1943 in film

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Last updated February 14, 2025

The year 1943 in film featured various significant events for the film industry.

Top-grossing films (U.S.)

The top ten 1943 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:

Highest-grossing films of 1943
Rank	Title	Distributor	Domestic rentals
1	This is the Army	Warner Bros.	$8,301,000^[1]
2	For Whom the Bell Tolls	Paramount	$6,300,000^[2]
3	The Song of Bernadette	20th Century Fox	$4,700,000^[3]
4	Stage Door Canteen	United Artists	$4,350,000^[4]
5	Star Spangled Rhythm	Paramount	$3,850,000^[5]
6	Thousands Cheer	MGM	$3,751,000^[6]
7	Casablanca	Warner Bros.	$3,398,000^[1]
8	Coney Island	20th Century Fox	$3,305,000^[7]
9	Destination Tokyo	Warner Bros.	$3,237,000^[1]
10	Dixie	Paramount	$3,100,000^[5]

Events

January 23 – The film Casablanca is released nationally in the United States and becomes one of the top-grossing pictures of 1943. It goes on to win the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the 16th Academy Awards.
February 20 – American film studio executives agree to allow the United States Office of War Information to censor films.^[8]
June 1 – Veteran English stage and screen actor Leslie Howard dies at the age of 50 in the crash of BOAC Flight 777 off the coast of Galicia, Spain. While best remembered for his role as Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind , Howard had roles in many other notable films and was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
December 31 – New York City's Times Square greets Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theatre.^[8]

Awards

Category/Organization	1st Golden Globe Awards January 20, 1944	16th Academy Awards March 2, 1944
Best Film	The Song of Bernadette	Casablanca
Best Director	Henry King The Song of Bernadette	Michael Curtiz Casablanca
Best Actor	Paul Lukas Watch on the Rhine
Best Actress	Jennifer Jones The Song of Bernadette
Best Supporting Actor	Akim Tamiroff For Whom the Bell Tolls	Charles Coburn The More the Merrier
Best Supporting Actress	Katina Paxinou For Whom the Bell Tolls

Top Ten Money Making Stars

Rank	Actor/Actress
1.	Betty Grable
2.	Bob Hope
3. (tie)	Bud Abbott Lou Costello
4.	Bing Crosby
5.	Gary Cooper
6.	Greer Garson
7.	Humphrey Bogart
8.	James Cagney
9.	Mickey Rooney
10.	Clark Gable

1943 film releases

United States

Notable films released in 1943

United States unless stated

A

Above Suspicion , starring Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray
Action in the North Atlantic , starring Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey
The Adventures of Tartu , starring Robert Donat and Valerie Hobson – (GB)
Air Force , directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Garfield
Angels of the Streets (Les anges du peche), directed by Robert Bresson – (France)

B

Background to Danger , directed by Raoul Walsh, starring George Raft and Peter Lorre
Bataan , directed by Tay Garnett, starring Robert Taylor and Lloyd Nolan
Behind the Rising Sun , starring Tom Neal, produced by Howard Hughes
The Bells Go Down , starring Tommy Trinder and James Mason – (GB)
Best Foot Forward , starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler
Bombardier , starring Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley
Border Patrol , starring William Boyd, George Reeves, Robert Mitchum

C

Cabin in the Sky , directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Ethel Waters
Calling Dr. Death , first of the Inner Sanctum Mysteries, starring Lon Chaney Jr.
Clancy Street Boys , starring The East Side Kids
Coney Island , starring Betty Grable
The Constant Nymph , starring Joan Fontaine
Le Corbeau (The Raven), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Pierre Fresnay – (France)
Corvette K-225 , starring Randolph Scott
O Costa do Castelo (The Costa from the Castle) – (Portugal)
Cowboy in Manhattan
Crash Dive , starring Tyrone Power and Anne Baxter
Crazy House , starring Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson
The Crew of the Dora (Besatzung Dora) – (Germany)
Crime Doctor , starring Warner Baxter
Cry 'Havoc' , starring Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell

D

The Dancing Masters , starring Laurel and Hardy
Day of Wrath (Vredens Dag), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer – (Denmark)
The Demi-Paradise , starring Laurence Olivier – (GB)
Desert Victory , a propaganda documentary – (GB)
Destination Tokyo , starring Cary Grant and John Garfield
Destroyer , starring Glenn Ford and Edward G. Robinson
Doña Bárbara , directed by Fernando de Fuentes – (Mexico)
DuBarry Was a Lady , starring Lucille Ball and Red Skelton

E

Edge of Darkness , starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan
L'Éternel retour (The Eternal Return), directed by Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais – (France)

F

Fires Were Started , directed by Humphrey Jennings – (GB)
Five Graves to Cairo , directed by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter
Flesh and Fantasy , starring Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Boyer
Flor Silvestre , starring Dolores del Río – (Mexico)
Forces Occultes , directed by Jean Mamy, starring Maurice Rémy, Marcel Vibert, Auguste Bovério, Giséle Parry – (France)
For Whom the Bell Tolls , directed by Sam Wood, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman
Forever and a Day , featuring an all-star cast
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. and Béla Lugosi
Der Fuehrer's Face , Donald Duck's Academy Award-winning short

G

The Gang's All Here , directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda
The Ghost Ship , starring Richard Dix
Girl Crazy , starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
Guadalcanal Diary , starring Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Preston Foster, William Bendix, Anthony Quinn
A Guy Named Joe , starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne

H

Hangmen Also Die! , starring Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan
Happy Land , starring Don Ameche and Frances Dee
The Hard Way , starring Ida Lupino
Harlem , directed by Carmine Gallone, starring Massimo Girotti and Amedeo Nazzari (Italy)
Heaven Can Wait , directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Gene Tierney and Don Ameche
Hello, Frisco, Hello , starring Alice Faye
Hi Diddle Diddle , starring Adolphe Menjou and Pola Negri
Hit the Ice , starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Hitler's Children , directed by Edward Dmytryk
Holy Matrimony , starring Monty Woolley and Gracie Fields
Huella de luz (A Sight of Light) – (Spain)
The Human Comedy , starring Mickey Rooney

I

I Walked with a Zombie , starring Frances Dee
Immensee (aka Immensee: A German Folksong) – (Germany)
It Ain't Hay , starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
It Comes Up Love , starring Gloria Jean and Donald O'Connor

J

Jack London , starring Michael O'Shea and Susan Hayward
Jane Eyre , directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine
Journey into Fear , starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río, Orson Welles

K

The Kansan , starring Richard Dix and Jane Wyatt
Kismet , starring Ashok Kumar – (India)

L

Lassie Come Home , starring Roddy McDowall and Donald Crisp
The Leopard Man , directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dennis O'Keefe
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp , directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook – (GB)

M

The Mad Ghoul , starring George Zucco
Madame Curie , starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon
The Man in Grey , the first of the Gainsborough melodramas starring Margaret Lockwood and James Mason – (GB)
María Candelaria , starring Dolores del Río and Pedro Armendáriz – (Mexico)
Meshes of the Afternoon , directed by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid
Millions Like Us , directed by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder – (GB)
Mission to Moscow , directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Walter Huston
Mister Big , starring Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean
The More the Merrier , directed by George Stevens, starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea
Mr. Lucky , starring Cary Grant
Münchhausen – (Germany)
My Learned Friend , starring Will Hay – (GB)

N

Nasreddin in Bukhara – (U.S.S.R.)
No Place for a Lady , starring William Gargan and Phyllis Brooks
No Time for Love , starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray
The North Star , starring Anne Baxter and Dana Andrews
Northern Pursuit , starring Errol Flynn

O

Old Acquaintance , starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins
Ossessione (Obsession), directed by Luchino Visconti – (Italy)
The Outlaw , controversial western directed by Howard Hughes, starring Jane Russell
The Ox-Bow Incident , directed by William Wellman, starring Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan, Dana Andrews

P

Phantom of the Opera , starring Claude Rains
Prelude to War , directed by Frank Capra
Princess O'Rourke , starring Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings

R

The Return of the Vampire , starring Béla Lugosi
Revenge of the Zombies , starring John Carradine
Riding High , starring Dorothy Lamour and Dick Powell

S

Sahara , starring Humphrey Bogart
Saludos Amigos , a Walt Disney animated film starring Donald Duck and Goofy
Sanshiro Sugata , directed by Akira Kurosawa – (Japan)
The Seventh Victim , starring Tom Conway
Shadow of a Doubt , directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death , directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, co-starring Hillary Brooke
Sherlock Holmes in Washington , directed by Roy William Neill, starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, co-starring Henry Daniell and George Zucco
The Shipbuilders , directed by John Baxter – (GB)
The Silver Fleet , starring Ralph Richardson and Googie Withers – (GB)
The Sky's the Limit , starring Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie
So Proudly We Hail! , starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake
Son of Dracula , starring Lon Chaney Jr.
The Song of Bernadette , starring Jennifer Jones
Squadron Leader X , starring Eric Portman and Ann Dvorak – (GB)
Stormy Weather , starring Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers
Strange Inheritance , starring Assia Noris and Jules Berry – (France)
A Stranger in Town , starring Frank Morgan

T

Tender Comrade , starring Ginger Rogers and Robert Ryan
Thank Your Lucky Stars , starring Eddie Cantor
Theatre Royal , starring Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen – (GB)
They Came to Blow Up America , starring George Sanders
This is the Army , directed by Michael Curtiz
This Land Is Mine , directed by Jean Renoir, starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara
Thousands Cheer , starring Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Mary Astor
Titanic – (Germany)
Top Man , starring Donald O'Connor

U

Ukraine in Flames (Bitva za nashu Sovetskuyu Ukrainu) – (U.S.S.R.)

V

Victory Through Air Power , a propaganda film by Disney

W

War of the Wildcats (a.k.a. In Old Oklahoma), starring John Wayne
Watch on the Rhine , starring Paul Lukas and Bette Davis
We Dive at Dawn , directed by Anthony Asquith, starring John Mills – (GB)
We've Never Been Licked , starring Richard Quine and Noah Beery Jr.
Whistling in Brooklyn , starring Red Skelton
The Woman of the Town , starring Claire Trevor and Albert Dekker

Y

Yellow Canary , starring Anna Neagle and Richard Greene – (GB)

Serials

Adventures of the Flying Cadets
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
Batman , starring Lewis Wilson
Daredevils of the West , starring Allan Lane, directed by John English
Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
G-Men vs the Black Dragon , starring Rod Cameron, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
The Masked Marvel , directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
The Phantom , starring Tom Tyler
Secret Service in Darkest Africa , starring Rod Cameron, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

Comedy film series

Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
Laurel and Hardy (1921-1945)
Our Gang (1922–1944)
The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
The Three Stooges (1934–1959)

