Outstanding Motion Picture: Casablanca – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. (WINNER) For Whom the Bell Tolls – Sam Wood for Paramount Heaven Can Wait – Ernst Lubitsch for 20th Century Fox The Human Comedy – Clarence Brown for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer In Which We Serve – Noël Coward for Two Cities Films Madame Curie – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The More the Merrier – George Stevens for Columbia The Ox-Bow Incident – Lamar Trotti for 20th Century Fox The Song of Bernadette – William Perlberg for 20th Century Fox Watch on the Rhine – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros
Best Director: Michael Curtiz – Casablanca (WINNER) Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy George Stevens – The More the Merrier Henry King – The Song of Bernadette
Best Actor: Paul Lukas – Watch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller (WINNER) Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca as Rick Blaine Gary Cooper – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Robert Jordan Walter Pidgeon – Madame Curie as Pierre Curie Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy as Homer Macauley
Best Actress: Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette as Bernadette Soubirous (WINNER) Jean Arthur – The More the Merrier as Constance Milligan Ingrid Bergman – For Whom the Bell Tolls as María Joan Fontaine – The Constant Nymph as Tessa Sanger Greer Garson – Madame Curie as Marie Curie
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Coburn – The More the Merrier as Benjamin Dingle (WINNER) Charles Bickford – The Song of Bernadette as Abbé Dominique Peyramale J. Carrol Naish – Sahara as Giuseppe Claude Rains – Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault Akim Tamiroff – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pablo
Best Supporting Actress: Katina Paxinou – For Whom the Bell Tolls as Pilar (WINNER) Gladys Cooper – The Song of Bernadette as Marie Therese Vauzou Paulette Goddard – So Proudly We Hail! as Lt. Joan O’Doul Anne Revere – The Song of Bernadette as Louise Casterot Soubirous Lucile Watson – Watch on the Rhine as Fanny Farrelly
Best Original Screenplay: Princess O’Rourke – Norman Krasna (WINNER) Air Force – Dudley Nichols In Which We Serve – Noël Coward The North Star – Lillian Hellman So Proudly We Hail! – Allan Scott
Best Screenplay: Casablanca – Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard E. Koch, based on Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison (WINNER) Holy Matrimony – Nunnally Johnson, based on Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett The More the Merrier – Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell, based on a story by Frank Ross and Robert Russell The Song of Bernadette – George Seaton, based on the novel by Franz Werfel Watch on the Rhine – Dashiell Hammett, based on the play by Lillian Hellman
Best Original Motion Picture Story: The Human Comedy – William Saroyan (WINNER) Action in the North Atlantic – Guy Gilpatric Destination Tokyo – Steve Fisher The More the Merrier – Robert Russell and Frank Ross Shadow of a Doubt – Thornton Wilder
Best Documentary Feature: Desert Victory – British Ministry of Information (WINNER) Baptism of Fire – United States Army The Battle of Russia – United States Department of War, Special Service Division Report from the Aleutians – United States Army Pictorial Service War Department Report – United States Office of Strategic Services, Field Photographic Bureau
Best Documentary Short Subject: December 7th – United States Navy (WINNER) Children of Mars – RKO Radio Plan for Destruction – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Swedes in America – United States Office of War Information, Overseas Motion Picture Bureau To the People of the United States – Walter Wanger Tomorrow We Fly – United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Youth in Crisis – The March of Time
Best Short Subjects – Cartoons: The Yankee Doodle Mouse – Fred Quimby (WINNER) The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins – George Pal The Dizzy Acrobat – Walter Lantz Greetings, Bait! – Leon Schlesinger Imagination – Dave Fleischer Reason and Emotion – Walt Disney
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel: Amphibious Fighters – Grantland Rice (WINNER) Cavalcade of Dance – Gordon Hollingshead Champions Carry On – Edmund Reek Hollywood in Uniform – Ralph Staub Seeing Hands – Pete Smith
Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel: Heavenly Music – Jerry Bresler and Sam Coslow (WINNER) Letter to a Hero – Frederic Ullman Jr. Mardi Gras – Walter MacEwen Women at War – Gordon Hollingshead
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: The Song of Bernadette – Alfred Newman (WINNER) The Amazing Mrs. Holliday – Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner Casablanca – Max Steiner Commandos Strike at Dawn – Louis Gruenberg and Morris Stoloff The Fallen Sparrow – C. Bakaleinikoff and Roy Webb For Whom the Bell Tolls – Victor Young Hangmen Also Die! – Hanns Eisler Hi Diddle Diddle – Philip Boutelje In Old Oklahoma – Walter Scharf Johnny Come Lately – Leigh Harline The Kansan – Gerard Carbonara Lady of Burlesque – Arthur Lange Madame Curie – Herbert Stothart The Moon and Sixpence – Dimitri Tiomkin The North Star – Aaron Copland Victory Through Air Power – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Oliver Wallace
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: This Is the Army – Ray Heindorf (WINNER) Coney Island – Alfred Newman Hit Parade of 1943 – Walter Scharf Phantom of the Opera – Edward Ward Saludos Amigos – Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, and Charles Wolcott The Sky’s the Limit – Leigh Harline Something to Shout About – Morris Stoloff Stage Door Canteen – Frederic E. Rich Star Spangled Rhythm – Robert Emmett Dolan Thousands Cheer – Herbert Stothart
Best Original Song: “You’ll Never Know” from Hello, Frisco, Hello – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon (WINNER) “A Change of Heart” from Hit Parade of 1943 – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Harold Adamson “Happiness is a Thing Called Joe” from Cabin in the Sky – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg “My Shining Hour” from The Sky’s the Limit – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Saludos Amigos” from Saludos Amigos – Music by Charles Wolcott; Lyrics by Ned Washington “Say a Pray’r for the Boys Over There” from Hers to Hold – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Herb Magidson “That Old Black Magic” from Star Spangled Rhythm – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” from Thank Your Lucky Stars – Music by Arthur Schwartz; Lyrics by Frank Loesser “We Mustn’t Say Goodbye” from Stage Door Canteen – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Al Dubin “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” from Something to Shout About – Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Best Sound Recording: This Land Is Mine – Stephen Dunn (WINNER) Hangmen Also Die! – Jack Whitney In Old Oklahoma – Daniel J. Bloomberg Madame Curie – Douglas Shearer The North Star – Thomas T. Moulton Phantom of the Opera – Bernard B. Brown Riding High – Loren L. Ryder Sahara – John P. Livadary Saludos Amigos – C. O. Slyfield So This Is Washington – J. L. Fields The Song of Bernadette – E. H. Hansen This Is the Army – Nathan Levinson
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black-and-White: The Song of Bernadette – Art Direction: James Basevi and William S. Darling; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little (WINNER) Five Graves to Cairo – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger Flight for Freedom – Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino and Carroll Clark; Interior Decoration: Darrell Silvera and Harley Miller Madame Curie – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt Mission to Moscow – Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins The North Star – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Color: Phantom of the Opera – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and John B. Goodman; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb (WINNER) For Whom the Bell Tolls – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Haldane Douglas; Interior Decoration: Bertram Granger The Gang’s All Here – Art Direction: James Basevi and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little This Is the Army – Art Direction: John Hughes and Lt. John Koenig; Interior Decoration: George James Hopkins Thousands Cheer – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Daniel B. Cathcart; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Jacques Mersereau
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: The Song of Bernadette – Arthur C. Miller (WINNER) Air Force – James Wong Howe, Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall Casablanca – Arthur Edeson Corvette K-225 – Tony Gaudio Five Graves to Cairo – John F. Seitz The Human Comedy – Harry Stradling Madame Curie – Joseph Ruttenberg The North Star – James Wong Howe Sahara – Rudolph Maté So Proudly We Hail! – Charles Lang
Best Cinematography, Color: Phantom of the Opera – Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene (WINNER) For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ray Rennahan Heaven Can Wait – Edward Cronjager Hello, Frisco, Hello – Charles G. Clarke and Allen Davey Lassie Come Home – Leonard Smith Thousands Cheer – George J. Folsey
Best Film Editing: Air Force – George Amy (WINNER) Casablanca – Owen Marks Five Graves to Cairo – Doane Harrison For Whom the Bell Tolls – Sherman Todd and John F. Link Sr. The Song of Bernadette – Barbara McLean
Best Special Effects: Crash Dive – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Roger Heman (WINNER) Air Force – Photographic Effects: Hans F. Koenekamp and Rex Wimpy; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson Bombardier – Photographic Effects: Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects James G. Stewart and Roy Granville The North Star – Photographic Effects: Clarence Slifer and Ray Binger; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton So Proudly We Hail! – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: George Dutton Stand By for Action – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie and Donald Jahraus; Sound Effects: Michael Steinore
Academy Honorary Award: George Pal “for the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons.”
World Changing Event: Nachos were invented circa 1943 by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico.
Influential Songs include: Paper Doll by The Mills Brothers
The Movies to Watch include The Ox-Bow Incident, Cabin in the Sky, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Guy Named Joe, Lassie Come Home, This is the Army, Shadow of a Doubt, and The Song of Bernadette
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Betty Grable
Notable books include A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Price of 12 Quart sized Mason Jars in 1943: 98 cents
The Football Team(s): Due to a player shortage caused by WWII, The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Philadelphia Eagles merged and were known as the Steagles.
The Mystery: The USS Eldridge, docked at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, reportedly disappeared for a few minutes in a ‘transporter experiment,’ after which crew members reportedly suffered from sporadic invisibility, madness, and spontaneous combustion. The 1984 film, The Philadelphia Experiment was very loosely based on this report.
On August 13, 1943, J. Edgar Hoover received a letter alleging that the popularity of Frank Sinatra was being used to prepare the masses to accept a new “Hitler.” The FBI kept surveillance over Sinatra for the next 40 years.
Significant 1943 History:
January: The Battle of Stalingrad ended, with Soviet forces successfully driving German troops out of the city. This was a significant turning point in the war and dealt a heavy blow to German morale.
February: General Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to command the Allied armies in Europe.
March: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened on Broadway, heralding a new era in “integrated” stage musicals.
April: The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, was dedicated on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday.
May: The United States Army contracted with the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School to develop the computer ENIAC.
June: The first game of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was played.
July: The Allies launched Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. This operation marked the first major Allied offensive against the Axis powers in Europe and was a prelude to the eventual invasion of mainland Italy.
August: The Allies bombed the Ploesti oil fields in Romania, a significant fuel source for the German war effort.
September: The Allies invaded Italy, with British and American forces landing on the southern coast. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was overthrown and arrested.
October: The Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, occurred in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Red Army successfully repelled a German offensive, further turning the tide of the war on the Eastern front.
November: The Tehran Conference took place, with leaders of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom meeting to discuss strategy for the war.
December: The Battle of Berlin began; it was the last and one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War in Europe.
Top Ten Baby Names of 1943
Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Linda, Carol, James, Robert, John, William, Richard
US Life Expectancy
1943 Males: 62.4 years, Females: 64.4 years
The Stars
Ingrid Bergman, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Lena Horne, Veronica Lake, Hedy Lamarr, Carole Landis, Brenda Marshall, Jane Russell, Alexis Smith, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner
Entertainment History: The Oscars
The 15th Academy Awards occurred on March 4, 1943, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The ceremony was hosted by Bob Hope, marking his third time as the master of ceremonies. The film Mrs. Miniver was the star of the night, winning six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for William Wyler, and Best Actress for Greer Garson. Her acceptance speech, clocking in at around five and a half minutes, became legendary for its length. James Cagney won Best Actor for his energetic portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy. The eligibility year for these awards was from January 1 to December 31, 1942. This was the first year the Best Animated Short category was introduced, with the award going to Der Fuehrer’s Face, a Walt Disney cartoon featuring Donald Duck in a satirical jab at Nazi Germany.
Miss America
Jean Bartel (Los Angeles, CA)
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year
George Marshall
Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders
Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan invented the first commercially successful open circuit type of scuba diving equipment, the Aqua-lung.
A Mexican farmer, Dionisio Pulido, had a volcano (Volcán de Parícutin) start forming in his cornfield. By the early 1950s, it was over 400 meters tall. Before being evacuated and leaving his home for the last time, he left a sign that read, “This volcano is owned and operated by Dionisio Pulido.” In 1997, CNN included Parícutin in its list of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Pizza Uno first created the first Deep-Dish Pizza in 1943.
Bea Arthur (Dorothy from The Golden Girls) was a US Marine from 1943 to 1945 with an honorably discharged rank of staff sergeant.
Vicodin and Lortab were first produced in Germany.
1943 ‘Wartime’ Pennies and Nickels
‘Wartime nickels’ aka ‘war nickels’ were minted from 1943 to 1945. The temporary composition was 56% copper, 35% silver, and 9% manganese. Minted in 1938, the original design of the Jefferson nickel was created by Felix Schlag.
1943 Silver Pennies – Like nickel, copper was needed for the war effort. 1943 steel pennies were made with low-grade steel and coated with zinc. They had previously been made with a 95 percent copper-based bronze. The Mint switched back to creating copper pennies in 1944. An estimated 40 copper pennies were created by accident in 1943 and have become some of the most valuable and sought-after coins by collectors.
