1940 194119421943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1942 Movies

Take a nostalgic look back at the top movies of 1942, celebrating the films, directors and actors that defined the year and left a lasting legacy in the world of entertainment.

1942 Academy Awards

Random Harvest
Written by: James Hilton, Claudine West, George Froeschel
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Susan Peters, Henry Travers, Edmund Gwenn, Charles Coburn, Reginald Owen, Sara Allgood
Country: United States of America
Outline: A man with amnesia falls in love with a woman, but their lives are torn apart when he regains his memory and returns to his wife.
source: imdb.com
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Written by: Robert Buckner
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Charles Collins
Country: United States of America
Outline: The life story of George M. Cohan, the famous entertainer, playwright, and composer.
source: imdb.com
The Pride of the Yankees
Written by: Jo Swerling, Herman J. Mankiewicz
Directed by: Sam Wood
Starring: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Walter Brennan, Babe Ruth
Country: United States of America
Outline: A biographical film about baseball legend Lou Gehrig, focusing on his life, career, and battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
source: imdb.com
Kings Row
Written by: Casey Robinson
Directed by: Sam Wood
Starring: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Betty Field
Country: United States of America
Outline: A drama depicting the lives of young people in a small American town at the turn of the 20th century, exploring themes of love, loss, and societal expectations.
source: imdb.com
Mrs. Miniver
Written by: Jan Struther, Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright, May Whitty
Country: United States of America
Outline: A British housewife's life during World War II, highlighting her resilience and the impact of the war on her family and community.
source: imdb.com
Holiday Inn
Written by: Irving Berlin, Elmer Rice, Sidney Sheldon
Directed by: Mark Sandrich
Starring: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale
Country: United States of America
Outline: A musical comedy about a man who opens a country inn that operates only on holidays, leading to romantic entanglements and misunderstandings.
source: imdb.com
Road to Morocco
Written by: Allan Scott, Norman Panama, Melvin Frank
Directed by: David Butler
Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two American drifters are shipwrecked on the coast of Morocco, leading to comedic adventures and romantic entanglements.
source: imdb.com
For Me and My Gal
Written by: Howard Emmett Rogers, Richard Sherman, Fred F. Finklehoffe
Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, George Murphy, Mártha Eggerth, Ben Blue
Country: United States of America
Outline: Set during World War I, vaudeville performers Jo Hayden and Harry Palmer navigate love and ambition. Their relationship faces challenges as Harry's draft into the army tests their bond.
source: imdb.com
Wake Island
Written by: W.R. Burnett, Frank Butler
Directed by: John Farrow
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, William Bendix
Country: United States of America
Outline: The film portrays the defense of Wake Island by U.S. Marines during the early days of World War II. It highlights their valiant stand against Japanese forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
source: imdb.com
Reap the Wild Wind
Written by: Charles Bennett, Richard Macaulay, Earl Felton
Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Starring: John Wayne, Ray Milland, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey, Susan Hayward
Country: United States of America
Outline: Set in the 19th-century Florida Keys, the film follows salvagers battling pirates and natural disasters. Their quest for treasure leads to love and betrayal amidst the dangers of the sea.
source: imdb.com
Casablanca
Written by: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Country: United States of America
Outline: In 1941, nightclub owner Rick Blaine aids his former lover Ilsa Lund and her husband, resistance leader Victor Laszlo, in escaping Nazi-occupied Casablanca.
source: rottentomatoes.com
Casablanca
Written by: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt
Country: United States of America
Outline: In Vichy-controlled Casablanca during World War II, nightclub owner Rick Blaine encounters his former lover Ilsa Lund. Together, they navigate love, betrayal, and resistance against the Nazis.
source: imdb.com
To Be or Not to Be
Written by: Ernst Lubitsch, Edwin Justus Mayer
Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill
Country: United States of America
Outline: A troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw use their theatrical skills to impersonate Nazis and aid the resistance. Their comedic antics lead to unexpected heroism and romance.
source: imdb.com
Now, Voyager
Written by: Casey Robinson
Directed by: Irving Rapper
Starring: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, John Loder, Bonita Granville, Lee Patrick, James Stephenson, Mary Wickes, Charles Bickford
Country: United States of America
Outline: A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.
source: imdb.com
Who Done It?
Written by: Stanley Roberts, Edmund Joseph, John Grant
Directed by: Erle C. Kenton
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, William Gargan, William Bendix, Mary Wickes, Jerome Cowan, Don Porter, Patric Knowles, Walter Tetley, Edmund MacDonald
Country: United States of America
Outline: Two dumb soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries. When they try to pitch an idea at a radio station, they end up in the middle of a real murder after the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
source: imdb.com
Pardon My Sarong
Written by: True Boardman, Nat Perrin, John Grant
Directed by: Erle C. Kenton
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Virginia Bruce, Robert Paige, Lionel Atwill
Country: United States of America
Outline: Tommy Layton, a wealthy bachelor, rents a city bus to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles, aiming to participate in a yacht race to Hawaii. Along the way, he encounters bus drivers Algy and Wellington, leading to a series of comedic adventures.
source: imdb.com
This Gun for Hire
Written by: Albert Maltz, W.R. Burnett
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Starring: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Tully Marshall
Country: United States of America
Outline: A hitman named Raven is hired to kill a senator but is double-crossed and framed for the murder of a nightclub owner, leading him on a quest for revenge.
source: imdb.com
West of the Law
Written by: Norman Houston, Robert Emmett Tansey
Directed by: Howard Bretherton
Starring: Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Jennifer Holt, Edmund Cobb, Charles King
Country: United States of America
Outline: A lawman goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of outlaws terrorizing a small town, leading to a series of confrontations and shootouts.
source: imdb.com
In This Our Life
Written by: Howard Koch, Ellen Glasgow
Directed by: John Huston
Starring: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent, Dennis Morgan, Charles Coburn
Country: United States of America
Outline: The story revolves around two sisters, one of whom marries a man who is later involved in a scandal, leading to family conflicts and personal struggles.
source: imdb.com
4 passi fra le nuvole
Written by: Cesare Zavattini, Aldo De Benedetti, Piero Tellini, Giuseppe Amato, Alessandro Blasetti
Directed by: Alessandro Blasetti
Starring: Gino Cervi, Adriana Benetti, Giuditta Rissone, Carlo Romano, Guido Celano
Country: Italy
Outline: Paolo Bianchi, a traveling salesman, meets Maria, a young woman in trouble, and agrees to pose as her husband to help her face her conservative family.
source: imdb.com