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Overview of the events of 1942 in film
Overview of the events of 1942 in film
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
[1]
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
[5]
8
The Pride of the Yankees
RKO
$3,332,000
[6]
[7]
9
Kings Row
Warner Bros.
$3,143,000
[2]
10
For Me and My Gal
MGM
$2,894,000
[1]
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Film debuts
References
^
a
b
c The Eddie Mannix Ledger , Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study .
^
a
b Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 23 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story . Wallflower Press. pp.
358–359 .
ISBN
978-1-903364-66-6 .
^ "All-time Film Rental Champs".
Variety . October 15, 1990.
^
a
b
"101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58
^ Jewell, Richard B. (1994). "RKO Film Grosses, 1929-1951: the C.J. Tevlin ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television . 14 (1): 37–49.
doi :
10.1080/01439689400260031 .
^ Jewell, Richard B. (1994). "Appendix 1". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television . 14 (S1): 1–11.
doi :
10.1080/01439689408604545 .
External links