World War II News
In Russia, the Battle of Stalingrad came to an end with the surrender of the German 6th Army.
Stalin’s son, Yakov Dzhugashvili, was captured by the Germans during World War 2. The Germans proposed a prisoner exchange: Stalin’s son for a German Field Marshall. Stalin’s response to this request was, ”I will not trade a Marshall for a Lieutenant.” His son died in 1943.
US General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the supreme Allied commander.
On November 5th, four bombs were dropped on the neutral Vatican City. The aircraft responsible was never identified.
The Pentagon, considered to be the world’s largest office building, was completed.
During a press conference in June 1943, Congressman Andrew May noted that Japanese depth charges detonated too soon to be effective. After the press releases, the Japanese changed depth-charge tactics, killing 800 US submariners.
The Four Chaplains of the U.S. Army were among those who drowned when their ship, Dorchester, was struck by a German torpedo in the North Atlantic.
The Gloster Meteor, the first Allied jet fighter, was introduced.
In the United States, rationing included gasoline, canned food, meat, shoes, cheese, butter, and cooking oils.
Due to wartime blackouts, a no-lit New Year’s Eve Ball was held at One Times Square in 1942 and 1943.
The RMS Queen Mary carried 16,683 American troops from New York to Great Britain, the (still) standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel.
Future American President John F. Kennedy’s command, the PT-109, was sunk by a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri. Kennedy was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained in the collision.
The Rescue
Brazilian fishermen rescued Chinese steward Poon Lim after being adrift for 130 days.
Pop Culture History
Duke Ellington played at New York City’s Carnegie Hall for the first time.
The Conical Bra was made famous by Jane Russell.
January 22, 1943, the temperature in Spearfish, South Dakota, changed from -4°F to 45°F in just two minutes, setting a world record. This was caused by a Chinook wind, which eventually increased the temperature to 54°F before dying down, dropping the temperature back to -4°F.
Sliced bread was banned temporarily in the United States in 1943 for wartime conservation.
The Governor-General of Canada declared Princess Juliana of the Netherlands’ hospital room extraterritorial so that her child born would still be in the line of succession.
Because so many players joined the WWII military service, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles combined to become the Steagles during the 1943 season.
Disney made an animated short with Donald Duck titled Der Fuehrer’s Face to mock Hitler and the Nazis.
David Niven was the only British star in Hollywood to enlist during World War 2. When suspicious American guards asked during the Battle of the Bulge who had won the World Series in 1943, he answered, “Haven’t the foggiest idea … but I did co-star with Ginger Rogers in Bachelor Mother!”
Due to a player shortage caused by WWII, The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Philadelphia Eagles merged and were known as the Steagles.
On July 1st, the U.S. government started the payroll withholding tax.
Kryptonite, the only substance that can hurt or even kill Superman, was created as a plot device to allow his radio voice actor (1943) to take some time off, not from the comic books.
The first person ever diagnosed with autism was Mississippi resident Donald Triplett in 1943.
The Zoot Suit Riots erupted between military personnel and Mexican-American youths in East Los Angeles in early June.
Philip Morris ran an ad acknowledging Smoker’s cough in 1943. They claimed it was caused by smoking brands other than Philip Morris.
Oklahoma! was the first great American Musical. It was the first musical play that genuinely added a full story to the production. Older musicals primarily had a loose plot revolving around songs and often major dance and stage productions. The show began on March 31, 1943, and ran for 2,212 performances through its initial run, ending in 1948. It has had many revivals as well.
Packard Motors promoted three blacks to work next to whites on the assembly line, causing 25,000 workers to walk off the job.
Chinese immigrants were officially banned from the United States for 61 years (1882 to 1943).
Mohandas Gandhi held a hunger strike from February 10 until March 3, to protest his imprisonment.
Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter first appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
The Biggest Films of 1943
1. This is the Army
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. The Song of Bernadette
4. Stage Door Canteen
5. Star-Spangled Rhythm
6. Casablanca (Pop Culture Classic)
7. Cabin in the Sky (Pop Culture Classic)
8. The Outlaw
9. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (Pop Culture Classic)
10. Lassie Come Home (Pop Culture Classic)
11. The Ox-Bow Incident
12. To The Shores of Tripoli
13. Girl Crazy
14. Watch on the Rhine
15. A Guy Named Joe
16. Thousands Cheer
17. Jitterbugs
18. Batman (Columbia Pictures serial)
19. Cry ‘Havoc’
20. I Walked with a Zombie
*Movies beyond the Top Five are based on (a somewhat subjective) ranking based on how much they had a long-lasting effect on Pop Culture.
The Disasters
An explosion at Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, United States, killed 74 coal miners.
Gulf Hotel fire: A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, killed 55 people.
Popular Quote
“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” – The Little Prince
Unpopular Quote: Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, said in 1943, “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Broadway Shows
The Voice of the Turtle (Play) Opened on December 8, 1943, and closed on January 3, 1948 Oklahoma! (Musical) Opened on March 31, 1943, and closed on May 29, 1948
Nobel Prizes
Physics – Otto Stern Chemistry – George de Hevesy Physiology or Medicine – Carl Peter Henrik Dam, Edward Adelbert Doisy Literature – not awarded Peace – not awarded
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1943
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Apostle by Sholem Asch The Forest and the Fort by Hervey Allen The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand The Human Comedy by William Saroyan Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Mrs. Parkington by Louis Bromfield The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas So Little Time by John P. Marquand The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel The Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport
Sports
World Series Champions: New York Yankees NFL Champs: Chicago Bears Stanley Cup Champs: Detroit Red Wings U.S. Open Golf: Not played due to WWII U.S. Tennis (Men/Ladies): Lt. Joseph R. Hunt/Pauline Betz Wimbledon (Men/Women): not held NCAA Football Champions: Notre Dame NCAA Basketball Champions: Wyoming Kentucky Derby Winner: Pensive Boston Marathon Winner: Gérard Côté Time: 2:28:25
Oklahoma! This title song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (1943) is a jubilant celebration that closes the musical with a rousing full-cast performance. The show, based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs, redefined musical theater by integrating songs that propelled the story forward rather than serving as stand-alone showcases. The title song became so iconic that it was later adopted as Oklahoma’s official state song, cementing its place in American history.
Frank Sinatra
People Will Say We’re in Love This duet between Curly and Laurey, the romantic leads in Oklahoma!, explores their budding relationship and their attempts to hide their feelings from others. Frank Sinatra’s recording brought the heartfelt lyrics and lilting melody to wider audiences, helping solidify the song as one of the most beloved numbers from the musical.
Bing Crosby
Oh, What a Beautiful Morning Rodgers and Hammerstein opened Oklahoma! with this optimistic tune, breaking from the tradition of starting musicals with a large production number. Bing Crosby’s version became a classic, embodying the pastoral charm of the American countryside. Its enduring appeal lies in its simplicity and the hope it conveys.
Anne Shelton
You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To Written by Cole Porter for the film Something to Shout About (1943), this romantic tune became a hit for Anne Shelton and Dinah Shore in the same year. With its heartfelt lyrics and Porter’s sophisticated melody, the song resonated deeply with listeners during World War II, offering a sense of longing and comfort for soldiers and their loved ones.
Benny Goodman
Taking a Chance on Love Originally featured in the all-Black musical Cabin in the Sky (1940), this song by Vernon Duke (music), John Latouche, and Ted Fetter (lyrics) gained widespread popularity when Benny Goodman recorded it with Helen Forrest on vocals in 1943. Goodman’s version topped the charts, bringing this jazz-infused love song to a broader audience.
Dick Haymes
You’ll Never Know Based on a poem by war bride Dorothy Fern Norris, this song was adapted by Harry Warren (music) and Mack Gordon (lyrics). It debuted in the film Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943), sung by Alice Faye. Although Faye didn’t record it commercially, Dick Haymes’s rendition became a major hit, staying at No. 1 on the R&B charts for four weeks. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and remains a poignant wartime ballad.
Duke Ellington
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore Originally an instrumental titled Never No Lament (1940), this tune gained new life in 1942 when Bob Russell added lyrics and renamed it. Both Duke Ellington and The Ink Spots released vocal versions in 1943, with both topping the R&B charts. Ellington’s version also reached No. 8 on the pop charts, becoming a jazz standard.
Judy Garland and Gene Kelly
For Me and My Gal This title song from the 1942 movie musical For Me and My Gal marked Gene Kelly’s screen debut alongside Judy Garland. Written by George W. Meyer, Edgar Leslie, and E. Ray Goetz, the song captures the charm of vaudeville and World War I-era romance. The film, directed by Busby Berkeley, was nominated for an Academy Award for its score, solidifying the song as a classic.
1943’s Most Popular and Influential Songs
1. Paper Doll – The Mills Brothers
2. As Time Goes By – Rudy Vallee or Jacques Renard
3. That Old Black Magic – Glenn Miller or Freddie Slack or Horace Heidt
4. Sentimental Lady – Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra
5. There Are Such Things – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra
6. People Will Say We’re In Love – Bing Crosby and Trudy Erwin or Frank Sinatra
7. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore – The Ink Spots or Glen Gray or Duke Ellington
8. Don’t Cry, Baby – Erskine Hawkins and His Orchestra
9. Night and Day – Frank Sinatra (a hit in 1944 too)
10. I Can’t Stand Losing You – The Ink Spots
11. All Or Nothing At All – Frank Sinatra with Harry James
12. Don’t Stop Now – Bonnie Davis
13. Oh! What A Beautiful Mornin’ – Bing Crosby and Trudy Erwin or Frank Sinatra
14. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (Never No Lament) – Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra or The Ink Spots or Glen Gray
15. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To – Dinah Shore or Dick Jurgens or Six Hits and a Miss
16. You’ll Never Know – Dick Haymes or Frank Sinatra or Willie Kelly
17. For Me and My Gal – Judy Garland and Gene Kelly or Guy Lombardo
18. Apollo Jump – Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra
19. I Heard You Cried Last Night – Harry James with Helen Forrest or Dick Haymes
20. All For You – King Cole’s Trio
21. Brazil (Aquarela Do Brasil) – Xavier Cugat or Jimmy Dorsey
22. Taking A Chance On Love – Benny Goodman or Sammy Kaye
23. In The Blue of the Evening – Tommy Dorsey featuring Frank Sinatra
24. What’s The Use Of Getting Sober (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again) – Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
25. It’s Always You – Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra
26. That Ain’t Right – King Cole Trio
27. I Had The Craziest Dream – Harry James with Helen Forrest
28. I’ve Heard That Song Before – Harry James with Helen Forrest
29. Pistol Packin’ Mama – Al Dexter and His Troopers or Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters
30. Sweet Slumber – Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra
Top Artists and Songs of 1943
Al Dexter & His Troops Pistol Packin’ mama
Anne Shelton You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
Benny Goodman Taking A Chance On Love, Why Don’t You Do Right?
Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters Pistol Packin’ Mama
Bing Crosby and Trudy Erwin Oh What A Beautiful Morning, People Will Say We’re In Love
Bing Crosby Whispering Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Sunday Monday or Always, If You Please
Dick Haymes You’ll Never Know, It Can’t Be Wrong, Put Your Arms Around Me Honey
Dick Kuhn & his Orchestra Put Your Arms Around Me Honey
Dinah Washington Evil Gal Blues
Dinah Shore You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To, (As Long As You’re Not in Love with Anyone Else) Why Don’t You Fall In Love With Me?
Duke Ellington Sentimental Lady, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, Perdido, Slip of the Lip
Ella Mae Morse Shoo-Shoo-Baby
Erskine Hawkins Don’t Cry Baby
Frank Sinatra All or Nothing at All, Sunday Monday Always, You’ll Never Know, People Will Say We’re In Love, Close To You
Freddy Slack That Old Black Magic
Gene Autry Deep In The Heart of Texas
Glen Gray Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Glenn Miller Orchestra That Old Black Magic, Blue Rain, Rhapsody In Blue
Harry James Two O’Clock Jump, I’ve Heard That Song Before, Mister Five By Five, I Had The Craziest Dream, Velvet Moon, I Heard You Cried Last Night
Jacques Renard & his Orchestra As Time Goes By
Jimmy Dorsey They’re Either Too Young Or Too Old
Jimmy Wakely There’s A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere
Judy Garland and Gene Kelly For Me and My Gal
Judy Garland Zing! Went The Strings of My Heart
Kate Smith I Don’t Want To Walk Without You
Kay Kyser Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition
Kay Sherman The Dreamer/How Sweet You Are
King Cole Trio All For You
Lena Horne Stormy Weather
Louis Jordan That’ll Just ‘Bout Knock Me Out
Mills Brothers Paper Doll
Oklahoma! Theme Oklahoma Soundtrack
Rudy Vallee and his Connecticut Yankees As Time Goes By
Stan Kenton Artistry In Rhythm
The Ink Spots Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
The Song Spinners Johnny Zero
Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra There Are Such Things, In The Blues Of The Evening
Vaughn Monroe When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World), Let’s Get Lost
On March 4, 1943, the spotlight shone on Cocoanut Grove in The Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California, for the 15th Academy Awards.
Bob Hope, the perennial Oscars host, returned to keep the audience entertained.
The ceremony celebrated films released during the eligibility year of 1942.
Major Highlights:
Mrs. Miniver dominated the night, taking home the Best Picture trophy.
Mrs. Miniver received 12 nominations, winning 6.
Greer Garson won Best Actress for her role in Mrs. Miniver, while James Cagney snagged Best Actor for Yankee Doodle Dandy.
William Wyler clinched the Best Director award for Mrs. Miniver.
Irving Berlin presented the Academy Award for Best Song, which he won for White Christmas.
Best Documentary category resulted in a four-way tie, an outcome that has not happened before or since.
Pride of the Yankees received 11 nominations, winning 1.
Yankee Doodle Dandy received eight nominations, winning 3.
Trivia Tidbits:
Greer Garson’s acceptance speech lasted five and a half minutes, setting a record.
The Jungle Book, based on Rudyard Kipling’s stories, received four nominations but won no Oscars.
In Which We Serve, a British patriotic film, was given a special award for its screenplay.
1943 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Outstanding Motion Picture:
Mrs. Miniver – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (WINNER)
49th Parallel – Michael Powell for Ortus
Kings Row – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros.
The Magnificent Ambersons – Orson Welles for Mercury and RKO Radio
The Pied Piper – Nunnally Johnson for 20th Century Fox
The Pride of the Yankees – Samuel Goldwyn for Samuel Goldwyn Productions and RKO Radio
Random Harvest – Sidney Franklin for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Talk of the Town – George Stevens for Columbia
Wake Island – Joseph Sistrom for Paramount
Yankee Doodle Dandy – Jack L. Warner, Hal B. Wallis, and William Cagney for Warner Bros.
Best Director:
William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver (WINNER)
Sam Wood – Kings Row
Mervyn LeRoy – Random Harvest
John Farrow – Wake Island
Michael Curtiz – Yankee Doodle Dandy
Best Actor:
James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy as George M. Cohan (WINNER)
Ronald Colman – Random Harvest as Charles Rainier
Gary Cooper – The Pride of the Yankees as Lou Gehrig
Walter Pidgeon – Mrs. Miniver as Clem Miniver
Monty Woolley – The Pied Piper as Howard
Best Actress:
Greer Garson – Mrs. Miniver as Kay Miniver (WINNER)
Bette Davis – Now, Voyager as Charlotte Vale
Katharine Hepburn – Woman of the Year as Tess Harding
Rosalind Russell – My Sister Eileen as Ruth Sherwood
Teresa Wright – The Pride of the Yankees as Eleanor Gehrig
Best Supporting Actor:
Van Heflin – Johnny Eager as Jeff Hartnett (WINNER)
William Bendix – Wake Island as Private Aloysius K. Randall
Walter Huston – Yankee Doodle Dandy as Jerry Cohan
Frank Morgan – Tortilla Flat as The Pirate
Henry Travers – Mrs. Miniver as James Ballard
Best Supporting Actress:
Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver as Carol Beldon (WINNER)
Gladys Cooper – Now, Voyager as Windle Vale
Agnes Moorehead – The Magnificent Ambersons as Fanny Minafer
Susan Peters – Random Harvest as Kitty Chilcet
Dame May Whitty – Mrs. Miniver as Lady Beldon
Best Original Screenplay:
Woman of the Year – Michael Kanin and Ring Lardner Jr. (WINNER)
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing – Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Road to Morocco – Frank Butler and Don Hartman
Wake Island – W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler
The War Against Mrs. Hadley – George Oppenheimer
Best Screenplay:
Mrs. Miniver – George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis, based on the Mrs. Miniver newspaper columns by Jan Struther (WINNER)
49th Parallel – Rodney Ackland and Emeric Pressburger, based on a story by Emeric Pressburger
The Pride of the Yankees – Herman J. Mankiewicz and Jo Swerling, based on a story by Paul Gallico
Random Harvest – George Froeschel, Claudine West, and Arthur Wimperis, based on the novel by James Hilton
The Talk of the Town – Sidney Buchman and Irwin Shaw, based on a story by Sidney Harmon
Best Original Motion Picture Story:
49th Parallel – Emeric Pressburger (WINNER)
Holiday Inn – Irving Berlin
The Pride of the Yankees – Paul Gallico
The Talk of the Town – Sidney Harmon
Yankee Doodle Dandy – Robert Buckner
Best Documentary:
The Battle of Midway – United States Navy (WINNER)
Kokoda Front Line! – Australian News and Information Bureau (WINNER)
Moscow Strikes Back – Artkino (WINNER)
Prelude to War – United States Army Special Services (WINNER)
Africa, Prelude to Victory – The March of Time
Combat Report – United States Army Signal Corps
Conquer by the Clock – Frederic Ullman Jr.
The Grain That Built a Hemisphere – Walt Disney
Henry Browne, Farmer – United States Department of Agriculture
High Over the Borders – National Film Board of Canada
High Stakes in the East – The Netherlands Information Bureau
Inside Fighting China – National Film Board of Canada
It’s Everybody’s War – United States Office of War Information
Listen to Britain – British Ministry of Information
Little Belgium – Belgian Ministry of Information
Little Isles of Freedom – Victor Stoloff and Edgar Loew
Mr. Blabbermouth! – United States Office of War Information
Mr. Gardenia Jones – United States Office of War Information
The New Spirit – Walt Disney
The Price of Victory – William H. Pine
A Ship Is Born – United States Merchant Marine
Twenty-One Miles – British Ministry of Information
We Refuse to Die – William C. Thomas
White Eagle – Concanen Films
Winning Your Wings – United States Army Air Force
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel:
Speaking of Animals and Their Families – Paramount (WINNER)
Desert Wonderland – 20th Century Fox
Marines in the Making – Pete Smith
United States Marine Band – Warner Bros.
Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel:
Beyond the Line of Duty – Warner Bros. (WINNER)
Don’t Talk – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Private Smith of the U.S.A. – RKO Radio
Best Short Subjects – Cartoons:
Der Fuehrer’s Face – Walt Disney (WINNER)
All Out for V – Paul Terry
Blitz Wolf – Fred Quimby
Juke Box Jamboree – Walter Lantz
Pigs in a Polka – Leon Schlesinger
Tulips Shall Grow – George Pal
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture:
Now, Voyager – Max Steiner (WINNER)
Arabian Nights – Frank Skinner
Bambi – Frank Churchill (posthumous nomination) and Edward H. Plumb
The Black Swan – Alfred Newman
The Corsican Brothers – Dimitri Tiomkin
Flying Tigers – Victor Young
The Gold Rush – Max Terr
I Married a Witch – Roy Webb
Joan of Paris – Roy Webb
Jungle Book – Miklós Rózsa
Klondike Fury – Edward J. Kay
The Pride of the Yankees – Leigh Harline
Random Harvest – Herbert Stothart
The Shanghai Gesture – Richard Hageman
Silver Queen – Victor Young
Take a Letter, Darling – Victor Young
The Talk of the Town – Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff
To Be or Not to Be – Werner R. Heymann
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture:
Yankee Doodle Dandy – Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld (WINNER)
Flying with Music – Edward Ward
For Me and My Gal – Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll
Holiday Inn – Robert E. Dolan
It Started with Eve – Charles Previn and Hans J. Salter
Johnny Doughboy – Walter Scharf
My Gal Sal – Alfred Newman
You Were Never Lovelier – Leigh Harline
Best Original Song:
“White Christmas” from Holiday Inn – Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin (WINNER)
“Always in My Heart” from Always in My Heart – Music by Ernesto Lecuona; Lyrics by Kim Gannon
“Dearly Beloved” from You Were Never Lovelier – Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
“How About You?” from Babes on Broadway – Music by Burton Lane; Lyrics by Ralph Freed
“I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” from Orchestra Wives – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon
“I’ve Heard That Song Before” from Youth on Parade – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
“Love Is a Song” from Bambi – Music by Frank Churchill (posthumous nomination); Lyrics by Larry Morey
“Pennies for Peppino” from Flying with Music – Music by Edward Ward; Lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright
“Pig Foot Pete” from Hellzapoppin’ – Music by Gene de Paul; Lyrics by Don Raye
“There’s a Breeze on Lake Louise” from The Mayor of 44th Street – Music by Harry Revel; Lyrics by Mort Greene
Best Sound Recording:
Yankee Doodle Dandy – Nathan Levinson (WINNER)
Arabian Nights – Bernard B. Brown
Bambi – Sam Slyfield
Flying Tigers – Daniel J. Bloomberg
Friendly Enemies – Jack Whitney
The Gold Rush – James L. Fields
Mrs. Miniver – Douglas Shearer
Once Upon a Honeymoon – Stephen Dunn
The Pride of the Yankees – Thomas T. Moulton
Road to Morocco – Loren L. Ryder
This Above All – E. H. Hansen
You Were Never Lovelier – John P. Livadary
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black-and-White:
This Above All – Art Direction: Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little (WINNER)
George Washington Slept Here – Art Direction: Max Parker and Mark-Lee Kirk; Interior Decoration: Casey Roberts
The Magnificent Ambersons – Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino; Interior Decoration: Al Fields and Darrell Silvera
The Pride of the Yankees – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol
Random Harvest – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Randall Duell; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis and Jack D. Moore
The Shanghai Gesture – Art Direction and Interior Decoration: Boris Leven
Silver Queen – Art Direction: Ralph Berger; Interior Decoration: Emile Kuri
The Spoilers – Art Direction: Jack Otterson and John B. Goodman; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Edward R. Robinson
Take a Letter, Darling – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson; Interior Decoration: Samuel M. Comer
The Talk of the Town – Art Direction: Lionel Banks and Rudolph Sternad; Interior Decoration: Fay Babcock
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Color:
My Gal Sal – Art Direction: Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little (WINNER)
Arabian Nights – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen and Jack Otterson; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman and Ira S. Webb
Captains of the Clouds – Art Direction: Ted Smith; Interior Decoration: Casey Roberts
Jungle Book – Art Direction: Vincent Korda; Interior Decoration: Julia Heron
Reap the Wild Wind – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson; Interior Decoration: George Sawley
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White:
Mrs. Miniver – Joseph Ruttenberg (WINNER)
Kings Row – James Wong Howe
The Magnificent Ambersons – Stanley Cortez
Moontide – Charles G. Clarke
The Pied Piper – Edward Cronjager
The Pride of the Yankees – Rudolph Maté
Take a Letter, Darling – John J. Mescall
The Talk of the Town – Ted Tetzlaff
Ten Gentlemen from West Point – Leon Shamroy
This Above All – Arthur C. Miller
Best Cinematography, Color:
The Black Swan – Leon Shamroy (WINNER)
Arabian Nights – Milton Krasner, William V. Skall, and W. Howard Greene
Captains of the Clouds – Sol Polito
Jungle Book – W. Howard Greene
Reap the Wild Wind – Victor Milner and William V. Skall
To the Shores of Tripoli – Edward Cronjager and William V. Skall
Best Film Editing:
The Pride of the Yankees – Daniel Mandell (WINNER)
Mrs. Miniver – Harold F. Kress
The Talk of the Town – Otto Meyer
This Above All – Walter A. Thompson
Yankee Doodle Dandy – George Amy
Best Special Effects:
Reap the Wild Wind – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings and William Pereira; Sound Effects: Louis Mesenkop (WINNER)
The Black Swan – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Roger Heman, Sr. and George Leverett
Desperate Journey – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson
Flying Tigers – Photographic Effects: Howard Lydecker; Sound Effects: Daniel J. Bloomberg
Invisible Agent – Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton; Sound Effects: Bernard B. Brown
Jungle Book – Photographic Effects: Lawrence W. Butler; Sound Effects: William H. Wilmarth
Mrs. Miniver – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie and Warren Newcombe; Sound Effects: Douglas Shearer
The Navy Comes Through – Photographic Effects: Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects: James G. Stewart
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing – Photographic Effects: Ronald Neame; Sound Effects: C. C. Stevens
The Pride of the Yankees – Photographic Effects: Jack Cosgrove and Ray Binger; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton
Academy Honorary Awards:
Charles Boyer – “for his progressive cultural achievement in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference for the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry.”
Noël Coward – “for his outstanding production achievement in In Which We Serve.”
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – “for its achievement in representing the American Way of Life in the production of the Andy Hardy series of films.”
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award:
Sidney Franklin
World Changing Event: The Manhattan Project began secret work on the atomic bomb, and Enrico Fermi triggered the first atomic chain reaction.
Influential Songs include: Deep In The Heart of Texas by Alvino Rey or Bing Crosby or Horace Heidt or Merry Macs, and Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Told Me) by Dinah Shore or, Woody Herman or, Jimmie Lunceford or Cab Calloway or, Artie Shaw.
The Movies to Watch include Bambi, Casablanca, Woman of the Year, Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest, For Me and My Gal, Holiday Inn, Road to Morocco, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Gary Cooper.
Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 – September 27, 1942) was the only US Coast Guard to receive the Medal of Honor. While covering ground troops with his boat, Munro was fatally wounded. His last words were, “Did they get off?” referring to the soldiers he’d saved. He was 22 years old.
