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.
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. March 31 – First of the only two screenings of Here Will I Nest, the first dramatic Canadian feature-length film made in colour and the first film to adapt a Canadian play, at a private showing in London, Ontario. It is never commercially released and is mostly lost. 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
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
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. MiniverMGM $5,358,000. 2 Random Harvest $4,650,000 3 Yankee Doodle Dandy Warner Bros. $4,631,000Warner 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 4 Reap the Wild WindParamount $4,000,000 5 Road to Morocco $3,800,000 6 Holiday Inn $3,750,000"101 Pix Gross in Millions" Variety 6 Jan 1943 p 58 7 Wake Island $3,500,000 8 The Pride of the YankeesRKO $3,332,000 9 Kings Row Warner Bros. $3,143,000 10 For Me and My Gal MGM $2,894,000
Films by country/region
Notable films Films produced in the United States unless stated otherwise
A Across the Pacific, directed by John Huston and Vincent Sherman, starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor A-Haunting We Will Go, directed by Alfred L. Werker, starring Laurel and Hardy All Through the Night, directed by Vincent Sherman, starring Humphrey Bogart and Conrad Veidt Andy Hardy's Double Life, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker and Fay Holden Arabian Nights, directed by John Rawlins, starring Jon Hall, Maria Montez and Sabu
B Bambi, Disney Classic animated film directed by David Hand Basant (Spring), directed by Amiya Chakravorty, starring Madhubala and Mumtaz Shanti – (India) The Battle of Midway, documentary film directed by John Ford, narrated by Donald Crisp, Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell The Big Blockade, propaganda film directed by Charles Frend, starring Leslie Banks, Michael Redgrave, Will Hay and John Mills – (GB) The Big Shot, directed by Lewis Seiler, starring Humphrey Bogart The Big Street, directed by Irving Reis, starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball The Black Sheep of Whitehall, directed by Basil Dearden, starring Will Hay and John Mills – (GB) The Black Swan, directed by Henry King, starring Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara
C Captains of the Clouds, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring James Cagney Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt and Peter Lorre Cat People, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Simone Simon and Tom Conway Commandos Strike at Dawn, directed by John Farrow, starring Paul Muni and Lillian Gish The Corpse Vanishes, directed by Wallace Fox, starring Bela Lugosi The Courtship of Andy Hardy, directed by George B. Seitz, starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden and Donna Reed
D Desperate Journey, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan The Devil's Envoys (Les Visiteurs du Soir), directed by Marcel Carné, starring Arletty – (France)
E Eyes in the Night, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Edward Arnold, Ann Harding and Donna Reed
F The First of the Few, directed by and starring Leslie Howard, with David Niven – (GB) The Fleet's In, directed by Victor Schertzinger, starring Dorothy Lamour and William Holden Flying Tigers, directed by David Miller, starring John Wayne For Me and My Gal, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly Four Steps in the Clouds (Quattro passi fra le nuvole), directed by Alessandro Blasetti, starring Gino Cervi – (Italy)
G A Garibaldian in the Convent (Un garibaldino al convento), directed by Vittorio De Sica – (Italy) The Gaucho War (La guerra gaucha), directed by Lucas Demare – (Argentina) Gentleman Jim, biopic directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith George Washington Slept Here, directed by William Keighley, starring Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan The Ghost of Frankenstein, directed by Erle C. Kenton, starring Lon Chaney Jr., Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Bellamy and Bela Lugosi The Glass Key, directed by Stuart Heisler, starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd The Goose Steps Out, directed by Will Hay and Basil Dearden – (GB) The Great King (Der große König), directed by Veit Harlan, starring Otto Gebühr – (Germany) The Great Man's Lady, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea and Brian Donlevy
H Her Cardboard Lover, directed by George Cukor, starring Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor and George Sanders Holiday Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
I I Married a Witch, directed by René Clair, starring Fredric March and Veronica Lake I Married an Angel, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy In Old California, directed by William C. McGann, starring John Wayne In This Our Life, directed by John Huston, starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and George Brent In Which We Serve, directed by David Lean and Noël Coward, starring Coward and John Mills – (GB) Invisible Agent, directed by Edwin L. Marin, starring Jon Hall, Peter Lorre and Cedric Hardwicke