Animated short film series

Births

January 1 – Don Novello, American writer, film director, producer, actor, singer and comedian
January 13 – Richard Moll, American actor (died 2023)
January 14 – Holland Taylor, American actress
January 18
- Paul Angelis, English actor and writer (died 2009)
- Paul Freeman, English actor
January 19 - Larry Clark, American director, producer and writer
January 24 – Sharon Tate, American actress and model (murdered 1969)
January 25 – Tobe Hooper, American director and screenwriter (died 2017)
January 28 – John Beck, American actor
January 31 – Peter McRobbie, Scottish-born American actor
February 1 - Linda Gaye Scott, American actress
February 3 – Blythe Danner, American actress
February 5 - Michael Mann, American director, screenwriter and producer
February 9 – Joe Pesci, American actor
February 20 – Mike Leigh, English director
February 25 – George Harrison, English musician and songwriter (died 2001)
February 26 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
March 8 – Lynn Redgrave, English actress (died 2010)
March 15 – David Cronenberg, Canadian director and screenwriter
March 25 – Paul Michael Glaser, American actor and director
March 26 - Giusi Merli, Italian actress
March 28 – Conchata Ferrell, American actress (died 2020)
March 29
- Eric Idle, English actor, comedian, author and musician
- Vangelis, Greek-born film composer (died 2022)
March 31 – Christopher Walken, American actor
April 3 - Jonathan Lynn, English director, producer, writer and actor
April 8 – Jack O'Halloran, American actor
April 10 - Tom Pollock, American producer (died 2020)
April 20 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress, socialite, model and heiress (died 1971)
April 26 – Leon Pownall, Welsh-Canadian actor (died 2006)
May 5 – Michael Palin, English actor, comedian and musician
May 7 - Donal McCann, Irish actor (died 1999)
May 25 - Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
May 27 – Raye Birk, American actor
June 2
- Charles Haid, American actor and film director
- Kevork Malikyan, English-Armenian actor
June 4 - Tom Luddy, American producer (died 2023)
June 7 – Michael Pennington, English actor, director and writer
June 8 - Colin Baker, English actor
June 11 - Oleg Vidov, Russian-American actor, director and producer (died 2017)
June 13 – Malcolm McDowell, English actor
June 19 - Peter Belli, Danish actor and singer (died 2023)
June 22
- Judith Barker, English actress
- Klaus Maria Brandauer, Austrian actor and director
June 23 – Patrick Bokanowski, French director
June 24 – George Stanford Brown, American actor and director
June 26 - John Beasley, American actor (died 2023)
July 3 – Kurtwood Smith, American actor
July 7 - Robert East, Welsh actor
July 11 - Tom Holland, American screenwriter, actor and director
July 17 - James Hibbard actor and stuntman
July 21
- Michael Caton, Australian actor, comedian and television host
- Edward Herrmann, American actor (died 2014)
July 25 - Janet Margolin, American actress (died 1993)
July 26 – Mick Jagger, English singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker, and dancer
July 28 – Frances Lee McCain, American actress
July 29 - Jim Ishida, Japanese-American character actor
August 6 - Ray Buktenica, American character actor
August 15 – Barbara Bouchet, German-American actress
August 17 – Robert De Niro, American actor
August 18 – Martin Mull, American actor and comedian (died 2024)
August 20 - Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor
August 21
- Lino Capolicchio, Italian actor, screenwriter and director (died 2022)
- Hugh Wilson, American director, writer, television showrunner and actor (died 2018)
August 27 – Tuesday Weld, American actress
August 28 - David Soul, American-British actor and singer (died 2024)
August 30 - Miri Fabian, Israeli actress
September 1 – Don Stroud, American actor and musician
September 3 – Valerie Perrine, American actress and model
September 5 - Jack Charles, Australian actor (died 2022)
September 9 – Art LaFleur, American character actor and acting coach (died 2021)
September 10 – Daniel Truhitte, American actor
September 19 - Diana Bellamy, American character actress (died 2001)
September 21 – Jerry Bruckheimer, American producer
September 23 - Toni Basil, American singer, actress and director
September 24 – Randall Duk Kim, Korean American stage, film and television actor
September 28 – J. T. Walsh, American character actor (died 1998)
October 4 – John Bindon, English actor and bodyguard (died 1993)
October 5 - Jennifer Hagan, Australian actress
October 8 – Chevy Chase, American actor and comedian
October 12 – Lin Shaye, American actress
October 15 – Penny Marshall, American television actress, film director and producer (died 2018)
October 20 – George Wyner, American actor
October 22
- Jan de Bont, Dutch cinematographer, director and producer
- Catherine Deneuve, French actress
October 24 – Martin Campbell, New Zealand director
October 27 - Carmen Argenziano, American actor (died 2019)
October 29
- Christopher Cain, American director, screenwriter and producer
- Margaret Nolan, English actress (died 2020)
- Don Simpson, American producer, screenwriter and actor (died 1996)
November 1 – John McEnery, English actor and writer (died 2019)
November 5 – Sam Shepard, American actor (died 2017)
November 7 – Michael Byrne, British actor
November 10 - William Hoyland, English actor (died 2017)
November 12
- Valerie Leon, English actress and model
- Wallace Shawn, American actor
November 16 - Wai Ching Ho, Hong Kong actress
November 20 – Mie Hama, former Japanese actress, radio and television presenter
November 23 – Tony Bonner, Australian actor and singer
November 28
- George T. Miller, Scottish-Australian director and producer (died 2023)
- Randy Newman, American singer, film composer
December 2 - Henry Kingi, American stuntman and actor
December 12
- Gianni Russo, American actor and singer
- Phyllis Somerville, American actress (died 2020)
December 13 – Arturo Ripstein, Mexican director
December 16 – Patti Deutsch, American voice artist, actress and comedian (died 2017)
December 21 – Jack Nance, American actor (died 1996)
December 23 – Harry Shearer, American voice actor
December 25 - David Darlow, American actor
December 31
- Ben Kingsley, English actor
- Victor Raider-Wexler, American actor