Notable books include The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey.
US Life Expectancy: Males: 64.7 years, Females: 67.9 years
Silly Putty was created.
Price of 12 oz. Pepsi in 1942: 5 cents
The Funny Trio was Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour
Here are some significant WW2 events that occurred in 1942
January: Japanese forces invaded Burma and captured Rangoon.
February: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the internment of Japanese Americans.
May: The Battle of the Coral Sea occurred, marking the first time two opposing aircraft carriers engaged each other.
June: The Battle of Midway took place, resulting in a decisive victory for the United States over Japan.
November: The Allies launched Operation Torch landings in French North Africa.
December: The Battle of Stalingrad began, marking the start of a turning point in the European Theater of World War II.
1942 was a significant year for World War II, with several major military engagements. It was also a time of great social upheaval, with the internment of Japanese Americans and other controversial events occurring in the United States.
Top Ten Baby Names of 1942
Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Linda, Carol, James, Robert, John, William, Richard
US Life Expectancy
1942 Males: 64.7 years, Females: 67.9 years
The Stars
Ingrid Bergman, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, Veronica Lake, Hedy Lamarr, Carole Landis, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner
Entertainment History: The Oscars
The 14th Academy Awards were held on February 26, 1942, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. The master of ceremonies for the evening was none other than Bob Hope. The big winner was How Green Was My Valley, which walked away with Best Picture, beating out other esteemed films like Citizen Kane and The Maltese Falcon. John Ford received the Best Director award for the film, which also snagged Best Supporting Actor for Donald Crisp. Gary Cooper won Best Actor for his role in Sergeant York, and Joan Fontaine took home Best Actress for her performance in Suspicion. The eligibility year for the awards spanned from October 1940 to December 1941.
Miss America
Jo-Carroll Dennison (Tyler, TX)
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year
Joseph Stalin
Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders
Train Kept A-Rollin was recorded by Freddie Slack in 1942, Tiny Bradshaw in 1951, Johnny Burnette in 1956, the Yardbirds in 1965, Led Zeppelin in 1968, and Aerosmith in 1974.
The Voice of America began broadcasting.
C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters was first published in book format in England.
World War II News
Produced in 1942 and released on January 1, 1943, the only Donald Duck film to win an Oscar was a Disney propaganda called Der Fuehrer’s Face.
In the spring of 1942, German U-boats patrolled the east coast of the United States, sinking fuel tankers and cargo ships, often within sight of shore, and in less than seven months, destroyed 22 percent of the tanker fleet and sank 233 ships, killing 5,000 people, mostly civilians.
Nazi U-boat U-166 was sunk 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana the day after attacking a US Naval Patrol in the Gulf of Mexico. Between 1942 and 1943, more than 20 German U-boats operated in the Gulf of Mexico. They attacked tankers transporting oil from ports in Texas and Louisiana and successfully sank 56 vessels.
Invented in 1942 by Julius Fieser, a Harvard organic chemist, napalm was the ideal incendiary weapon: cheap, stable, and sticky—a burning gel that stuck to roofs, furniture, and skin. It killed more Japanese than both Atomic Bombs combined.
Between 1941 and 1945, the USA built almost 6,000 ships. The average time to build a ship went from 240 days in early 1942 to only 56 days at the end of the year.
Hawaii had its own money during WW2 with a “Hawaii stamp” on it, so if the Japanese took over the island, America could say that the money was no good.
In January 1942, Lytle S. Adams, a dentist, proposed strapping tiny incendiary bombs to bats, to bomb Japanese cities to the White House. “Think of thousands of fires breaking out simultaneously over a circle of forty miles in diameter for every bomb dropped. Japan could have been devastated, yet with a small loss of life.”
From May 1942 to August 1945, the US had a nationwide speed limit of 35 miles per hour called The “Victory Speed Limit”.
Stop That Tank! is a 22-minute 1942 instructional film created during World War II by Walt Disney Productions to demonstrate the proper use and handling of the Mk.1 Boys Anti-Tank Rifle.
The last time Congress declared war was in 1942 (against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania). The Executive branch declared the Korean War.
The 1942 Battle Of The Coral Sea was the first naval battle in history in which the opposing ships never saw each other, the engagement being entirely one of opposing airstrikes from carrier-borne aircraft.
Calvin Graham was 12 years old and enlisted in the Navy in 1942. During WW2, he was awarded The Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and other medals. They were taken away because he was underage. President Jimmy Carter Approved all the medals except his Purple Heart to be reinstated. His Purple Heart was reinstated in 1994.
During World War II, penicillin was scarce, so it was expected to collect urine from patients to recycle penicillin.
In 1942, Japanese troops landed and occupied the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. They were driven out entirely a year later, between May and August 1943, by American and Canadian forces. This was American soil’s first significant foreign occupation since the War of 1812.
In 1942, a Finnish sound engineer secretly recorded 11 minutes of a candid conversation between Adolf Hitler and Finnish Defence Chief Gustaf Mannerheim before being caught by the SS. It is the only known recording of Hitler’s normal speaking voice. (11 min, English translation)
Dr. Harry Coover accidentally invented Super Glue during World War II. In 1942, he searched for materials for making clear plastic gun sights to be used by Allied soldiers in the war against the Axis.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a female Soviet sniper with 309 credited kills, toured the US in 1942 to gain support for a second front in Nazi-occupied Europe. Of course, the press was more interested in her appearance and if she wore make-up on the front lines.
“If Day” was a simulated Nazi German invasion and occupation of the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and surrounding areas on February 19, 1942.
Tea was so crucial for morale in the British army that 1942, the UK bought the entire world’s crop of tea.
The Savoia Cavalleria Charge at Izbushensky, many consider history’s last significant cavalry charge. It took place on August 24, 1942. 700 Italian cavalrymen took on and drove back over 2,500 soviet foot soldiers armed with machine guns and mortars.
Twelve-year-old Calvin Leon Graham (April 3, 1930 – November 6, 1992) was the youngest U.S. serviceman to serve and fight during World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States NAVY at the age of 12 on August 15, 1942.
The original painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was destroyed by a British bombing raid in 1942. It was in Breman, Germany at the time.
The deadliest battle in history was the Battle of Stalingrad from 1942-1943. Lasting several months, the clash between Russian and German forces ended 1,971,000 lives, making it 23 times deadlier than the next deadliest, the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
In 1942, ihe Japanese, led by General Imamura, fed 200 American POWs to the sharks off Java Island in what became known as the “Pig Basket Atrocities”.
The “The Death Match” was a 1942 soccer match between Nazi soldiers and Ukrainian prisoners of war. It was the inspiration behind the movie The Longest Yard.
Pop Culture Facts & History
The idea that the federal government can regulate almost any business was established in a 1942 Supreme Court case, Wickard v. Filburn. Since a farmer could theoretically sell products over state lines, the US government had the authority to control what he could grow.
On Mexico’s Mother’s Day in 1942, the government announced that all Mexican women could reclaim their pawned sewing machines from the National Pawnshop at no cost.
The US government made a short film in 1942 called “Hemp for Victory,” which discussed the many virtues of hemp and its products.
The Marines rejected actor Audie Murphy for being too short and the Navy for being too skinny. The Army accepted him but did not want to send him into combat because he looked so young. He received every military award for valor available from the Army.
Hollywood actress Carole Lombard visited her hometown (Indiana) in 1942 and, in one night, raised $2 million in war bonds (about $35 million today). She died in a plane crash on her return home due in part to a lack of airport lighting turned off to conceal American airstrips from the Japanese.
Camp David was converted to a presidential retreat by Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed “Shangri-La” (for the fictional Himalayan paradise). Camp David received its present name from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and grandson, both named David.
DDT was first used as a pesticide.
The University of Chicago produced the first nuclear chain reaction using uranium isotope U-235.
Before the 20th century, people mainly reported dreaming in color. But in 1942, 70% of college sophomores “rarely/never” had color dreams. By 2001, that rate had dropped to 17%. The change is thought to be because of the influence of black and white media in the mid-1900s.
Due to wartime blackouts, there was no lit New Year’s Eve Ball at One Times Square in 1942 and 1943.
President Gerald Ford worked as a male model in his late 20s and was featured on the cover of Cosmopolitan in 1942 wearing his Navy Uniform.
On March 18, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9102, creating the War Relocation Authority (WRA), which caused the internment of Americans of Japanese and, to a lesser extent, German and Italian descent, many of them legal citizens.
Pinball machines were banned in NYC from 1942 to 1976 as lawmakers considered them luck-based, similar to gambling, and were ‘stealing’ money from kids.
Bing Crosby’s recording of White Christmas was so popular that he had to re-record it in 1947 using the same musicians and backup singers in the 1942 original master because it had become damaged due to its frequent use. There was no digital recording in the 1940s.
The Battle of Los Angeles: In February 1942, unknown objects were reportedly seen over Los Angeles. A nearby artillery brigade fired over 1400 rounds into the skies over the city in response.
On August 16, 1942, a military blimp left San Francisco Bay on a routine submarine-spotting mission. A few hours later, the airship wandered back over land and crashed with nobody aboard. Life rafts and other gear had not been touched. To this day, the two-man crew has never been found.
Hoagy Carmichael’s 1942 song I’m a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with My Honolulu Mama Doin’ Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues arguably holds the world record for the longest song title.
Bambi and Bambi II hold the record for the longest gap between movie sequels, the first being released in 1942 and the second being released 64 years later in 2006.
On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank received an autograph book from her father for her 13th birthday. That book became her diary.
Dr. Alf Alving, working for the US Army’s Office of Scientific Research and Development, tested some 441 convicts from Statesville Penitentiary with Malaria drugs without their knowledge.
Poon Kim holds the record for surviving adrift in a life raft at 133 days in 1942-43. When told no one had ever survived longer on a raft at sea, he replied, “I hope no one will ever have to break that record.”
Jack Kerouac, the author of the book On the Road, enlisted in the US Navy in 1942 but served only eight days of active duty before being dismissed after doctors diagnosed him with dementia and a schizoid personality.
Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo on January 8, 1642.
Three Musketeers Bars originally had three smaller chocolate bars. Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla variety. In 1942, the strawberry and vanilla flavors were cut due to increased production costs due to sugar rationing.
The 1942 Rose Bowl was played in Durham, NC, due to fears of the Japanese attack on the west coast of the US.
The Disasters
The Cocoanut Grove Fire on November 28, 1942, killed nearly 500 people in a mad panic to escape the fire people when they were crushed against the inward opening doors and could not pull them open. It changed the fire, door, and safety laws in the United States forever. In 1942, over 300 skeletons were found around Roopkund, an obscure high-altitude lake in India. The skeletons were the remains of a 9th-century AD party killed by a freak hail storm.
When USS Juneau was sunk in November 1942, all five brothers of the Sullivan family from Waterloo, Iowa, were killed. Soon after, the U.S. War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy.
The Biggest Films of 1942
1. Bambi (Pop Culture Classic)
2. Casablanca (Pop Culture Classic)
3. Yankee Doodle Dandy (Pop Culture Classic)
4. Mrs. Miniver
5. Woman of the Year (Pop Culture Classic)
6. Once Upon a Honeymoon
7. Tales of Manhattan
8. For Me and My Gal
9. Holiday Inn
10. Road to Morocco (Pop Culture Classic)
11. Cat People
12. My Favorite Blonde
13. Jungle Book
14. Pride of the Yankees (Pop Culture Classic)
15. The Magnificent Ambersons
16. Saboteur
17. I Married A Witch
18. The Talk of the Town
19. To Be or Not to Be
20. Rio Rita
21. Gentleman Jim
22. Arabian Nights
23. Reap The Wild Wind
24. The Young Mr. Pitt
25. Sons of the Pioneers
*Movies beyond the Top Ten are based on (a somewhat subjective) ranking based on how much they had a long-lasting effect on Pop Culture.
Popular Quotes
“Here’s looking at you, kid.” “Of all the gin joints in the world, she had to walk into mine.” “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” “We’ll always have Paris.” – Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
“Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’” -Ingrid Bergman, in Casablanca
“Round up the usual suspects.” – Claude Rains, in Casablanca
Nobel Prizes
Physics – not awarded Chemistry – not awarded Medicine – not awarded Literature – not awarded Peace – not awarded *No Nobel prizes were awarded from 1940-1942, due to World War II. When Norway was occupied, the members of the Nobel Committee fled into exile.
