Cineliteracy: What You Need to Know about 1942 as a Movie Year
Top-Grossing Films (U.S.)
1. Mrs. Miniver Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $5,358,000
2. Random Harvest $4,650,000
3. Yankee Doodle Dandy Warner Bros. $4,631,000
4. Reap the Wild Wind Paramount Pictures $4,000,000
5. Holiday Inn
Road to Morocco $3,800,000
6. The Pride of the Yankees RKO/Samuel Goldwyn Productions $3,671,000
7. Wake Island Paramount Pictures $3,500,000
8. For Me and My Gal Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $2,894,000
9. Somewhere I’ll Find You $2,885,000
10. The Black Swan 20th Century Fox $2,586,000
Movie Events
January 16 –
Actress Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash west of Las Vegas while returning home from a War Bond tour. She was at the prime of her career.
June 4 –
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 is released nationally on July 22, 1942, and becomes MGM’s most financially successful film of the 1940s.
At the 15th Oscars, Mrs. Miniver wins 6 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 UK.
November 11:
Road to Morocco, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, premieres.
November 26:
Casablanca premieres at the Hollywood Theatre in New York. Released nationally on January 23, 1943, it becomes one of top-grossing pictures of 1943 and goes on to win the 943 Best Picture and Best Director Oscars.
Oscar 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
Popular Movie Stars (rank-ordered):
Abbott and Costello
Clark Gable
Gary Cooper
Mickey Rooney
Bob Hope
James Cagney
Gene Autry
Betty Grable
Greer Garson
Spencer Tracy
