1942 in film

The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest films 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.
* 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.
* August 13 - Walt Disney's animated film "Bambi" opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
* November 11 - "Road to Morocco", starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour, premieres.
* November 26 - The film "Casablanca" premieres at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

Top grossing films (U.S.)

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"

Films released in 1942

*"Across the Pacific"
*"Ala-Arriba!"
*"Alias Boston Blackie", Starring Chester Morris, Adele Mara, and Richard Lane
*"Andy Hardy's Double Life", starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
*"Arabian Nights"
*"Bambi
*"The Black Swan"
*"Bullet Scars"
*"Captains of the Clouds"
*"Casablanca"
*"Cat People"
*"Commandos Strike at Dawn"
*"The Courtship of Andy Hardy",starring Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker, and Fay Holden
*"Flying Tigers"
*"Gentleman Jim"
*"The Ghost of Frankenstein" starring Lon Chaney Jr.
*"The Great Man's Lady", directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck
*"Holiday Inn"
*"I Married a Witch"
*"In Old California", starring John Wayne
*"In Which We Serve"
*"Johnny Eager"
*"Jungle Book"
*"Kings Row", starring Ronald Reagan and Claude Rains
*"Listen to Britain", British propaganda film directed by Humphrey Jennings
*"The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe"
*"The Magnificent Ambersons"
*"The Major and the Minor", directed by Billy Wilder
*"The Man Who Came to Dinner"
*"Mrs. Miniver"
*"My Sister Eileen"
*"Now, Voyager"
*"The Palm Beach Story"
*"Pardon My Sarong", starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
*"The Pied Piper"
*"Pittsburgh", starring John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, and Shemp Howard
*"Pride of the Yankees" starring Gary Cooper and Babe Ruth
*"Random Harvest", starring Ronald Colman
*"Reap the Wild Wind"
*"Reunion in France"
*"Ride 'Em Cowboy"
*"Rings on Her Fingers"
*"Rio Rita", starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
*"Road to Morocco"
*"Roxie Hart", starring Ginger Rogers
*"Saboteur"
*"Saludos Amigos"
*"Somewhere I'll Find You", starring Clark Gable
*"Song of the Islands", a Darryl F. Zanuck production
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*"Sons of the Pioneers", starring Roy Rogers and George 'Gabby' Hayes
*"The Spoilers"
*"Tales of Manhattan, all-star cast
*"The Talk of the Town"
*"Tennessee Johnson"
*"To Be or Not to Be", the last film starring Carole Lombard
*"Tombstone, the Town Too Tough to Die"
*"Tortilla Flat"
*"Trinity House"
*"The Undying Monster"
*"Wake Island"
*"Went the Day Well?"
*"Who Done It?", starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
*"Woman of the Year"
*"Yankee Doodle Dandy"

erials

*"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

hort film series

*"Laurel and Hardy" (1921-1943)
*"Our Gang" (1922-1944)
*"The Three Stooges" (1934-1959)

Animated short film series

*"Mickey Mouse" (1928-1953)
*"Looney Tunes" (1930-1969)
*"Terrytoons" (1930-1964)
*"Merrie Melodies" (1931-1969)
*"Scrappy" (1931-1941)
*"Popeye" (1933-1957)
*"Color Rhapsodies" (1934-1949)
*"Donald Duck" (1937-1956)
*"Pluto" (1937-1951)
*"Walter Lantz Cartunes (also known as New Universal Cartoons or Cartune Comedies)" (1938-1942)
*"Goofy" (1939-1955)
*"Andy Panda" (1939-1949)
*"Tom and Jerry (MGM)" (1940-1958)
*"Woody Woodpecker" (1941-1949)
*"Swing Symphonies" (1941-1945)
*"The Fox and the Crow" (1941-1950)

Births

*January 3 - John Thaw, actor (+ 2002)
*January 8 - Yvette Mimieux, actress
*January 9 - Susannah York, actress
*January 19 - Michael Crawford, singer, actor
*February 13 - Peter Tork, musician/actor
*March 28 - Mike Newell, British film director
*April 23 - Sandra Dee, actress
*July 1 – Geneviève Bujold, French-Canadian actress
*July 13 - Harrison Ford, American actor/producer
*October 22 - John Broderick, producer, director, actor
*October 22 - Annette Funicello, American actress, singer
*October 31 - David Ogden Stiers, American actor
*November 2 - Stefanie Powers, American actress
*November 21 - Al Matthews, American actor
*November 17 - Martin Scorsese, director

Deaths

*January 16 - Carole Lombard, actress
*January 31 - Rolf Wenkhaus, actor
*May 29 - John Barrymore, actor
*August 18 - Rafaela Ottiano, actress
*October 20 - May Robson, stage & film actress
*November 5 - George M. Cohan, actor, songwriter, entertainer
*November 9 - Edna May Oliver, stage & film actress
*November 12 - Laura Hope Crews, stage & screen actress
*December 12 - Helen Westley, stage & screen actress