The Number One Hits Of 1942
December 27, 1941 – January 6, 1942 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke and the Four Modernaires –Chattanooga Choo Choo
February 7, 1942 – February 13, 1942 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra – A String of Pearls
February 14, 1942 – February 20, 1942 Woody Herman and His Orchestra with Woody Herman – Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)
February 21, 1942 – February 27, 1942 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra – A String of Pearls
February 28, 1942 – May 8, 1942 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Ray Eberle and the Modernaires – Moonlight Cocktail
May 9, 1942 – June 19, 1942 Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell – Tangerine
July 18, 1942 – September 11, 1942 Kay Kyser and His Orchestra with Harry Babbitt, Julie Conway, and the Group – Jingle Jangle Jingle
September 12, 1942 – October 30, 1942 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, and the Modernaires – (I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo
October 31, 1942 – January 15, 1943 Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra – White Christmas
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1942
And Now Tomorrow by Rachel Field Dragon Seed by Pearl S. Buck Drivin’ Woman by Elizabeth Pickett Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin Kings Row by Henry Bellamann The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel The Stranger by Albert Camus The Sun Is My Undoing by Marguerite Steen Windswept by Mary Ellen Chase
Sports
World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals NFL Champs: Washington Redskins Stanley Cup Champs: Toronto Maple Leafs U.S. Open Golf: Not played due to WWII U.S. Tennis (Men/Ladies): Fredrick Schroeder, Jr./Pauline Betz Wimbledon (Men/Women): not held NCAA Football Champions: Ohio State NCAA Basketball Champions: Stanford Kentucky Derby Winner: Shut Out FIFA World Cup (Soccer): not held Boston Marathon Winner: Joe Smith Time: 2:26:51
Bing Crosby Be careful It’s My Heart This song, written by Irving Berlin, was originally performed by Bing Crosby in the film Holiday Inn. The film told the story of a performer who gets fed up with life as a stage performer and buys a farm. When he realizes farming is not for him, he turns the farm into an Inn only opened on Holidays so he could be off the rest of the year. This song was written for Valentine’s Day. Three other songs would also come out of this motion picture The title song Holiday Inn also known as Happy Holidays, Easter Parade, and arguably the most popular of all Christmas songs, White Christmas.
Glenn Miller Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me The history of Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree is long and varied. Its origins begin in an eighteenth Century English folk song entitled Long Long Ago. Long Long Ago was then transformed into a song entitled Anywhere the Bluebird Goes. Sam H. Stept wrote the song with the lyrics by Lew Brown and Charles Tobias. At the outbreak of World War II, the lyricists came back together to create the song we now know. Glenn Miller made the original recording but several artists would record the song. Though not the original vocalists, The Andrews Sisters would team with Glenn Miller and make the song their own.
Frank Sinatra Night and Day Written by Cole Porter for a 1932 musical called the Gay Divorce, the song was first performed by Fred Astaire, and would be performed by him again in the 1934 film version of the show. One of Porter’s claims is that it was the Islamic call to worship that inspired the song, but there are other stories as well. Night and Day would become the title of Cole Porter’s first motion picture Biography.
Kay Kyser There’ll Be Blue Birds Over The White Cliffs of Dover This song was written by Walter Kent and Nat Burton in 1941. The song was written during the period of WW II when the Nazi’s and Allies were fighting over Dover during The Battle of Britain and looked forward to the time when there would be peace again. The song was written and first performed before The United States entered the war.
Merry Macs Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition This song was written in direct response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. There were many stories that surround the writing of the lyrics. The music was written by Frank Loesser. One of the stories is as follows: An officer in charge of an ammunition line on the USS New Orleans during the attack on Pearl Harbor said that “I heard a voice behind me saying, ‘Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.’ I turned and saw Chaplain Forgy walking toward me, along the line of men. He was patting them on the back and making that remark to cheer and keep them going. I know it helped me a lot, too.” (Wikipedia)
Mills Brothers Paper Doll The song was written by Johnny S Black in 1915 but was not published until 1930. It took another 12 years until the song would become a hit. Unfortunately for Mr. Black, he would die 6 years before his song became the hit he had dreamed of.
Peggy Lee Somebody Else Is Taking My Place Ross Morgan is listed as one of the writers of this song, but its real significance is it’s putting Miss Peggy Lee on the charts. With Benny Goodman’s Orchestra and Miss Lee’s vocals the song would stay on the charts at number one for three weeks during 1942. In 1948 when the song was released it became a top thirty song all over again.
Spike Jones The Fuhrer’s Face
Spike Jones released his song in the early part of 1942 and it became very popular that same year the Walt Disney Studio released a cartoon by the same name that has a version of the song and starred Donald Duck. The cartoon was war propaganda for the selling of war bonds and won The Academy Award for best animated short that year.
Jimmy Dorsey Tangerine The song was published in 1941 and written by Victor Schertzinger with lyrics by Johnny Mercer but it was introduced in the 1942 film The Fleets In, which starred Dorothy Lamour and William Holden. Jimmy Dorsey’s version of the song would be the one to make it the charts and it would peak at number one.
Woody Herman Blues in the Night Written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, Blues in the Night was written as the title song for a film by the same name. The song was written very quickly and was played at a dinner party hosted by Margaret Whiting whose guests included, Judy Garland Mickey Rooney Mel Torme and Martha Raye. The song was a hit with everyone at the party and would quickly take its place in American Music history.
Top 25 Songs FRom 1942
1.
Deep In The Heart of Texas – Alvino Rey or Bing Crosby or Horace Heidt or Merry Macs
Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Told Me) – Dinah Shore or Woody Herman or Jimmie Lunceford or Cab Calloway or Artie Shaw
9.
Jersey Bounce – Benny Goodman or Jimmy Dorsey
10.
Mr. Five By Five – Harry James or Freddie Slack and His Orchestra or The Andrews Sisters
11.
I Don’t Want To Walk Without You – Harry James with Helen Forrest or Bing Crosby or Dinah shore
12.
Jingle Jangle Jingle – Kay Kyser or Merry Macs or Gene Autry or Freddy Martin
13.
When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) – Vaughn Monroe or Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra
14.
There’ll Be Bluebirds Over (The White Cliffs of Dover) – Glenn Miller or Kay Kyser or Kate Smith or Jimmy Dorsey or Sammy Kaye
15.
Stormy Monday Blues – Earl Hines
16.
Somebody Else Is Taking My Place – Russ Morgan or Benny Goodman (with Peggy Lee)
17.
Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) – Glenn Miller
18.
Take It and Git – Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy
19.
I Said No – Alvino Rey (with Yvonne King) or Jimmy Dorsey
20.
Who Wouldn’t Love You – Kay Kyser or Charlie Spivak
21.
Der Fuehrer’s Face – Spike Jones
22.
I Left My Heart At The Stage Door Canteen – Sammy Kaye
23.
American Patrol – Glenn Miller
24.
Strip Polka – Kay Kyser or The Andrews Sisters or Johnny Mercer or Alvino Rey
25.
Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition – Kay Kyser or Merry Macs
Top Artists and Songs of 1942
Alvino Rey Deep In The Heart of Texas, I Said No
Andrews Sisters Three Little Sisters, Pennsylvania Polka, Strip Polka
Benny Goodman Jersey Bounce, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, Idaho, Solo Flight
Billie Holiday Travellin’ Light
Bing Crosby I Don’t Want To Walk Without You, Moonlight Becomes You, Be Careful Its My Heart, Let’s Start the New Year Right, Deep In The Heart of Texas
Charlie Spivak My Devotion
Dinah Shore Blues In The Night
Earl Hines Stormy Monday Blues
Frank Sinatra Night and Day
Freddy Martin Rose O’Day (The Filla-Da-Gusha Song), Tonight We Love
Freddy Slack Cow Cow Boogie, Mr. Five By Five
Glenn Miller At Last, (I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo, Moonlight Cocktail, Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me), A String of Pearls, Happy In Love, (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) the White Cliffs of Dover, American Patrol, Perfida (Tonight), Serenade In Blue, Moonlight Becomes You, Jukebox Saturday Night, Dearly Beloved, Skylark, Everything I Love, Sweet Eloise
Harry Roy Chattanooga Choo Choo
Harry James Easter Parade, Sleepy Lagoon, I Don’t Want To Walk Without You, One Dozen Roses, I Cried For You
Horace Heidt Pennsylvania Polka
Ink Spots Every Night About This Time
Jimmy Dorsey Tangerine, Brazil, My Devotion, Just As Though You Were Here, Always In My Heart
Jimmy Lunceford Blues In The Night
Johnny Mercer Strip Polka
Kay Kyser Strip Polka, Who Wouldn’t You Love?, Jingle, Jangle, Jingle, (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover, Praise The Lord and Pass the Ammunition. He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings, Johnny Doughboy Found A Rose In Ireland
Lionel Hampton Flying Home
Merry Macs Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition
Mills Brothers Paper Doll
Paul Whiteman and Billie Holiday Travellin’ Light
Paul Whiteman Trav’lin Light
Peggy Lee Somebody Else is Taking My Place
Roy Acuff Wabash Cannonball
Sammy Kaye I Left My Heart At The Stagedoor Canteen, Remember Pearl Harbor
Spike Jones Der Fuhrer’s Face
Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra Take me
Vaughn Monroe My Devotion
Vera Lynn (There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) the White Cliffs of Dover
Woody Herman Blues In The Night, I’ll Remember April
Winners Announced: February 26, 1942 Held at: Biltmore Bowl, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California Host: Bob Hope Eligibility Year: 1941
The 14th Academy Awards unfolded on February 26, 1942, gracing the Biltmore Bowl in the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California.
Bob Hope returned as the evening’s host.
Films from the eligibility year of 1941 were spotlighted.
Major Highlights:
The war drama Sergeant York was among the most nominated films, but How Green Was My Valley walked away with the Best Picture award.
Gary Cooper snagged the Best Actor award for his role in Sergeant York.
John Ford clinched another Best Director trophy, this time for How Green Was My Valley.
The Little Foxes had nine nominations, but won zero Oscars.
Sergeant York was nominated for 11 Oscars, and won 2.
Joan Fontaine was the only actress/actor to win for a role in a Hitchcock film.
The first Oscar for a documentary was awarded in 1942 to Churchill’s Island.
Trivia Tidbits:
This was the first Oscars ceremony broadcast widely via radio, allowing more people to tune in.
Citizen Kane, often considered one of the greatest films of all time, won only for Best Original Screenplay.
The Best Animated Short Film went to Disney’s Lend a Paw, featuring Pluto, Mickey Mouse’s pet.
1942 Oscar Nominees & Winners
Outstanding Motion Picture: How Green Was My Valley – Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox (WINNER) Blossoms in the Dust – Irving Asher for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Citizen Kane – Orson Welles for RKO Radio Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Everett Riskin for Columbia Hold Back the Dawn – Arthur Hornblow Jr. for Paramount The Little Foxes – Samuel Goldwyn for RKO Radio The Maltese Falcon – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. One Foot in Heaven – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. Sergeant York – Hal B. Wallis and Jesse L. Lasky for Warner Bros. Suspicion – Alfred Hitchcock for RKO Radio
Best Director: John Ford – How Green Was My Valley (WINNER) Orson Welles – Citizen Kane Alexander Hall – Here Comes Mr. Jordan William Wyler – The Little Foxes Howard Hawks – Sergeant York
Best Actor: Gary Cooper – Sergeant York as Alvin C. York (WINNER) Cary Grant – Penny Serenade as Roger Adams Walter Huston – All That Money Can Buy as Mr Scratch Robert Montgomery – Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Joe Pendleton Orson Welles – Citizen Kane as Charles Foster Kane
Best Actress: Joan Fontaine – Suspicion as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth (WINNER) Bette Davis – The Little Foxes as Regina Hubbard Giddens Olivia de Havilland – Hold Back the Dawn as Emmy Brown Greer Garson – Blossoms in the Dust as Edna Kahly Gladney Barbara Stanwyck – Ball of Fire as Katherine “Sugarpuss” O’Shea
Best Supporting Actor: Donald Crisp – How Green Was My Valley as Gwilym Morgan (WINNER) Walter Brennan – Sergeant York as Pastor Rosier Pile Charles Coburn – The Devil and Miss Jones as John P Merrick James Gleason – Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Max “Pop” Corkle Sydney Greenstreet – The Maltese Falcon as Kasper Gutman
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Astor – The Great Lie as Sandra Kovak (WINNER) Sara Allgood – How Green Was My Valley as Mrs Beth Morgan Patricia Collinge – The Little Foxes as Birdie Hubbard Teresa Wright – The Little Foxes as Alexandra Giddens Margaret Wycherly – Sergeant York as Mary Brooks York
Best Original Screenplay: Citizen Kane – Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles (WINNER) The Devil and Miss Jones – Norman Krasna Sergeant York – John Huston, Howard Koch, Abem Finkel, and Harry Chandlee Tall, Dark and Handsome – Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware Tom, Dick and Harry – Paul Jarrico
Best Screenplay: Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller, based on the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry Segall (WINNER) Hold Back the Dawn – Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, based on “Memo to a Movie Producer” by Ketti Frings How Green Was My Valley – Philip Dunne, based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn The Little Foxes – Lillian Hellman, based on the play by Lillian Hellman The Maltese Falcon – John Huston, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett
Best Original Story: Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Harry Segall (WINNER) Ball of Fire – Billy Wilder and Thomas Monroe The Lady Eve – Monckton Hoffe Meet John Doe – Richard Connell and Robert Presnell Sr. Night Train to Munich – Gordon Wellesley
Best Documentary: Churchill’s Island – National Film Board of Canada and United Artists (WINNER) Adventure in the Bronx – Film Associates Bomber: A Defense Report on Film – U.S. Office for Emergency Management Film Unit and Motion Picture Committee Cooperating for National Defense Christmas Under Fire – British Ministry of Information and Warner Bros. A Letter from Home – British Ministry of Information and United Artists Life of a Thoroughbred – Truman Talley and 20th Century Fox Norway in Revolt – The March of Time and RKO Radio A Place to Live – Philadelphia Housing Authority and Philadelphia Housing Association Russian Soil – Amkino Soldiers of the Sky – Truman Talley and 20th Century Fox War Clouds in the Pacific – National Film Board of Canada and MGM
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel: Of Pups and Puzzles – MGM (WINNER) Army Champions – Pete Smith and MGM Beauty and the Beach – Paramount Down on the Farm – Paramount Forty Boys and a Song – Warner Bros. Kings of the Turf – Warner Bros. Sagebrush and Silver – 20th Century Fox
Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel: Main Street on the March! – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (WINNER) Alive in the Deep – Woodard Productions, Inc. Forbidden Passage – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer The Gay Parisian – Warner Bros. The Tanks Are Coming – U.S. Army and Warner Bros.
