1943 in film
The year 1943 in film featured various significant events for the film industry.
The top ten 1943 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
| 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] |
- 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]
- January 1943
- 12 January
- 23 January
- February 1943
- 3 February
- 5 February
- 11 February
- 12 February
- 19 February
- 20 February
- March 1943
- 1 March
- 2 March
- 3 March
- 5 March
- 10 March
- 11 March
- 15 March
- 19 March
- 22 March
- 25 March
- 26 March
- 27 March
- April 1943
- 2 April
- 9 April
- 12 April
- 15 April
- 22 April
- 23 April
- 24 April
- 30 April
- May 1943
- 4 May
- 7 May
- 8 May
- 12 May
- 13 May
- 14 May
- 16 May
- 17 May
- 21 May
- 22 May
- 27 May
- 28 May
- June 1943
- 2 June
- 3 June
- 10 June
- 11 June
- 22 June
- 23 June
- July 1943
- 3 July
- 14 July
- 17 July
- 21 July
- 26 July
- August 1943
- 1 August
- 2 August
- 11 August
- 12 August
- 14 August
- 19 August
- 21 August
- 23 August
- 27 August
- 30 August
- September 1943
- 2 September
- 9 September
- 10 September
- 13 September
- 16 September
- 17 September
- 24 September
- 25 September
- 28 September
- 29 September
- October 1943
- 7 October
- 8 October
- 13 October
- 19 October
- 23 October
- 29 October
- November 1943
- 4 November
- 5 November
- 10 November
- 11 November
- 12 November
- 13 November
- 19 November
- 23 November
- 26 November
- 27 November
- December 1943
- 3 December
- 6 December
- 14 December
- 15 December
- 17 December
- 20 December
- 24 December
- 25 December
- 29 December
- 31 December
United States unless stated
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Edge of Darkness, starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan
- L'Éternel retour (The Eternal Return), directed by Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais – (France)
- 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
- 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
- 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 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
- 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
- The Kansan, starring Richard Dix and Jane Wyatt
- Kismet, starring Ashok Kumar – (India)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- Phantom of the Opera, starring Claude Rains
- Prelude to War, directed by Frank Capra
- Princess O'Rourke, starring Olivia de Havilland and Robert Cummings
- The Return of the Vampire, starring Béla Lugosi
- Revenge of the Zombies, starring John Carradine
- Riding High, starring Dorothy Lamour and Dick Powell
- 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
- 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
- Ukraine in Flames (Bitva za nashu Sovetskuyu Ukrainu) – (U.S.S.R.)
- Victory Through Air Power, a propaganda film by Disney
- 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
- Yellow Canary, starring Anna Neagle and Richard Greene – (GB)
- 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
- Buster Keaton (1917–1944)
- Laurel and Hardy (1921-1945)
- Our Gang (1922–1944)
- The Marx Brothers (1929–1946)
- The Three Stooges (1934–1959)
- Mickey Mouse (1928–1953)
- Looney Tunes (1930–1969)
- Terrytoons (1930–1964)
- Merrie Melodies (1931–1969)
- Scrappy (1931–1941)
- Popeye (1933–1957)
- Color Rhapsodies (1934–1949)
- Donald Duck (1934–1956)
- Daffy Duck (1937 – 1966)
- Goofy (1939–1955)
- Andy Panda (1939–1949)
- Tom and Jerry (1940–1958)
- Woody Woodpecker (1941–1949)
- Swing Symphonies (1941–1945)
- The Fox and the Crow (1941–1950)
- Red Hot Riding Hood (1943–1949)
- Chip 'n Dale (1943–1956)
- Droopy (1943–1958)
- 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
- 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
- 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,
- 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
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "Historical Events in 1943". www.historyorb.com.