J Johnny Eager, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Robert Taylor, Lana Turner and Edward Arnold Jungle Book, directed by Zoltan Korda, starring Sabu
K Kid Glove Killer, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starring Van Heflin Kings Row, directed by Sam Wood, starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings and Ronald Reagan Kokoda Front Line!, documentary directed by Ken G. Hall – (Australia)
L Larceny, Inc., directed by Lloyd Bacon, starring Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman and Broderick Crawford Listen to Britain, propaganda film directed by Humphrey Jennings and Stewart McAllister – (GB)
M The Magnificent Ambersons, directed by Orson Welles, starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter and Agnes Moorehead The Major and the Minor, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland The Male Animal, directed by Elliott Nugent, starring Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie The Man Who Came to Dinner, directed by William Keighley, starring Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan and Monty Woolley Miss Annie Rooney, directed by Edwin L. Marin, starring Shirley Temple Moontide, directed by Archie Mayo, starring Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell and Claude Rains Mrs. Miniver, directed by William Wyler, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon The Mummy's Tomb, directed by Harold Young, 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, directed by Sidney Lanfield, starring Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll My Gal Sal, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Rita Hayworth and Victor Mature My Sister Eileen, directed by Alexander Hall, starring Rosalind Russell
N The Next of Kin, propaganda film directed by Thorold Dickinson, starring Mervyn Johns – (GB) Now, Voyager, directed by Irving Rapper, starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains
O One of Our Aircraft is Missing, directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – (GB)
P The Palm Beach Story, directed by Preston Sturges, starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée Panama Hattie, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, starring Red Skelton, Ann Sothern and Lena Horne Pardon My Sarong, directed by Erle C. Kenton, starring Abbott and Costello O Pátio das Cantigas (The Courtyard of Songs), directed by Ribeirinho – (Portugal) The Pied Piper, directed by Irving Pichel, starring Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter Pittsburgh, directed by Lewis Seiler, starring Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne The Pride of the Yankees, directed by Sam Wood, starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Babe Ruth and Walter Brennan
R Random Harvest, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Ronald Colman and Greer Garson Reap the Wild Wind, director by Cecil B. DeMille, starring John Wayne, Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard Reunion in France, directed by Jules Dassin, starring Joan Crawford and John Wayne Ride 'Em Cowboy, dircted by Arthur Lubin, starring Abbott and Costello Rings on Her Fingers, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney Rio Rita, directed by S. Sylvan Simon, starring Abbott and Costello Road to Morocco, directed by David Butler, starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour Roxie Hart, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou and George Montgomery
S Saboteur, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings Saludos Amigos, Disney Classic animated film directed by Norm Ferguson, featuring Donald Duck and Goofy Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and Lionel Atwill Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, directed by John Rawlins, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce Somewhere I'll Find You, directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, directed by John Cromwell, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney The Spoilers, directed by Ray Enright, starring Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne Springtime in the Rockies, directed by Irving Cummings, starring Betty Grable, John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero and Harry James Star Spangled Rhythm, directed by George Marshall, featuring an ensemble cast
T Tales of Manhattan, directed by Julien Duvivier, featuring an ensemble cast The Talk of the Town, directed by George Stevens, starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman Tarzan's New York Adventure, directed by Richard Thorpe, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan Tennessee Johnson, directed by William Dieterle, starring Van Heflin, Lionel Barrymore and Ruth Hussey There Was a Father (Chichi Ariki), directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chishū Ryū – (Japan) This Above All, directed by Anatole Litvak, starring Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine This Gun for Hire, directed by Frank Tuttle, starring Veronica Lake, Robert Preston and Alan Ladd Thunder Rock, directed by Roy Boulting, starring Michael Redgrave, Barbara Mullen and James Mason – (GB) To Be or Not to Be, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny