1943 in film explained
The year 1943 in film featured various significant events for the film industry.
Top-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1943 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
Highest-grossing films of 1943| Rank | Title | Distributor | Domestic rentals |
|---|
| 1 | This is the Army | Warner Bros. | $8,301,000[1] |
|---|
| 2 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | | $6,300,000[2] |
|---|
| 3 | The Song of Bernadette | | $4,700,000[3] |
|---|
| 4 | Stage Door Canteen | United Artists | $4,350,000[4] |
|---|
| 5 | Star Spangled Rhythm | Paramount | $3,850,000[5] |
|---|
| 6 | Thousands Cheer | MGM | $3,751,000[6] |
|---|
| 7 | Casablanca | Warner Bros. | $3,398,000 |
|---|
| 8 | Coney Island | 20th Century Fox | $3,305,000[7] |
|---|
| 9 | Destination Tokyo | Warner Bros. | $3,237,000 |
|---|
| 10 | Dixie | Paramount | $3,100,000 | |
|---|
Events
Awards
Top Ten Money Making Stars
1943 film releases
United States
January–March
- January 1943
- February 1943
- 3 February
- 5 February
- 11 February
- 12 February
- 19 February
- 20 February
- March 1943
- 1 March
- 2 March
- 3 March
- 5 March
- 10 March
- 11 March
- 15 March
- 19 March
- 22 March
- 25 March
- 26 March
- 27 March
April–June
- April 1943
- 2 April
- 9 April
- 12 April
- 15 April
- 22 April
- 23 April
- 24 April
- 30 April
- May 1943
- 4 May
- 7 May
- 8 May
- 12 May
- 13 May
- 14 May
- 16 May
- 17 May
- 21 May
- 22 May
- 27 May
- 28 May
- June 1943
- 2 June
- 3 June
- 10 June
- 11 June
- 22 June
- 23 June
July–September
- July 1943
- 3 July
- 14 July
- 17 July
- 21 July
- 26 July
- August 1943
- 1 August
- 2 August
- 11 August
- 12 August
- 14 August
- 19 August
- 21 August
- 23 August
- 27 August
- 30 August
- September 1943
- 2 September
- 9 September
- 10 September
- 13 September
- 16 September
- 17 September
- 24 September
- 25 September
- 28 September
- 29 September
October–December
- October 1943
- 7 October
- 8 October
- 13 October
- 19 October
- 23 October
- 29 October
- November 1943
- 4 November
- 5 November
- 10 November
- 11 November
- 12 November
- 13 November
- 19 November
- 23 November
- 26 November
- 27 November
- December 1943
- 3 December
- 6 December
- 14 December
- 15 December
- 17 December
- 20 December
- 24 December
- 25 December
- 29 December
- 31 December
Notable films released in 1943
United States unless stated
A
B
- Background to Danger, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring George Raft and Peter Lorre
- Bataan, directed by Tay Garnett, starring Robert Taylor and Lloyd Nolan
- Behind the Rising Sun, starring Tom Neal, produced by Howard Hughes
- The Bells Go Down, starring Tommy Trinder and James Mason – (GB)
- Best Foot Forward, starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler
- Bombardier, starring Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley
- Border Patrol, starring William Boyd, George Reeves, Robert Mitchum
C
- Cabin in the Sky, directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Ethel Waters
- Calling Dr. Death, first of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
- Clancy Street Boys, starring The East Side Kids
- Coney Island, starring Betty Grable
- The Constant Nymph, starring Joan Fontaine
- Le Corbeau (The Raven), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Pierre Fresnay – (France)
- Corvette K-225, starring Randolph Scott
- O Costa do Castelo (The Costa from the Castle) – (Portugal)
- Cowboy in Manhattan
- Crash Dive, starring Tyrone Power and Anne Baxter
- Crazy House, starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson
- The Crew of the Dora (Besatzung Dora) – (Germany)
- Crime Doctor, starring Warner Baxter
- Cry 'Havoc', starring Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell
D
E
F
- Fires Were Started, directed by Humphrey Jennings – (GB)
- Five Graves to Cairo, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter
- Flesh and Fantasy, starring Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Boyer
- Flor Silvestre, starring Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
- Forces Occultes, directed by Jean Marny, starring Maurice Rémy, Marcel Vibert, Auguste Bovério, Giséle Parry – (France)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls, directed by Sam Wood, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman
- Forever and a Day, featuring an all-star cast
- Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. and Béla Lugosi
- Der Fuehrer's Face, Donald Duck's Academy Award-winning short
G
- The Gang's All Here, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda
- The Ghost Ship, starring Richard Dix
- Girl Crazy, starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
- Guadalcanal Diary, starring Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Preston Foster, William Bendix, Anthony Quinn
- A Guy Named Joe, starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne
H
- Hangmen Also Die!, starring Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan
- Happy Land, starring Don Ameche and Frances Dee
- The Hard Way, starring Ida Lupino
- Harlem, directed by Carmine Gallone, starring Massimo Girotti and Amedeo Nazzari (Italy)
- Heaven Can Wait, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Gene Tierney and Don Ameche
- Hello, Frisco, Hello, starring Alice Faye
- Hi Diddle Diddle, starring Adolphe Menjou and Pola Negri
- Hit the Ice, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
- Hitler's Children, directed by Edward Dmytryk
- Holy Matrimony, starring Monty Woolley and Gracie Fields
- Huella de luz (A Sight of Light) – (Spain)
- The Human Comedy, starring Mickey Rooney
I
J
K
L
M
- The Mad Ghoul, starring George Zucco
- Madame Curie, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
- The Man in Grey, the first of the Gainsborough melodramas starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason – (GB)
- María Candelaria, starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
- Meshes of the Afternoon, directed by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid
- Millions Like Us, directed by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder – (GB)
- Mission to Moscow, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Walter Huston
- Mister Big, starring Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean
- The More the Merrier, directed by George Stevens, starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea
- Mr. Lucky, starring Cary Grant
- Münchhausen – (Germany)
- My Learned Friend, starring Will Hay – (GB)
N
O
P
R
S
- Sahara, starring Humphrey Bogart
- Saludos Amigos, a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Goofy
- Sanshiro Sugata, directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
- The Seventh Victim, starring Tom Conway
- Shadow of a Doubt, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, co-starring Hillary Brooke
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, co-starring Henry Daniell and George Zucco
- The Shipbuilders, directed by John Baxter – (GB)
- The Silver Fleet, starring Ralph Richardson and Googie Withers – (GB)
- The Sky's the Limit, starring Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie
- So Proudly We Hail!, starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake
- Son of Dracula, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
- The Song of Bernadette, starring Jennifer Jones
- Squadron Leader X, starring Eric Portman and Ann Dvorak – (GB)
- Stormy Weather, starring Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers
- Strange Inheritance, starring Assia Noris and Jules Berry – (France)
- A Stranger in Town, starring Frank Morgan
T
- Tender Comrade, starring Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan
- Thank Your Lucky Stars, starring Eddie Cantor
- Theatre Royal, starring Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen – (GB)
- They Came to Blow Up America, starring George Sanders
- This is the Army, directed by Michael Curtiz
- This Land Is Mine, directed by Jean Renoir, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara
- Thousands Cheer, starring Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Mary Astor
- Titanic – (Germany)
- Top Man, starring Donald O'Connor
U
V
W
Y
Serials
Comedy film series
Animated short film series
Births
- January 1 – Don Novello, American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer and comedian
- January 13 – Richard Moll, American actor (died 2023)
- January 14 – Holland Taylor, American actress
- January 18
- January 19 - Larry Clark, American director, producer and writer
- January 24 – Sharon Tate, American actress and model (murdered 1969)
- January 25 – Tobe Hooper, American director and screenwriter (died 2017)
- January 28 – John Beck, American actor
- January 31 – Peter McRobbie, Scottish-born American actor
- February 1 - Linda Gaye Scott, American actress
- February 3 – Blythe Danner, American actress
- February 5 - Michael Mann, American director, screenwriter and producer
- February 9 – Joe Pesci, American actor
- February 20 – Mike Leigh, English director
- February 25 – George Harrison, English musician and songwriter (died 2001)
- February 26 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
- March 8 – Lynn Redgrave, English actress (died 2010)
- March 15 – David Cronenberg, Canadian director and screenwriter
- March 25 – Paul Michael Glaser, American actor and director
- March 26 - Giusi Merli, Italian actress
- March 28 – Conchata Ferrell, American actress (died 2020)
- March 29
- Eric Idle, English actor, comedian, author and musician
- Vangelis, Greek-born film composer (died 2022)
- March 31 – Christopher Walken, American actor
- April 8 – Jack O'Halloran, American actor
- April 10 - Tom Pollock, American producer (died 2020)
- April 20 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress, socialite, model and heiress (died 1971)
- April 26 – Leon Pownall, Welsh-Canadian actor (died 2006)
- May 5 – Michael Palin, English actor, comedian and musician
- May 7 - Donal McCann, Irish actor (died 1999)
- May 25 - Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
- May 27 – Raye Birk, American actor
- June 2
- June 4 - Tom Luddy, American producer (died 2023)
- June 7 – Michael Pennington, English actor, director and writer
- June 8 - Colin Baker, English actor