Deaths

January 25 – Spencer Charters, 67, American actor, The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine , The Postman Didn't Ring
February 14 – Dora Gerson, 43, German actress, Caravan of Death , On the Brink of Paradise
February 19 – Lynne Overman, 58, American actor, Little Miss Marker , Union Pacific , Dixie
February 20 – Donald Haines, 23, American child actor, Skippy , A Tale of Two Cities
March 10 – Tully Marshall, 78, American actor, Paid in Full , The Big Trail
April 3 – Conrad Veidt, 50, German actor, Casablanca , The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Thief of Baghdad , The Spy in Black
June 1 – Leslie Howard, 50, Academy Award-nominated British actor, Gone with the Wind , Pygmalion , The Petrified Forest , Of Human Bondage
June 30 – Carlo Wieth, 57, Danish actor
July 16 – Arthur Byron, 71, American actor, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing , Gabriel Over the White House
November 24 - Frank Sheridan, 74, American actor,

Film Debuts

June Allyson – Best Foot Forward
Sunset Carson – Stage Door Canteen
Linda Christian – The Rock of Souls
Jeanne Crain – The Gang's All Here
Hume Cronyn – Shadow of a Doubt
María Félix – The Rock of Souls
Rhonda Fleming – In Old Oklahoma
Dorothy Ford – Thousands Cheer
Farley Granger – The North Star
Barbara Hale – Gildersleeve's Bad Day
Gladys Henson – The Demi-Paradise
John Hodiak – A Stranger in Town
Kim Hunter – The Seventh Victim
Richard Jaeckel – Guadalcanal Diary
Jack Lambert – Stage Door Canteen
Moira Lister – The Shipbuilders
Dorothy Malone – Gildersleeve on Broadway
Dorothy McGuire – Claudia
Robert Mitchum – The Human Comedy
Robert Quarry – Shadow of a Doubt
Cliff Robertson – We've Never Been Licked
Ruth Roman – Stage Door Canteen
Lawrence Tierney – Gildersleeve on Broadway
Shelley Winters – There's Something About a Soldier
Natalie Wood – Happy Land

References

1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 28 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
↑ Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.
↑ Solomon, Aubrey (2002). Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 220. ISBN 978-0810842441.
↑ "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety . 6 January 1965. p. 67. Retrieved 29 December 2022– via Internet Archive.
1 2 "Top Grossers of the Season". Variety . 5 January 1944. p. 54.
↑ The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
↑ "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety . October 15, 1990. p. M162 to 166.
1 2 "Historical Events in 1943". www.historyorb.com.

External links

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[warners-1] 1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 28 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551

[Finler-2] Finler, Joel Waldo (2003). The Hollywood Story. Wallflower Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 978-1-903364-66-6.

[3] Solomon, Aubrey (2002). Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 220. ISBN 978-0810842441.

[AllTime-4] "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety . 6 January 1965. p. 67. Retrieved 29 December 2022– via Internet Archive.

[TopGrossers-5] 1 2 "Top Grossers of the Season". Variety . 5 January 1944. p. 54.

[Mannix-6] The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.

[AllTime2-7] "All-time Film Rental Champs". Variety . October 15, 1990. p. M162 to 166.

[1943HistoricalEvents-8] 1 2 "Historical Events in 1943". www.historyorb.com.

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