Best Short Subjects – Cartoons: Lend a Paw – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio (WINNER) Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B – Walter Lantz Productions and Universal Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. How War Came – Columbia The Night Before Christmas – MGM Rhapsody in Rivets – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. Rhythm in the Ranks – George Pal Productions and Paramount The Rookie Bear – MGM Superman – Fleischer Studios and Paramount Truant Officer Donald – Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio
Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture: All That Money Can Buy – Bernard Herrmann (WINNER) Back Street – Frank Skinner Ball of Fire – Alfred Newman Cheers for Miss Bishop – Edward Ward Citizen Kane – Bernard Herrmann Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Franz Waxman Hold Back the Dawn – Victor Young How Green Was My Valley – Alfred Newman King of the Zombies – Edward J. Kay Ladies in Retirement – Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch The Little Foxes – Meredith Willson Lydia – Miklós Rózsa Mercy Island – Cy Feuer and Walter Scharf Sergeant York – Max Steiner So Ends Our Night – Louis Gruenberg Sundown – Miklós Rózsa Suspicion – Franz Waxman Tanks a Million – Edward Ward That Uncertain Feeling – Werner R. Heymann This Woman is Mine – Richard Hageman
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Dumbo – Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace (WINNER) All-American Co-Ed – Edward Ward Birth of the Blues – Robert Emmett Dolan Buck Privates – Charles Previn The Chocolate Soldier – Herbert Stothart and Bronislaw Kaper Ice-Capades – Cy Feuer The Strawberry Blonde – Heinz Roemheld Sun Valley Serenade – Emil Newman Sunny – Anthony Collins You’ll Never Get Rich – Morris Stoloff
Best Original Song: “The Last Time I Saw Paris” from Lady Be Good – Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (WINNER) “Baby Mine” from Dumbo – Music by Frank Churchill; Lyrics by Ned Washington “Be Honest With Me” from Ridin’ on a Rainbow – Music and Lyrics by Gene Autry and Fred Rose “Blues in the Night” from Blues in the Night – Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” from Buck Privates – Music by Hugh Prince; Lyrics by Don Raye “Chattanooga Choo Choo” from Sun Valley Serenade – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon “Dolores” from Las Vegas Nights – Music by Louis Alter; Lyrics by Frank Loesser “Out of the Silence” from All-American Co-ed – Music and Lyrics by Lloyd B. Norlin “Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye” from You’ll Never Get Rich – Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Best Sound Recording: That Hamilton Woman – Jack Whitney (WINNER) Appointment for Love – Bernard B. Brown Ball of Fire – Thomas T. Moulton The Chocolate Soldier – Douglas Shearer Citizen Kane – John O. Aalberg The Devil Pays Off – Charles L. Lootens How Green Was My Valley – E. H. Hansen The Men in Her Life – John P. Livadary Sergeant York – Nathan Levinson Skylark – Loren L. Ryder Topper Returns – Elmer Raguse
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Black-and-White: How Green Was My Valley – Art Direction: Richard Day and Nathan H. Juran; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little (WINNER) Citizen Kane – Art Direction: Perry Ferguson and Van Nest Polglase; Interior Decoration: Al Fields and Darrell Silvera The Flame of New Orleans – Art Direction: Martin Obzina and Jack Otterson; Interior Decoration: Russell A. Gausman Hold Back the Dawn – Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher; Interior Decoration: Samuel M. Comer Ladies in Retirement – Art Direction: Lionel Banks; Interior Decoration: George Montgomery The Little Foxes – Art Direction: Stephen Goosson; Interior Decoration: Howard Bristol Sergeant York – Art Direction: John Hughes; Interior Decoration: Fred M. MacLean The Son of Monte Cristo – Art Direction: John DuCasse Schulze; Interior Decoration: Edward G. Boyle Sundown – Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen; Interior Decoration: Richard Irvine That Hamilton Woman – Art Direction: Vincent Korda; Interior Decoration: Julia Heron When Ladies Meet – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Randall Duell; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis Sis Hopkins – N/A (Nomination withdrawn)
Best Art Direction – Interior Decoration, Color: Blossoms in the Dust – Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis (WINNER) Blood and Sand – Art Direction: Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright; Interior Decoration: Thomas Little Louisiana Purchase – Art Direction: Raoul Pene Du Bois; Interior Decoration: Stephen Seymour
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: How Green Was My Valley – Arthur Miller (WINNER) The Chocolate Soldier – Karl Freund Citizen Kane – Gregg Toland Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Joseph Ruttenberg Here Comes Mr. Jordan – Joseph Walker Hold Back the Dawn – Leo Tover Sergeant York – Sol Polito Sun Valley Serenade – Edward Cronjager Sundown – Charles Lang That Hamilton Woman – Rudolph Maté
Best Cinematography, Color: Blood and Sand – Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan (WINNER) Aloma of the South Seas – Wilfred M. Cline, Karl Struss, and William Snyder Billy the Kid – William V. Skall and Leonard Smith Blossoms in the Dust – Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene Dive Bomber – Bert Glennon Louisiana Purchase – Harry Hallenberger and Ray Rennahan
Best Film Editing: Sergeant York – William Holmes (WINNER) Citizen Kane – Robert Wise Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Harold F. Kress How Green Was My Valley – James B. Clark The Little Foxes – Daniel Mandell
Best Special Effects: I Wanted Wings – Photographic Effects Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: Louis Mesenkop (WINNER) Aloma of the South Seas – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects: Louis Mesenkop Flight Command – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie; Sound Effects: Douglas Shearer The Invisible Woman – Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton; Sound Effects: John D. Hall The Sea Wolf – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson That Hamilton Woman – Photographic Effects: Lawrence W. Butler; Sound Effects: William H. Wilmarth Topper Returns – Photographic Effects: Roy Seawright; Sound Effects: Elmer Raguse A Yank in the R.A.F. – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Edmund H. Hansen Dive Bomber – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects: Nathan Levinson (disqualified)
Academy Honorary Awards: Rey Scott for Kukan The British Ministry of Information for Target for Tonight Leopold Stokowski for Fantasia Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA Manufacturing Company for Fantasia
World Changing Event: December 7, 1941 – Imperial Japanese fighter planes attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base, bringing the United States into WWII. On December 8, 1941, over 81% of American households tuned in to FDR’s “a date which will live in infamy” speech.
Influential Songs include God Bless The Child by Billie Holiday.
The Movies to Watch include The Maltese Falcon, Dumbo, Suspicion, Citizen Kane, Road to Zanzibar, The Wolf Man, Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Buck Privates.
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Mickey Rooney
Notable book: Curious George by H.A. and Margret Ray
Price of six 12 oz Pepsi cans in 1941: 23 cents Price of a movie ticket: 25 cents
The Funny Duo was: Abbott and Costello
The Funny Trio was Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Dorothy Lamour
The Escapes: Maps and other escape aids were smuggled to Allied POWs in Monopoly sets during World War II. Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWs who successfully escaped, one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets.
Top Ten Baby Names of 1941
Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Carol, Linda, James, Robert, John, William, Richard
US Life Expectancy
1941 Males: 63.1 years, Females: 66.8 years
The Stars
Ingrid Bergman, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, Veronica Lake, Hedy Lamarr, Carole Landis, Vivien Leigh, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Tierney, Lana Turner
Entertainment History: The Oscars
The 13th Academy Awards unfolded on February 27, 1941, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Bob Hope reprised his role as host. Rebecca snagged Best Picture, but it was a rarity because it was the only film to win It without receiving the Best Director Award; Alfred Hitchcock didn’t win. The Grapes of Wrath fetched both Best Director for John Ford and Best Actor for Henry Fonda. Ginger Rogers won the Best Actress trophy for her role in Kitty Foyle. A monumental moment came when Walt Disney received a special Oscar for creating Fantasia, a significant accomplishment in sound design. The eligibility year for the awards was the calendar year of 1940. One piece of trivia: This was the last year the Best Picture winner was not also nominated for Best Director.
Miss America
Rosemary LaPlanche (Los Angeles, CA)
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year:
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Firsts, Inventions, and Wonders
M&Ms were invented in 1941 to allow soldiers to enjoy chocolate without it melting. During the war, the candy was sold exclusively to the military.
Captain America Comics #1, the first appearance of Captain America and Bucky. (cover-dated March 1941)
Aquaman and Green Arrow debuted in More Fun Comics, issue number 73. (cover date November)
The first superhero comic book movie was Adventures of Captain Marvel.
Classic Comics series launched in the United States with illustrated versions of The Three Musketeers, followed by Ivanhoe and The Count of Monte Cristo.
The breakfast cereal Cheerios was introduced as CheeriOats by General Mills.
Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr invented the basis for modern WiFi and Bluetooth in 1941.
All persons born in Puerto Rico as of January 13, 1941, were declared US citizens by birth, through federal law.
The Quote
“If we see that Germany is winning, we ought to help Russia, and if Russia is winning, we ought to help Germany, and that way, let them kill as many as possible, although I don’t want to see Hitler victorious under any circumstances.” – Harry S Truman
US Politics: January 20, 1941 (Monday): Third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Hero
During WWII, Chiune Sugihara served as a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania. He and his wife worked 18-hour days to handwrite unlawful travel visas, which allowed an estimated 4,500-6,000 Jews to escape the Holocaust. On the day the consulate was forcibly closed, and he and his wife had to evacuate, they were still handwriting travel visas and throwing them from the train. When asked why he did it, he said: “I told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it was a matter of humanity. I did not care if I lost my job. Anyone else would have done the same thing if they were in my place.”
Pop Culture History
Fantasia and Citizen Kane both bombed at the box office. Disney’s Dumbo, released on October 23, was a hit.
The phrase “You can run but can’t hide” dates back to a taunt by boxer Joe Louis during his fight against Billy Conn in 1941.
Coach bags, introduced in 1941, were based on a baseball glove’s design and surface wear.
Time Magazine’s Person (Mammal) of the Year for 1941 was to be Dumbo the Elephant, but when the Pearl Harbor attack occurred, they changed their minds and gave it to Franklin Roosevelt.
The term ‘Genocide’ was coined by Polish writer and attorney, Raphael Lemkin, in 1941 by combining the Greek word ‘genos’ (race) with the Latin word ‘cide’ (killing).
Science fiction author Isaac Asimov coined the term “robotics” in 1941.
December 7th was ‘a date which will live in infamy.’ Today, many Americans believe President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the Japanese “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbor. They say he let it happen because it was the only way he could get Americans involved in the war.
Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman held the longest screen kiss at 3 minutes and 5 seconds in You’re In The Army Now.
1941, more than three million cars were manufactured in the United States. Only 139 more were made for the duration of the war. Ford turned out one B-24 bomber every 63 minutes for 24 hours daily.
Mrs. Japp’s Potato Chips (1927 to 2007, Chicago) changed their name to Jays Potato Chips, due to the negative connotation associated with the word ‘Jap’
Using Dr. Charles Drew’s idea, the American Red Cross set up blood donor stations to collect plasma for the U.S. Armed Forces.
Glenn Miller’s Chattanooga Choo-Choo was awarded the first Gold record.
Plutonium was officially chemically identified on February 23rd by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg’s team.
NBC aired a ten-second ad for Bulova watches. This was the first television commercial and cost $7.
According to the Guinness World Records, Elaine Esposito holds the record for the most extended coma, losing consciousness in 1941 and eventually dying in that condition in 1978.
John Huston made his directorial debut in the gritty detective movie The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart. Many historians consider this film to be the first example of film noir.
Broadway Shows
Arsenic and Old Lace (Play) Opened on January 10, 1941, and closed on June 17, 1944 Angel Street (Play) Opened on December 5, 1941, and closed on December 30, 1944
Nobel Prizes
Physics – not awarded Chemistry – not awarded Medicine – not awarded Literature – not awarded Peace – not awarded
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1941
Curious George by H.A. and Margret Ray For Whom the Bell Tollsby Ernest Hemingway H. M. Pulham, Esquire by John P. Marquand The Keys of the Kingdom by A. J. Cronin Oliver Wiswell by Kenneth Roberts Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey Mr. and Mrs. Cugat by Isabel Scott Rorick Random Harvest by James Hilton Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber The Sun Is My Undoing by Marguerite Steen This Above All by Eric Knight Windswept by Mary Ellen Chase
Sports
World Series Champions: New York Yankees NFL Champs: Chicago Bears Stanley Cup Champs: Boston Bruins U.S. Open Golf: Craig Wood U.S. Tennis (Men/Ladies): Robert Riggs/Sarah Palfrey Cooke Wimbledon (Men/Women): not held NCAA Football Champions: Minnesota NCAA Basketball Champions: Wisconsin Kentucky Derby Winner: Whirlaway Boston Marathon Winner: Leslie S. Pawson Time: 2:30:38
Andrews Sisters Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince this song was the first to be directly related to World War II. The song told the story of a talented bugler that after he was drafted, could only play Reveille until his captain organizes a band for him to play with. The song would be a huge hit for the Andrew Sisters and would not be forgotten. It would make it back to the charts in 1973 as a hit for Bette Midler. It would top out at #8 on the top 100 charts and would go to #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.
Andrews Sisters I’ll be With You In Apple Blossom Time The song was written by Albert Von Tilzer and Neville Freeson, it was copyrighted in 1920 and recorded a number of times before it hit #5 on the charts when recorded by The Andrews Sisters. It would go on to be recorded by such artists as Wayne Newton and Barry Manilow It hit the charts at 31on the US charts when recorded by Tab Hunter and #41 that same year on the UK charts when recorded by Rosemary June.
Artie Shaw Stardust This song is again hitting the charts after its initial recording in 1926, by it’s composer Hoagy Carmichael. In 1956 on a disc jockey survey of their favorite records of all time Stardust would come out as number one.
Billie Holiday God Bless The Child This song was written by the original performer Billie Holiday along with Arthur Herzog Jr, in 1939, it took until 1941 for the song to get recorded but in 1976 this version of the song would be honored with the Grammy Hall Of Fame Award.
The back story of the song is particularly interesting. Billie Holliday tells the tale in her autobiography Lady Sings The Blues, Holiday and her mother are having an argument over money at some point Holiday says “God bless the child that’s got his own.” This became the starting point for a song. God Bless the Child would go on to be recorded throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, by such artists as Lou Rawls, Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross and in the 21st century Moby.
Duke Ellington Take The A Train The song was written by Billy Strayton as a new signature song for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra after Ellington found he could no longer use the song that had been his signature, “Sepia Panorama” due to issues with licensing. The song would stay Duke Ellington’s as very few others would record the song
Eddie Duchin I Could Write A Book The Musical Pal Joey was where this song made its debut written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It was first sung by Gene Kelly who would go on to become one of the biggest stars in MGMs Galaxy. Pal Joey concerned the love affair between an amoral nightclub performer and the wife of a rich man. It was cynical, which was different for a Broadway show at the time. Critics would not agree about its merits, but it would be revived several times over the years. A film was made of the show which starred Frank Sinatra.
Glenn Miller Orchestra Chattanooga Choo Choo Chattanooga Choo Choo was written by Harry Warren, the music and Mack Gordon, lyrics, and originally performed in the movie Sun Valley Serenade. The film starred Sonja Henie and Milton Berle. The Orchestra leader Glenn Miller also had a lead role in the film. The song was originally performed as a vocal number that went into a production number. It would be recorded as a single by Glenn Miller for RCA Victor and would remain 9 weeks on the Billboard charts at number one. The recording would be honored with the first Gold Record on February 10, 1942.
Harry James I Don’t Want To Walk Without You With music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Frank Loesser and was first performed by Betty Jane Rhodes in the film Sweater Girl released by paramount Pictures. Irving Berlin would say of all the songs he had heard this song was the one he wished he had written. When recorded by Harry James and his orchestra it would hit number one and would again appear on the charts at number 36 when recorded by Barry Manilow in early 1980.
Judy Garland It’s a Great Day For The Irish The Irish love their music especially on St. Patrick’s Day. This song was written by one of the music directors for MGM Studios, Rodger Edens. The song, written especially for Judy Garland, to show off her strong vocal talents was added to the score of the George m Cohan Musical Little Nellie Kelly. The song was sung during a recreation of New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Garland would sing this song in many of her concerts, and for many Irish Americans this song is considered an Anthem for the St. Patrick Holiday.
Top Artists and Songs of 1941
Al Bowlly When that Man is Dead and Gone
Al Donahue The Wise Old Owl
Andrews Sisters Aurora Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Bounce Me Brother I’ll Be With You (In Apple Blossom Time)
Artie Shaw Dancing In The Dark Stardust Summit Ridge Drive
Benny Goodman There’ll Be Some Changes Made
Big Maceo Merriweather Worried Life Blues
Billie Holiday God Bless The Child
Bing Crosby Dolores Shepard’s Serenade
Charlie Barnet I Hear A Rhapsody
Duke Ellington Take the ‘A’ Train
Eddie Duchin I Could Write a Book
Ernest Tubb Walking the Floor Over You
Freddy Martin Piano Concerto in B Flat
Gene Krupa High on a Windy Hill Let Me Off Uptown
Glenn Miller Orchestra Adios Chattanooga Choo Choo Elmer’s Tune Song of the Volga Boatmen String of Pearls You and I
Guy Lombardo Intermezzo (Souvenir De Vienne) The Band Played On
Harry James By The Sleepy Lagoon I Don’t Want To Walk Without You Miserlou You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want To Do It)
Horace Heidt I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire The Hut Hut Song (A Swedish Serenade)
Jay McShann Vine Street Blues
Jimmy Dorsey Amapola (Pretty Little Puppy) Blue Champagne Green Eyes High on a Windy Hill I Hear A Rhapsody Jim Maria Elena My Sister and I Yours
Joe Loss Orchestra ‘V’ Stands for Victory
Judy Garland It’s A Great Day For The Irish
Kay Kyser Alexander the Swoose (Half Swan Half Goose) (Lights Out) Til Reveille
Pedro Marcus Besame Mucho
Sammy Kaye Daddy
Sons of the Pioneers Cool Water
The Ink Spots I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)
Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra Dolores This Love of Mine Two in Love Yes Indeed
Tommy Dorsey Do I Worry? Let’s Get Away From It All
Tommy Tucker I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire
Tony Martin The Last Time I saw Paris
Vaughn Monroe There I Go
Vera Lynn A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Washboard Sam She Belongs to the Devil
Wayne King You Are My Sunshine
Xavier Cugat Chica Chica Boom Chic Green Eyes Perfida (Tonight)
The 13th Academy Awards were celebrated on February 27, 1941, at the Biltmore Bowl in the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles.
Walter Wanger took on the hosting duties for the evening.
The focus of the ceremony was on films released in the eligibility year of 1940.
Significant Moments:
Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, took home the Best Picture trophy.
James Stewart grabbed Best Actor for his performance in The Philadelphia Story.
John Ford received Best Director for The Grapes of Wrath, while Jane Darwell won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the same movie.
Rebecca had 11 nominations.
David O. Selznick was the first to produce two consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners.
A Sprinkle of Trivia:
This was Alfred Hitchcock’s only Best Picture win; he never won for Best Director.
The Best Original Song category featured “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio, which not only won but later became Disney’s anthem.
Hattie McDaniel, who had won the previous year, was a presenter this year—a first for an African American.
This was the first year that the winners were secret until they were announced. Price Waterhouse was hired to count the ballots, after the Los Angeles Timesleaked voting results in 1939.
1941 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Outstanding Production: Rebecca – David O. Selznick for Selznick International and United Artists (WINNER) All This, and Heaven Too – Jack L. Warner, Hal B. Wallis, and David Lewis for Warner Bros. Foreign Correspondent – Walter Wanger for Walter Wanger Productions and United Artists The Grapes of Wrath – Darryl F. Zanuck and Nunnally Johnson for 20th Century Fox The Great Dictator – Charlie Chaplin for Charlie Chaplin Productions and United Artists Kitty Foyle – David Hempstead for RKO Radio The Letter – Hal B. Wallis for Warner Bros. The Long Voyage Home – John Ford for Argosy Films, Walter Wanger Productions, and United Artists Our Town – Sol Lesser for Sol Lesser Productions and United Artists The Philadelphia Story – Joseph L. Mankiewicz for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Director: John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath (WINNER) Sam Wood – Kitty Foyle William Wyler – The Letter George Cukor – The Philadelphia Story Alfred Hitchcock – Rebecca
Best Actor: James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story as Macaulay “Mike” Connor (WINNER) Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator as The Barber/Adenoid Hynkel Henry Fonda – The Grapes of Wrath as Tom Joad Raymond Massey – Abe Lincoln in Illinois as Abraham Lincoln Laurence Olivier – Rebecca as Maximilian de Winter
Best Actress: Ginger Rogers – Kitty Foyle as Kitty Foyle (WINNER) Bette Davis – The Letter as Leslie Crosbie Joan Fontaine – Rebecca as the second Mrs de Winter Katharine Hepburn – The Philadelphia Story as Tracy Samantha Lord Martha Scott – Our Town as Emily Webb
Best Supporting Actor: Walter Brennan – The Westerner as Judge Roy Bean (WINNER) Albert Bassermann – Foreign Correspondent as Van Meer William Gargan – They Knew What They Wanted as Joe Jack Oakie – The Great Dictator as Benzino Napaloni James Stephenson – The Letter as Howard Joyce
Best Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath as Ma Joad (WINNER) Judith Anderson – Rebecca as Mrs. Danvers Ruth Hussey – The Philadelphia Story as Elizabeth Imbrie Barbara O’Neil – All This, and Heaven Too as Francoise “Fanny” Sebastiani de-Praslin Marjorie Rambeau – Primrose Path as Mamie Adams
Best Original Screenplay: The Great McGinty – Preston Sturges (WINNER) Angels Over Broadway – Ben Hecht Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet – Norman Burnstine, Heinz Herald, and John Huston Foreign Correspondent – Charles Bennett and Joan Harrison The Great Dictator – Charlie Chaplin
Best Screenplay: The Philadelphia Story – Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the play by Philip Barry (WINNER) The Grapes of Wrath – Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by John Steinbeck Kitty Foyle – Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by Christopher Morley The Long Voyage Home – Dudley Nichols, based on the plays The Moon of the Caribees, In the Zone, Bound East for Cardiff, and The Long Voyage Home by Eugene O’Neill Rebecca – Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier
Best Original Story: Arise, My Love – Benjamin Glazer and John S. Toldy (WINNER) Comrade X – Walter Reisch Edison, the Man – Hugo Butler and Dore Schary My Favorite Wife – Leo McCarey, Samuel Spewack, and Bella Spewack The Westerner – Stuart N. Lake
Best Live Action Short Subject, One-Reel: Quicker’n a Wink – Pete Smith and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer London Can Take It! – Warner Bros. More About Nostradamus – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Siege – RKO Radio
Best Live Action Short Subject, Two-Reel: Teddy, the Rough Rider – Warner Bros. Eyes of the Navy – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Service with the Colors – Warner Bros.
Best Short Subject – Cartoons: The Milky Way – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (WINNER) Puss Gets the Boot – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer A Wild Hare – Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros.
