I was recently researching which movies were popular during WWII, which was a record-breaking era for Hollywood film-making, with movie-goers filling theaters in unprecedented numbers. According to one source I read, in 1942, movie attendance reached a record high of 80 million a week. A total of 488 features were made, a number never to be surpassed. So I became curious about which movies had been the most popular in 1942. My search led me to a January 6, 1943 headline in Variety:
101 PIX GROSS IN MILLIONS
The article then listed each of the studio’s recent movies that earned more than a million dollars at the box office. I found it interesting reading and thought I would share it with you here.
That is interesting.The length of the list gives you a sense of just how busy this town was at that time and how common “green lighting” was to individual projects.
I’ve always heard that it was all systems go in Hollywood during the war but this is the first actual primary-source material I’ve seen backing up the claim.
That is interesting.The length of the list gives you a sense of just how busy this town was at that time and how common “green lighting” was to individual projects.
I’ve always heard that it was all systems go in Hollywood during the war but this is the first actual primary-source material I’ve seen backing up the claim.
The titles lean heavily towards escapism which is not surprising.