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The Best Movies of 1942

Updated September 24, 2019 4.4k votes 143 voters 3.3k views 204 items

List of the best movies of 1942, with movie trailers when available. These top movies of 1942 are listed by popularity, so the movies with the most votes are at the top. This list consists of all different movie genres, but each film was released in 1942. You can filter this list of films that came out in 1942 for various bits of information, such as who directed the movie and what genre it is. Think the best 1942 movie isn't as high as it should be? Vote up your favorite so it will rise to the top.

Movies on this list include Casablanca and Bambi.

This list answers the questions, "What are the best movies from 1942?" and "What are the most popular movies of 1942?"

1942 was a great year for movies, since a lot of classic films were released in 1942. This is a crowd sourced list that has been voted on by many people, so these top films of 1942 aren't just one persons opinion.

Data-driven recommendations based on voting from over 40 million monthly visits to Ranker. Try the free app

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Casablanca is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Movies of 1942

Casablanca Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre

Released: 1942

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's unproduced stage play Everybody Comes to Rick's. The film stars ...more

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#30 of 377 The 50+ Best War Movies Ever Made, Ranked #143 of 350 'Old' Movies Every Young Person Needs To Watch In Their Lifetimelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

Bambi Sterling Holloway, Sam Edwards, Cammie King

Released: 1942

Directed by: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Paul Satterfield, Bill Roberts, Norman Wright, + more

Bambi is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand, produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten. The film was ...more

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#58 of 601 The Best Animated Films Ever #425 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #49 of 293 The Top Tearjerker Movies That Make Men Cry

The Magnificent Ambersons Orson Welles, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead

Released: 1942

Directed by: Orson Welles

The Magnificent Ambersons is a 1942 American period drama, the second feature film produced and directed by Orson Welles. Welles adapted Booth Tarkington's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1918 novel, ...more

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#33 of 70 The Best Oscar-Nominated Movies of the 1940s #21 of 23 The Best Second Films from Famous Directors #128 of 253 The Best Movies of 1940

Cat People Alan Napier, Simone Simon, Tom Conway

Released: 1942

Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

Cat People is a 1942 horror film produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur. DeWitt Bodeen wrote the original screenplay which was based on Val Lewton's short story The Bagheeta ...more

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#314 of 853 The Best Horror Movies Of All Time #113 of 149 The Best and Scariest Psychological Thrillers of All Time #12 of 15 Horror Movies That Should Have Won The Oscar For Best Picture

The Pride of the Yankees... is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Movies of 1942

The Pride of the Yankees Babe Ruth, Gary Cooper, Bill Dickey

Released: 1942

Directed by: Sam Wood

The Pride of the Yankees is a 1942 American film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman ...more

To Be or Not to Be Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack

Released: 1942

Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch

To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying ...more

Holiday Inn Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin

Released: 1942

Directed by: Mark Sandrich

Holiday Inn is a 1942 American musical film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. With music by Irving Berlin, the film has twelve songs written expressly for the ...more

The Palm Beach Story Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor, Joel McCrea

Released: 1942

Directed by: Preston Sturges

The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor ...more

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#446 of 1,027 The All-Time Greatest Comedy Films #169 of 232 The Best Black and White Movies Ever Made #316 of 386 The Greatest Romantic Comedies Of All Time

Road to Morocco Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Anthony Quinn

Released: 1942

Directed by: David Butler

Road to Morocco is a 1942 American comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, and featuring Anthony Quinn and Dona Drake. The film, which was written by Frank Butler and Don ...more

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#247 of 1,027 The All-Time Greatest Comedy Films #407 of 1,211 The Absolute Funniest Movies Of All Time #124 of 197 Musical Movies With the Best Songs

Yankee Doodle Dandy James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston

Released: 1942

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and ...more

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#111 of 210 The Best Movies About Music #48 of 378 The Best Musical Movies of All Timelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

Kings Row Ronald Reagan, Claude Rains, Ann Sheridan

Released: 1942

Directed by: Sam Wood

Kings Row is a 1942 film starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, and Ronald Reagan that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the twentieth century, ...more

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#40 of 70 The Best Oscar-Nominated Movies of the 1940s #169 of 177 The Best Family Drama Movies of All Time

This Gun for Hire Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Robert Preston

Released: 1942

Directed by: Frank Tuttle

This Gun for Hire is a 1942 film noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene. The film stars Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan

Saboteur Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Mitchum, Norman Lloyd

Released: 1942

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Saboteur is a 1942 Universal spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison and Dorothy Parker. The film stars Priscilla Lane, Robert ...more

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Mrs. Miniver Greer Garson, Teresa Wright, Walter Pidgeon

Released: 1942

Directed by: William Wyler

Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Based on the 1940 novel Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther, the film ...more

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#192 of 377 The 50+ Best War Movies Ever Made, Ranked #77 of 93 The Very Best Oscar-Winning Movies For Best Picturelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

My Favorite Blonde Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Veronica Lake

Released: 1942

Directed by: Sidney Lanfield

My Favorite Blonde is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll. Based on a story by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film is about a ...more

The Major and the Minor Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Robert Benchley

Released: 1942

Directed by: Billy Wilder

The Major and the Minor is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder, and launched his "incomparable" ...more

Now, Voyager Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid

Released: 1942

Directed by: Irving Rapper

Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the ...more

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#1,482 of 1,699 The Most Rewatchable Movies #454 of 581 The Greatest Film Scores of All Timelisted on Every Oscar Winning Film Ever

Once Upon a Honeymoon Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Albert Dekker

Released: 1942

Directed by: Leo McCarey

Once Upon a Honeymoon is a 1942 romantic comedy/drama starring Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Walter Slezak, directed by Leo McCarey, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was nominated for the ...more

I Married a Witch Veronica Lake, Susan Hayward, Fredric March

Released: 1942

Directed by: René Clair

I Married a Witch is a 1942 fantasy romantic comedy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as ...more

Desperate Journey Ronald Reagan, Errol Flynn, Arthur Kennedy

Released: 1942

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Desperate Journey is a 1942 American World War II action and aviation film starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan, directed by Raoul Walsh. The supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Alan ...more

Roxie Hart Ginger Rogers, Phil Silvers, Adolphe Menjou

Released: 1942

Directed by: William A. Wellman

Roxie Hart is a 1942 American comedy film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Nigel Bruce, Phil Silvers, William Frawley, and Spring ...more

Ride 'Em Cowboy Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Costello, Bud Abbott

Released: 1942

Directed by: Arthur Lubin

Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The supporting cast features Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas ...more

In This Our Life Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel

Released: 1942

Directed by: John Huston

In This Our Life is a 1942 American drama film, the second to be directed by John Huston. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1941 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by ...more

Who Done It? Lou Costello, Bud Abbott, Mary Wickes

Released: 1942

Directed by: Erle C. Kenton

Who Done It? is a 1942 comedy-mystery film starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.

The Ghost of Frankenstein Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr.

Released: 1942

Directed by: Erle C. Kenton

The Ghost of Frankenstein, is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's ...more