Best Original Score: Pinocchio – Leigh Harline, Paul Smith and Ned Washington (WINNER) Arizona – Victor Young Dark Command – Victor Young The Fight for Life – Louis Gruenberg The Great Dictator – Meredith Willson The House of the Seven Gables – Frank Skinner The Howards of Virginia – Richard Hageman The Letter – Max Steiner The Long Voyage Home – Richard Hageman The Mark of Zorro – Alfred Newman My Favorite Wife – Roy Webb North West Mounted Police – Victor Young One Million B.C. – Werner R. Heymann Our Town – Aaron Copland Rebecca – Franz Waxman The Thief of Bagdad – Miklós Rózsa Waterloo Bridge – Herbert Stothart
Best Scoring: Tin Pan Alley – Alfred Newman (WINNER) Arise, My Love – Victor Young Hit Parade of 1941 – Cy Feuer Irene – Anthony Collins Our Town – Aaron Copland The Sea Hawk – Erich Wolfgang Korngold Second Chorus – Artie Shaw Spring Parade – Charles Previn Strike Up the Band – Georgie Stoll and Roger Edens
Best Original Song: “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio – Music by Leigh Harline; Lyrics by Ned Washington (WINNER) “Down Argentine Way” from Down Argentine Way – Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Mack Gordon “I’d Know You Anywhere” from You’ll Find Out – Music by Jimmy McHugh; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer “It’s a Blue World” from Music in My Heart – Music and Lyrics by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright “Love of My Life” from Second Chorus – Music by Artie Shaw; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer “Only Forever” from Rhythm on the River – Music by James V. Monaco; Lyrics by Johnny Burke “Our Love Affair” from Strike Up the Band – Music and Lyrics by Roger Edens and Arthur Freed “Waltzing in the Clouds” from Spring Parade – Music by Robert Stolz; Lyrics by Gus Kahn “Who Am I?” from Hit Parade of 1941 – Music by Jule Styne; Lyrics by Walter Bullock
Best Sound Recording: Strike Up the Band – Douglas Shearer (WINNER) Behind the News – Charles L. Lootens Captain Caution – Elmer Raguse The Grapes of Wrath – E. H. Hansen The Howards of Virginia – Jack Whitney Kitty Foyle – John O. Aalberg North West Mounted Police – Loren L. Ryder Our Town – Thomas T. Moulton The Sea Hawk – Nathan Levinson Spring Parade – Bernard B. Brown Too Many Husbands – John P. Livadary
Best Art Direction, Black-and-White: Pride and Prejudice – Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse (WINNER) Arise, My Love – Hans Dreier and Robert Usher Arizona – Lionel Banks and Robert Peterson The Boys from Syracuse – John Otterson The Dark Command – John Victor Mackay Foreign Correspondent – Alexander Golitzen Lillian Russell – Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright My Favorite Wife – Van Nest Polglase and Mark-Lee Kirk My Son, My Son! – John DuCasse Schulze Our Town – Lewis J. Rachmil Rebecca – Lyle R. Wheeler The Sea Hawk – Anton Grot The Westerner – James Basevi
Best Art Direction, Color: The Thief of Bagdad – Vincent Korda (WINNER) Bitter Sweet – Cedric Gibbons and John S. Detlie Down Argentine Way – Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright North West Mounted Police – Hans Dreier and Roland Anderson
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White: Rebecca – George Barnes (WINNER) Abe Lincoln in Illinois – James Wong Howe All This, and Heaven Too – Ernest Haller Arise, My Love – Charles Lang Boom Town – Harold Rosson Foreign Correspondent – Rudolph Maté The Letter – Tony Gaudio The Long Voyage Home – Gregg Toland Spring Parade – Joseph Valentine Waterloo Bridge – Joseph Ruttenberg
Best Cinematography, Color: The Thief of Bagdad – Georges Périnal (WINNER) Bitter Sweet – Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey The Blue Bird – Arthur C. Miller and Ray Rennahan Down Argentine Way – Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan North West Mounted Police – Victor Milner and W. Howard Greene Northwest Passage – Sidney Wagner and William V. Skall
Best Film Editing: North West Mounted Police – Anne Bauchens (WINNER) The Grapes of Wrath – Robert L. Simpson The Letter – Warren Low The Long Voyage Home – Sherman Todd Rebecca – Hal C. Kern
Best Special Effect: The Thief of Bagdad – Photographic Effects: Lawrence W. Butler; Sound Effects: Jack Whitney (WINNER) The Blue Bird – Photographic Effects: Fred Sersen; Sound Effects: Edmund H. Hansen Boom Town – Photographic Effects: A. Arnold Gillespie; Sound Effects: Douglas Shearer The Boys From Syracuse – Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton; Sound Effects: Bernard B. Brown and Joe Lapis Dr. Cyclops – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings Foreign Correspondent – Photographic Effects: Paul Eagler; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton The Invisible Man Returns – Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton; Sound Effects: Bernard B. Brown and William Hedgcock The Long Voyage Home – Photographic Effects: R. T. Layton and Ray Binger; Sound Effects: Thomas T. Moulton One Million B.C. – Photographic Effects: Roy Seawright; Sound Effects: Elmer A. Raguse Rebecca – Photographic Effects: Jack Cosgrove; Sound Effects: Arthur Johns The Sea Hawk – Photographic Effects: Byron Haskin; Sound Effects Nathan Levinson Swiss Family Robinson – Photographic Effects Vernon L. Walker; Sound Effects: John O. Aalberg Typhoon – Photographic Effects: Farciot Edouart and Gordon Jennings; Sound Effects Loren L. Ryder Women in War – Photographic Effects: Howard J. Lydecker, William Bradford and Ellis J. Thackery; Sound Effects: Herbert Norsch
Academy Honorary Awards: Bob Hope “in recognition of his unselfish services to the Motion Picture Industry.”
Colonel Nathan Levinson “for his outstanding service to the industry and the Army during the past nine years, which has made possible the present efficient mobilization of the motion picture industry facilities for the production of Army Training Films.”
Cliff Edwards When You Wish Upon A Star Pinocchio was Disney’s second full-length animated movie. Disney would add music to his storytelling using the formula he used in Snow White. When You Wish Upon a Star was written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington and sung by Cliff Edwards, the voice of Jiminy Cricket in the film. The song was not part of the story but was sung over the credits at the film’s beginning. The film would have two more songs that would be remembered: Give A Little Whistle and An Actor Life For Me. When You Wish Upon A Star, however, would go on to be added to the list of The One Hundred Greatest Songs In Film History by The American Film Institute. The song would take its place at number seven. Walt Disney Studios would have three other songs on the list.
The Ink Spots When The Swallows Come Back From Capistrano This song was written by Leon Rene and was recorded in May of 1940. The recording reached #4 on the charts, but the same year, Glenn Miller recorded the song, and his version would reach number two that same year. The song is a lover’s longing for the return of his or her beloved. The song was written in a tribute to the annual return of the swallow to Capistrano.
Jimmy Davis You Are My Sunshine Many people are credited to have written You Are My Sunshine, so the truth of this popular standard may never be known. The writers that claim the credit are Oliver Hood, Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell are also credited with writing the song. History tells us that Davis bought the rights to the song from Paul Rice and put his name on it. This practice was not uncommon during the early days of music publishing. The song would go on to become the State Song Of Louisiana
Glenn Miller Fools Rush In
With music written by Rube Bloom and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, this song would be recorded throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Artists that recorded the song besides Glenn Miller include Frank Sinatra, Rick Nelson in 1963 where it would hit #12 on the charts. Elvis Presley made his recording in 1971 and in 2010 She and Him also recorded the standard.
Glenn Miller Pennsylvania 6 – 5000 PE 6 – 5000 is supposedly the oldest continuous phone number in New York City and is owned by The Hotel Pennsylvania. The story goes that many Big Bands played at The Hotel Pennsylvania and this is where the inspiration for the song came from. Written Jerry Gray and Carl Sigman the song would be #5 on The Billboard Charts when recorded by Glenn Miller.
Bob Crosby And His Orchestra Down Argentine Way This song, with music by Harry Warren and Lyrics by Mack Gordon, was part of the movie musical by the same name. Produced by 20th Century Fox, the film starred Don Ameche and Betty Grable. The song, however, was performed by Carmen Miranda, and this was the first time American audiences would see the Cuban singer. Miss Miranda would become well known for wearing large hats that looked like they were made out of fruit, such as pineapples.
Andrews Sisters Ferryboat Serenade Say Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy) South American Way
Artie Shaw Frenesi
Benny Goodman Seven Come Eleven
Bing Crosby Only Forever Sierra Sue Trade Winds
Bob Chester Orchestra Practice Makes Perfect
Bob Crosby and his Orchestra Down Argentina Way
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys New San Antonio Rose
Bukka White Special Stream Line
Charlie Barnet Pompton Turnpike Where Was I?
Cliff Edwards (Ukelele Ike) When You Wish Upon A Star
Coleman Hawkins Body and Soul
Connee Boswell On The Isle of May
Dick Robertson Ma (He’s Making Eyes at Me)
Edith Piaf L’accordeoniste
Ella Fitzgerald Five O’Clock Whistle
Erskine Hawkins Dolemite
Glenn Miller Blueberry Hill Careless Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) I’d Know You Anywhere Imagination In The Mood Pennsylvania 6-5000 The Woodpecker Song Tuxedo Junction When You Wish Upon A Star
Jimmy Dorsey The Breeze And I
Jimmy Davis You Are My Sunshine
Judy Garland I’m Nobody’s Baby
Kate Smith The Woodpecker Song
Kay Kyser Ferryboat Serenade Playmates
Leo Reisman Down Argentina Way
Mildred Bailey Darn That Dream
Mitchell Ayres and his Fashions In Music Make-Believe Island Two Dreams Met
Nat Gonella I’m Nobody’s Baby
Paul Robeson Ballad For Americans
Sammy Kaye Dream Valley
Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra Down Argentina Way
The Ink Spots Java Jive Maybe We Three (My Echo My Shadow and Me) When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano Whispering Grass
Tommy Dorsey All The Things You Are I’ll Never Smile Again Only Forever
Vaughn Monroe There I Go
Will Bradley Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar Celery Stalks At Midnight There I Go
Whether you’re creating an old school playlist for an evening with your special partner, planning an oldies event, or a classically themed Valentine’s Day, this soft pop romance-filled hit list from the 1940s and 50s is sure to create the background atmosphere of the era.
1. Sea Of Love – Phil Phillips
2. Earth Angel – The Penguins
3. Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
4. Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley
5. Sleepwalk – Santo and Johnny
6. Star Dust – Artie Shaw
7. You Send Me – Sam Cooke
8. In The Still of The Night – Five Satins
9. Only You (And You Alone) – The Platters
10. That’s Amore – Dean Martin
11. It’s All in The Game – Tommy Edwards
12. Sentimental Journey – Les Brown with Doris Day
Glenn Miller was an American big band musician, trombonist, arranger, and composer who achieved great success in the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s. Born on March 1, 1904, in Clarinda, Iowa, Miller became one of the best-selling recording artists of his time, known for his unique style and sound. He led one of the most famous big bands in history, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and recorded numerous hit records before his tragic disappearance in 1944 during World War II.
Miller began his musical career playing the trombone in various bands and orchestras, including the Ben Pollack Orchestra and the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
1938 he formed the Glenn Miller Orchestra, quickly gaining fame with its distinctive sound and tight arrangements.
The Glenn Miller Orchestra featured a clarinet-led saxophone section, one of the defining elements of Miller’s sound.
Miller’s first big hit was “Moonlight Serenade,” which he composed in 1939.
His recording of “In the Mood” (1939) became one of the swing era’s most famous and enduring hits.
Other popular Glenn Miller songs include “Tuxedo Junction” (1940), “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941), and “A String of Pearls” (1942).
Miller’s orchestra appeared in two Hollywood films, “Sun Valley Serenade” (1941) and “Orchestra Wives” (1942).
In 1942, at the height of his fame, Miller enlisted in the U.S. Army to support the war effort.
He was appointed captain and formed the Army Air Force Band to entertain troops and boost morale.
Miller’s military band played over 800 performances, including live concerts, radio broadcasts, and recordings.
On December 15, 1944, Glenn Miller disappeared while flying from England to France to perform for troops. His plane was lost over the English Channel and declared missing in action.
Miller’s tragic disappearance added to his mystique and further solidified his place in music history.
Despite his untimely death, Miller’s music continued to be popular after World War II, with the Glenn Miller Orchestra re-formed under the leadership of Tex Beneke.
The 1953 biographical film “The Glenn Miller Story,” starring James Stewart as Miller, introduced his music to a new generation of fans.
In the years since his death, the Glenn Miller Orchestra has continued to perform and record, keeping Miller’s music and legacy alive.
Miller was awarded a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.
Glenn Miller was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1978.
Many of his songs have become jazz standards, played and recorded by countless artists.
Miller’s music has been featured in various films and TV shows, including “The Simpsons” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Glenn Miller’s influence on big band and swing music is still felt today, with many contemporary artists citing him as an inspiration for their work.
Bing Crosby was an American singer, actor, and radio personality who became one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century. Born Harry Lillis Crosby Jr. on May 3, 1903, in Tacoma, Washington, he grew up in a musical family and began singing early on. With his distinctive warm baritone voice, Crosby became one of the most influential and successful crooners of his time.
Bing Crosby’s career spanned over 50 years, from the 1920s to the 1970s.
He was named ” Bing ” by a comic strip character named Bingo.
Crosby began his music career as a member of the Rhythm Boys, a jazz vocal trio.
Bing Crosby’s first solo hit was “Out of Nowhere” in 1931.
He had over 40 number-one hits, including “White Christmas,” which remains one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Crosby was an early advocate of recording techniques and was one of the first singers to use a microphone to enhance his voice.
Bing Crosby was the first artist to pre-record his radio shows, which allowed for better sound quality and editing.
He acted in numerous films, winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1944 film “Going My Way.”
Crosby was known for his philanthropic work, raising millions of dollars for various charities throughout his career.
He performed with many famous musicians, including Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope.
Crosby introduced many popular songs that became standards, including “Pennies from Heaven,” “Swinging on a Star,” and “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
He helped popularize Hawaiian music in the 1930s and 1940s by recording several songs with a Hawaiian theme.
Bing Crosby was one of the first artists to embrace television and appeared in many TV specials and series.
Bing was an avid golfer and co-founded the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Golf Tournament, now known as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Crosby’s radio show, “Kraft Music Hall,” was one of the most popular radio programs of its time.
Bing had a longtime partnership with fellow entertainer Bob Hope, with whom he starred in seven “Road to…” comedy films.
In 1963, Crosby became the first recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
His family life was turbulent, with two of his four sons from his first marriage later dying by suicide.
Bing Crosby passed away on October 14, 1977, after suffering a heart attack following a round of golf in Spain.
His influence on popular music and entertainment can still be felt today, with many artists citing him as a significant inspiration.
{% if featuredImage and featuredImage != "" %}
{% endif %}
{% if excerpt %}