- June 11 - Oleg Vidov, Russian-American actor, director and producer (died 2017)
- June 13 – Malcolm McDowell, English actor
- June 19 - Peter Belli, Danish actor and singer (died 2023)
- June 22
- June 23 – Patrick Bokanowski, French director
- June 24 – George Stanford Brown, American actor and director
- June 26 - John Beasley, American actor (died 2023)
- July 3 – Kurtwood Smith, American actor
- July 11 - Tom Holland, American screenwriter, actor and director
- July 21
- July 25 - Janet Margolin, American actress (died 1993)
- July 26 – Mick Jagger, English singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and dancer
- July 28 – Frances Lee McCain, American actress
- July 29 - Jim Ishida, Japanese-American character actor
- August 6 - Ray Buktenica, American character actor
- August 15 – Barbara Bouchet, German-American actress
- August 17 – Robert De Niro, American actor
- August 18 – Martin Mull, American actor and comedian (died 2024)
- August 20 - Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor
- August 21
- Lino Capolicchio, Italian actor, screenwriter and director (died 2022)
- Hugh Wilson, American director, writer, television showrunner and actor (died 2018)
- August 27 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
- August 28 - David Soul, American-British actor and singer (died 2024)
- August 30 - Miri Fabian, Israeli actress
- September 1 – Don Stroud, American actor and musician
- September 3 – Valerie Perrine, American actress and model
- September 5 - Jack Charles, Australian actor (died 2022)
- September 9 – Art LaFleur, American character actor and acting coach (died 2021)
- September 10 – Daniel Truhitte, American actor
- September 19 - Diana Bellamy, American character actress (died 2001)
- September 21 – Jerry Bruckheimer, American producer
- September 23 - Toni Basil, American singer, actress and director
- September 24 – Randall Duk Kim, Korean American stage, film and television actor
- September 28 – J. T. Walsh, American character actor (died 1998)
- October 4 – John Bindon, English actor and bodyguard (died 1993)
- October 5 - Jennifer Hagan, Australian actress
- October 8 – Chevy Chase, American actor and comedian
- October 12 – Lin Shaye, American actress
- October 15 – Penny Marshall, American television actress, film director and producer (died 2018)
- October 20 – George Wyner, American actor
- October 22
- Jan de Bont, Dutch cinematographer, director and producer
- Catherine Deneuve, French actress
- October 24 – Martin Campbell, New Zealand director
- October 27 - Carmen Argenziano, American actor (died 2019)
- October 29
- November 1 – John McEnery, English actor and writer (died 2019)
- November 5 – Sam Shepard, American actor (died 2017)
- November 7 – Michael Byrne, British actor
- November 10 - William Hoyland, English actor (died 2017)
- November 12
- Valerie Leon, English actress and model
- Wallace Shawn, American actor
- November 16 - Wai Ching Ho, Hong Kong actress
- November 20 – Mie Hama, former Japanese actress, radio and television presenter
- November 23 – Tony Bonner, Australian actor and singer
- November 28
- December 2 - Henry Kingi, American stuntman and actor
- December 12
- December 13 – Arturo Ripstein, Mexican director
- December 16 – Patti Deutsch, American voice artist, actress and comedian (died 2017)
- December 21 – Jack Nance, American actor (died 1996)
- December 23 – Harry Shearer, American voice actor
- December 25 - David Darlow, American actor
- December 31
Deaths
- January 25 – Spencer Charters, 67, American actor, The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine, The Postman Didn't Ring
- February 14 – Dora Gerson, 43, German actress, Caravan of Death, On the Brink of Paradise
- February 19 – Lynne Overman, 58, American actor, Little Miss Marker, Union Pacific, Dixie
- February 20 – Donald Haines, 23, American child actor, Skippy, A Tale of Two Cities
- March 10 – Tully Marshall, 78, American actor, Paid in Full, The Big Trail
- April 3 – Conrad Veidt, 50, German actor, Casablanca, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Thief of Baghdad, The Spy in Black
- June 1 – Leslie Howard, 50, Academy Award-nominated British actor, Gone with the Wind, Pygmalion, The Petrified Forest, Of Human Bondage
- June 30 – Carlo Wieth, 57, Danish actor
- July 16 – Arthur Byron, 71, American actor, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, Gabriel Over the White House
Film Debuts
Further reading
External links
Notes and 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 28 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- Book: Finler, Joel Waldo . 2003 . The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press . 978-1-903364-66-6 . 358–359.
- Book: Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Rowman & Littlefield. 2002. 220. 978-0810842441.
- All-Time Top Grossers. . 6 January 1965 . 67 . 29 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
- News: Top Grossers of the Season. Variety. 5 January 1944. 54.
- .
- News: Variety. All-time Film Rental Champs. October 15, 1990. M162 to 166.
- Web site: Historical Events in 1943. www.historyorb.com.
