On the occasion of my mother’s 70th birthday, I have decided to take a look at some of the films that were released in 1942. I was quite surprised with all that was on offer; among the notable omissions are:
- To Be or Not to Be
- Saboteur
- Mrs. Miniver
- The Major and the Minor
- Yankee Doodle Dandy,
- Holiday Inn
- The Glass Key
- For Me and My Gal
- In Which We Serve
- The Magnificent Ambersons
- Pride of the Yankees
- The Road to Morocco
- The Talk of the Town
- This Gun for Hire
As you can see I had a lot of films to choose from. But after much deliberation, I have narrowed the list to “my” top 10 (in no particular order):
Woman of the Year – the film that started it all; the first of 9 films starring Hepburn and Tracy.
Random Harvest – I know that I should laugh at many of the movie’s pivotal scenes, but seriously some of the plot’s twists and turn are quite preposterous.
Now, Voyager – I just love this film. It is romantic melodrama at its finest, with a little psychiatry on the side.
The Palm Beach Story – a rapid-fire screwball comedy brought to you courtesy of Preston Sturges.
The Man Who Came to Dinner – a perfect example of a stage play successfully adapted for the silver screen.
Bambi – my favorite character is Thumper; when I was little, I wanted one of my own.
In This Our Life – under John Huston’s direction, this film stars Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis. I really like this melodrama in a ‘guilty pleasure,’ soap opera way.
I Married a Witch – not widely seen but a wonderfully charming fantasy comedy.
Casablanca – you must remember this … and treasure it always.
Cat People – on its surface a straightforward, B-movie thriller. But a closer look reveals so much more.
Nice touch and selection of film 🙂
le0pard13 recently posted..Favorite Scene: The Green Hornet
Thanks!
Splendid idea, which I may purloin as its my Mum’s 72nd on Monday – PALM BEACH STORY in particular is a really under-regarded title in the Preston Sturges canon. I love that bit at the end end when McCrae dismisses a whole strand of the narrative just by saying, “Oh, that’s a whole different plot” – classic indeed.
Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) recently posted..Posthumous collaborations: The April Robin Murders case
I love Preston Sturges, especially Sullivan’s Travels!
iluvcinema recently posted..Happy 70th Mom!
Happy birthday to your Mom! I love most of these on the list, looking forward to seeing Random Harvest again, it’s on TCM on Friday 3/30 at 8:30 a.m. (I’ll be DVRing of course)
Paula recently posted..TCM Tonight: Brute Force ’47
🙂
Happy birthday mommaluvscinema! 🙂
Ja recently posted..Fights Of The Year, In Advance
How clever 😉
Many Happy Returns for your birthday Momma!
🙂
Scott Lawlor recently posted..Cinema Review – The Kid With The Bike
Thanks Scott!
What a splendid idea to commemorate your mom’s b’day Iba! Well I’ve only seen two from your list (Bambi and Casablanca), Gregory hasn’t started making movies yet by then, ahah 🙂
ruth recently posted..FlixChatter Review: The Hunger Games
You would love Now, Voyager!
iluvcinema recently posted..The iluvcinema Reading List
Happy Birthday to your mom, Iba. I’ll be turning the big 70 myself in June, your mom and I were born in the same year. A year with some great films in it. I like your list. My favorites from my birth year are TO BE OR NOT TO BE, BAMBI, CAT PEOPLE, CASABLANCA, THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR and THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER.
Yvette recently posted..Nine Tough Movie Dames
Thanks Yvette! I am a June baby myself, but early on in the month.
Oh, excellent. Geminis unite! I’m June 10th. My late mom was June 1st. My granddaughter was born on May 23rd, so she joins the exalted ranks of the Geminis as well. 🙂
Yvette recently posted..Tuesday Overlooked (or Forgotten) Film: TARZAN AND HIS MATE (1934) starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan