1942 in film - Definition and Overview

Events

• Carole Lombard is killed in a plane crash when returning from a War Bond tour.
• November 11 - The 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

North America

1. Bambi (Disney) -lifetime, not even in the top ten in the year after release
2. Mrs. Miniver
3. Reap the Wild Wind
4. Yankee Doodle Dandy
5. The Road to Morocco
6. Holiday Inn

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: Mrs. Miniver - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• Best Actor: James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Best Actress: Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver

Births

• January 3 - John Thaw, actor (+ 2002)
• January 8 - Yvette Mimieux, actress
• January 14 - Stig Engström, actor
• January 15 - Charo, singer, actress
• January 19 - Michael Crawford, singer, actor
• February 13 - Peter Tork, musician/actor
• March 28 - Mike Newell, British film director
• July 1 – Geneviève Bujold, French-Canadian actress
• July 13 - Harrison Ford, Actor/producer

Deaths

• January 16 - Carole Lombard, actress
• May 29 - John Barrymore, actor
• November 5 - George M. Cohan, actor, songwriter, entertainer

Other movies released

• Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
• Commandos Strike at Dawn
• Der Fuehrer's Face, Donald Duck's Academy Award-winning short
• How Green was my Valley
• The Magnificent Ambersons