The year 1943 in film featured various significant events for the film industry.
Pillow Talk is a 1959 American romantic comedy film in CinemaScope directed by Michael Gordon and starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. The supporting cast features Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, Nick Adams, Allen Jenkins, Marcel Dalio and Lee Patrick. The film was written by Russell Rouse, Maurice Richlin, Stanley Shapiro, and Clarence Greene.
John Carroll O'Connor was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. He found widespread fame as Archie Bunker, the main character in the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1979) and its continuation, Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983). He later starred in the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), where he played the role of police chief William "Bill" Gillespie. In the late 1990s, he played Gus Stemple, the father of Jamie Buchman on Mad About You. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. He won five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award.
Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred, in succession, with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule.
Margaret O'Rene Ryan was an American dancer and actress, best known for starring in a series of movie musicals at Universal Pictures with Donald O'Connor and Gloria Jean.
Gloria Jean was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances. She may be best remembered for her appearance with W. C. Fields in the film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941).
Charles Lamont was an American filmmaker, known for directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed nine Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films.
Follow the Boys also known as Three Cheers for the Boys is a 1944 musical film made by Universal Pictures during World War II as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman. The movie stars George Raft and Vera Zorina and features Grace McDonald, Charles Grapewin, Regis Toomey and George Macready. At one point in the film, Orson Welles saws Marlene Dietrich in half during a magic show. W.C. Fields, in his first movie since 1941, performs a classic pool-playing presentation he first developed in vaudeville four decades earlier in 1903.
Robert Paige was an American actor and a TV newscaster and political correspondent and Universal Pictures leading man who made 65 films in his lifetime.
Practically Yours is a 1944 American romantic comedy film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray and Cecil Kellaway. Written by Norman Krasna, it was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
When Johnny Comes Marching Home is a 1942 musical film directed by Charles Lamont and starring Allan Jones and Jane Frazee. The film is loosely based on the song with the same title.
What's Cookin'? is a 1942 American musical film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring The Andrews Sisters, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Gloria Jean. The film is based on the story Wake Up and Dream written by Edgar Allan Woolf.
Get Hep to Love is a 1942 musical film starring Gloria Jean, Donald O'Connor, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Peggy Ryan. The film was directed by Charles Lamont.
Aleen Leslie was a screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. She died in 2010, at age 101. At that time, she was the oldest member of the Writers Guild of American-West. She is perhaps best known for the A Date with Judy media franchise. Leslie was also the author of the novels The Scent of the Roses and The Windfall, and wrote various plays for the Pasadena Playhouse.
Mister Big is a 1943 musical directed by Charles Lamont, starring Donald O'Connor, Gloria Jean and Peggy Ryan. The film features the song "Rude, Crude, and Unattractive".
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' is a 1948 American musical comedy film directed by George Sherman and starring Donald O'Connor. Also featured are Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride ,
with Penny Edwards as the perky love interest. It was produced and distributed by Universal Studios. One scene features a dance routine in a barn, choreographed to the Al Jolson song "Me and My Shadow".
Top Man is a 1943 American black-and-white musical comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring Donald O'Connor, Susanna Foster, Lillian Gish, Richard Dix, and Peggy Ryan. It was O'Connor and Ryan's first film away from the third of their trio, Gloria Jean.
Something in the Wind is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by Irving Pichel and starring Deanna Durbin, Donald O'Connor, and John Dall.
Bride by Mistake is a 1944 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard Wallace, and starring Alan Marshal and Laraine Day.
For the Love of Mary is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova and starring Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor, and Jeffrey Lynn. Written by Oscar Brodney, the film is about a young woman who takes a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and soon receives help with her love life from Supreme Court justices and the President of the United States. For the Love of Mary was the last film by Deanna Durbin, who withdrew from the entertainment business the following year to live a private life in France.
