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The History of American Cinema: 1942

January - June

17/1 -

Returning from a visit to Indianapolis on a War Bonds tour, actress Carole Lombard is among the 19 passengers who die when their DC-3 crashes in the Sierra Nevada mountains.   Lombard’s mother and press agent are also on the plane.   Lombard’s husband, actor Clark Gable  mourns her death at their Encino ranch. [ADD]

19/1 -

George Stevens’ Woman of the Year is released.   The film teams Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn together for the first time, and sparks a real-life romance that will endure for the rest of their lives. [ADD]

24/1 -

Producer David Selznick signs actress Phyllis Walker and renames her Jennifer Jones. [ADD]

28/1 -

Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges’ comedy about a film director who decides to research the life of a tramp first-hand for his next film and ends up working on a chain gang, is released.   Joel McCrea plays the hapless director. [ADD]

2/2 -

Sam Wood’s adaptation of Henry Bellamann’s best-selling novel Kings Row comes to the screen.   The story dissects small-town American life and uncovers murder, madness and sadism.   Robert Cummings, Ann Sheridan and Robert Reagan give convincing performances – possibly a career best in Reagan’s case. [ADD]

26/2 -

The 14th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, held two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, is downgraded from a banquet to a dinner; formal attire is prohibited and no searchlights fan the sky.   Donald Crisp, winner of the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in How Green Was My Valley, accepts his award in uniform, and James Stewart wears his Air Corps lieutenant’s uniform to present Gary Cooper with his Oscar for Best Actor in Sergeant York.   For the first time, a Best Documentary category is included. [MORE]

6/3 -

Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be is released.   Jack Benny gives the performance of his career as Joseph Tura, a self-obsessed actor touring Poland with his acting company when the Nazis invade.   Carole Lombard, in her last role, plays Benny’s wife.   The film gets lukewarm reviews for what is seen as its trivialisation of the war. [ADD]

4/4 -

Orson Welles travels to Rio de Janeiro to film its carnival for an episode of the Pan-American project It’s All True for RKO. [ADD]

22/4 -

Alfred Hitchcock’s tense espionage thriller, Saboteur, premieres.   Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane star, and the film features a hair-raising finale atop the Statue of Liberty.   The film goes on general release on 24^th April.   [ADD]

24/4 -

David Selznick loans Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman to Warner Bros to star as Ilsa in Casablanca.   In return, Warners lend Olivia de Havilland to Selznick. [ADD]

22/5 -

Rita Hayworth decides to divorce multi-millionaire husband Edward Judson after reportedly falling for Victor Mature, her co-star on My Gal Sal. [ADD]

29/5 -

Michael Curtiz’s patriotic musical biopic Yankee Doodle Dandy is released.   James Cagney stars as George M. Cohan, and the flag-waving numbers include the title song, Give My Regards to Broadway, and You’re a Grand Old Flag.   Cagney becomes the first actor to win an Academy Award for a musical performance. [ADD]

4/6 -

Mrs. Miniver, William Wyler’s heavily romanticised version of the British at war, is released.   Greer Garson stars in the title role, Walter Pidgeon plays her husband, and Helmut Dantine plays a German pilot. [ADD]

26/6 -

Elizabeth Taylor makes her screen debut in Harold Young’s There’s One Born Every Minute. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1942