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
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 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
November 11 – Road to Morocco Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , and Dorothy Lamour , premieres.
November 26 – The film Casablanca 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 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 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 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 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 Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine Dennis O'Keefe and Ruth Terry A-Haunting We Will Go Laurel and Hardy Ala-Arriba! Portugal )Alias Boston Blackie Chester Morris , Adele Mara , and Richard Lane Alibi Margaret Lockwood and James Mason – (GB )All Through the Night Humphrey Bogart American Empire Richard Dix Andy Hardy's Double Life Lewis Stone , Mickey Rooney , Cecilia Parker , Fay Holden Aniki-Bóbó Portugal )Arabian Nights Sabu , Jon Hall , Maria Montez Attack on Baku Willy Fritsch , René Deltgen (Germany )
B
El Baisano Jalil Mexico )Bambi David Hand , starring Bobby Stewart, Donnie Dunagan , Hardie Albright and John Sutherland Basant Amiya Chakravorty and starring Madhubala and Mumtaz Shanti – (India )The Battle of Midway John Ford The Big Blockade Leslie Banks , Michael Redgrave and Will Hay – (UK )The Big Shot Humphrey Bogart The Big Street Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball The Black Sheep of Whitehall Will Hay and John Mills – (GB )The Black Swan Tyrone Power Blue, White and Perfect Lloyd Nolan Bullet Scars Regis Toomey
C
Captains of the Clouds James Cagney Casablanca Michael Curtiz (Oscar winner), starring Humphrey Bogart , Ingrid Bergman , Paul Henreid , Peter Lorre , Claude Rains Cat People Simone Simon and Tom Conway Commandos Strike at Dawn Paul Muni The Corpse Vanishes Bela Lugosi The Courtship of Andy Hardy Lewis Stone , Mickey Rooney , Cecilia Parker , Fay Holden
D
E
F
G
Un Garibaldino al Convento Vittorio De Sica – (Italy)The Gaucho War Argentina )Gentleman Jim biopic of boxer James J. Corbett , starring Errol Flynn George Washington Slept Here Jack Benny The Ghost of Frankenstein Lon Chaney Jr. The Glass Key Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake The Goose Steps Out Will Hay – (GB )The Great Impersonation John Rawlins , starring Ralph Bellamy The Great King Germany )The Great Man's Lady William A. Wellman , and starring Barbara Stanwyck The Great Mr. Handel Norman Walker , starring Wilfrid Lawson (GB)
H
I
J
K
L
M
The Magnificent Ambersons Orson Welles , starring Joseph Cotten and Dolores Costello The Major and the Minor Billy Wilder , starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland The Male Animal Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland The Man Who Came to Dinner Bette Davis , Monty Woolley , Jimmy Durante The Man Who Wanted to Kill Himself Spain )Miss Annie Rooney Shirley Temple Moontide Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino Mrs. Miniver William Wyler , starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon The Mummy's Tomb Lon Chaney Jr. The Murderer Lives at Number 21 Henri-Georges Clouzot , starring Pierre Fresnay – (France )My Favorite Blonde Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll My Gal Sal Rita Hayworth My Sister Eileen Rosalind Russell
N
O
P
Pacific Rendezvous Lee Bowman The Palm Beach Story Preston Sturges , starring Claudette Colbert , Joel McCrea , Rudy Vallée Panama Hattie Ann Sothern and Lena Horne Pardon My Sarong Bud Abbott and Lou Costello O Pátio das Cantigas Portugal )People of the Mountains István Szőts – (Hungary )The Pied Piper Monty Woolley and Roddy McDowall A Pistol Shot Assia Noris , Fosco Giachetti (Italy)Pittsburgh John Wayne , Marlene Dietrich , Randolph Scott , Shemp Howard The Pride of the Yankees Gary Cooper , Teresa Wright , Walter Brennan , Babe Ruth
R
Random Harvest Ronald Colman and Greer Garson Reap the Wild Wind John Wayne , Paulette Goddard , Ray Milland Reunion in France Joan Crawford Ride 'Em Cowboy Abbott and Costello Rings on Her Fingers Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney Rio Rita Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Road to Morocco Bing Crosby , Dorothy Lamour , Bob Hope The Rock of the Souls Mexico )Roti India )Roxie Hart Ginger Rogers
S
Saboteur Alfred Hitchcock , starring Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings Saludos Amigos 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 Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, co-starring Lionel Atwill as MoriartySherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, also featuring Evelyn Ankers and Henry DaniellSomewhere I'll Find You Clark Gable and Lana Turner Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney Song of the Islands Darryl F. Zanuck production starring Betty Grable and Victor Mature Sons of the Pioneers Roy Rogers and George 'Gabby' Hayes The Spoilers Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne Springtime in the Rockies Betty Grable , John Payne , Carmen Miranda and Cesar Romero Star Spangled Rhythm Sweater Girl Eddie Bracken , June Preisser , and Betty Jane Rhodes Syncopation Adolphe Menjou
T
Tales of Manhattan Julien Duvivier with an all-star castThe Talk of the Town Cary Grant , Jean Arthur , Ronald Colman Tarzan's New York Adventure Johnny Weissmuller Ten Gentlemen from West Point George Montgomery and Maureen O'Hara Tennessee Johnson Van Heflin and Ruth Hussey There Was a Father Yasujirō Ozu (Japan )There's One Born Every Minute Hugh Herbert and Peggy Moran This Above All Tyrone Power This Gun for Hire Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd This Was Paris Ann Dvorak – (GB )Time to Kill Lloyd Nolan Thunder Rock Michael Redgrave and James Mason – (GB )To Be or Not to Be Ernst Lubitsch , starring Jack Benny and (in her last film) Carole Lombard Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die Richard Dix Tortilla Flat Spencer Tracy , Hedy Lamarr , John Garfield
U
V
W
Y
Serials
Captain Midnight Dave O'Brien , directed by James W. Horne Don Winslow of the Navy Gang Busters Junior G-Men of the Air Dead End Kids King of the Mounties Allan Lane , directed by William Witney Overland Mail Perils of Nyoka Kay Aldridge & Clayton Moore , directed by William Witney Perils of the Royal Mounted James W. Horne The Secret Code Spencer Gordon Bennet Spy Smasher Kane Richmond , directed by William Witney The Valley of Vanishing Men 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
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
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)
July 31 - Chela Matthison , Canadian-British actress
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 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 Schaefer 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 ^ 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
