, English director and producer
- March 30 - Kenneth Welsh, Canadian actor (died 2022)
- April 2 - Roshan Seth, British-Indian actor, writer and director
- April 3 – Marsha Mason, American actress
- April 6 – Barry Levinson, American director, producer and screenwriter
- April 11 - Matthew Walker, English-Canadian actor
- April 17 - David Bradley, English actor
- April 21 - Rod Loomis, American actor
- April 23 – Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
- April 24 – Barbra Streisand, American actress, singer, director and producer
- April 27 - John Shrapnel, English actor (d. 2020)
- May 5 - Marc Alaimo, American actor
- May 11 - Terry McGovern, American actor and broadcaster
- May 19 - Flemming Quist Møller, Danish director, cartoonist, screenwriter and actor (d. 2022)
- May 23 - Alex Henteloff, American actor
- May 28 - Božidara Turzonovová, Bulgarian-Slovak actress
- May 29 - Kevin Conway, American actor and director (d. 2020)
- June 7 - Elizabeth Counsell, English actress
- June 18
- Roger Ebert, American film critic of the Chicago Sun Times (d. 2013)
- Paul McCartney, English musician and composer (The Beatles)
- June 20 - Chelcie Ross, American character actor
- June 29 - Tony Vogel, English actor (d. 2015)
- June 30 - Friedrich von Thun, Austrian actor
- July 1 – Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress
- July 9 – Richard Roundtree, American actor (d. 2023)
- July 10 - Tam White, Scottish musician and actor (d. 2010)
- July 13 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
- July 22 - Anthony James, American character actor (d. 2020)
- July 23 - Allen Danziger, American former actor
- July 24 – Chris Sarandon, American actor
- July 27 - Lanny Flaherty, American actor (d. 2024)
- July 29 - Tony Sirico, American actor (d. 2022)
- August 1 - Giancarlo Giannini, Italian actor, director and screenwriter
- August 4 - Don S. Davis, American character actor (d. 2008)
- August 7 – Tobin Bell, actor
- August 18 - Lauro António, Portuguese director (d. 2022)
- August 19 - Fred Thompson, American politician, attorney, actor and radio personality (d. 2015)
- August 20 - Isaac Hayes, American singer and actor (d. 2008)
- August 28 - Peter Bartlett, American actor and voice actor
- August 29 - Gottfried John, German actor (d. 2014)
- September 5 - Werner Herzog, German director, screenwriter and actor
- September 6 - Carol Wayne, American actress (d. 1985)
- September 11 - Patricia Franklin, English actress
- September 17 - Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (d. 2012)
- September 19 - Victor Brandt, American actor
- September 20 - R. J. Adams, Canadian-American actor, screenwriter and producer
- September 24 - Kenneth Tigar, American actor
- September 25 - Robyn Nevin, Australian actress and director
- September 26 - Kent McCord, American actor
- September 28 - Marshall Bell, American character actor
- September 29
- Yves Rénier, French actor, voice actor and filmmaker (d. 2021)
- Madeline Kahn, American actress (d. 1999)
- Ian McShane, English actor
- October 3 - Steve Susskind, American actor (d. 2005)
- October 4 – Christopher Stone, American actor (d. 1995)
- October 6 – Britt Ekland, Swedish actress
- October 7 - Melinda O. Fee, American actress (d. 2020)
- October 11 – Amitabh Bachchan, Indian actor
- October 13 – Suzzanna, Indonesian actress (d. 2008)
- October 20
- October 22 – Annette Funicello, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- October 25 - Orso Maria Guerrini, Italian actor
- October 26
- October 28 - Terence Donovan, English-Australian actor
- October 31 – David Ogden Stiers, American actor (d. 2018)
- November 1
- Marcia Wallace, American actress and comedian (d. 2013)
- Michael Zaslow, American actor (d. 1998)
- November 11 - Nancy Linehan Charles, American character actress
- November 15 – Hans Kaldoja, Estonian actor (d. 2017)
- November 17 – Martin Scorsese, American director, producer, screenwriter and actor
- November 21 - Michael Cavanaugh, American actor
- November 24 – Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian and actor
- December 3 - Lynn Farleigh, English actress
- December 4 – Gemma Jones, English actress
- December 12 - Fatma Girik, Turkish actress (d. 2022)
- December 14 - Juan Diego, Spanish actor (d. 2022)
- December 27 - Charmian Carr, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
- December 30 - Fred Ward, American actor and producer (d. 2022)
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 19 – Hale Hamilton, 62, American actor, writer, director, The Great Lover, Love Affair, Parole Girl, The Girl from Missouri
- 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 12 – Phillips Holmes, 35, American actor, Night Court, Men Must Fight
- August 14 – 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
- October 24 – James C. Morton, 58, American actor, Public Cowboy No. 1, Lucky Legs
- 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
References
- .
- Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 23 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- Book: Finler, Joel Waldo . 2003 . The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 978-1-903364-66-6 . 358–359.
- News: Variety. All-time Film Rental Champs. October 15, 1990.
- https://archive.org/stream/variety149-1943-01#page/n57/mode/1up "101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58
- Richard B.. Jewell. RKO Film Grosses, 1929-1951: the C.J. Tevlin ledger. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14. 1. 1994. 37–49. 10.1080/01439689400260031.
- Richard B.. Jewell. Appendix 1. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14. S1. 1994. 1–11. 10.1080/01439689408604545.
External links
