A history of World War 2 in Movies - 1942
by philipglen | created - 8 months ago | updated - 8 months ago | PublicFollow the course of WW2 in movies, all of which depict or can be taken to represent an actual event. They are organised chronologically by month so that you can follow the course of the War. My other lists cover the other years. Only drama movies are included - no comedies, horror, musicals etc. Only movies in the English language or with English subtitles are featured. Enjoy!
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1. Bataan (1943)
Approved | 114 min | Drama, History, War
In 1942, in the Bataan peninsula of the Philippines, a ragtag American unit commanded by Sergeant Bill Dane attempts to blow-up a bridge in order to slow the Japanese advance.
Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Lloyd Nolan, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 2,707
Battle of Bataan January 1942
2. Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, War
In World War II, during the Japanese invasion of Burma, the lost remnant of a British Army Brigade HQ, led by the ruthless Captain Alan Langford, escapes through the jungle toward the British lines.
Director: Val Guest | Stars: Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, Leo McKern, Gordon Jackson
Votes: 1,310
Burma campaign begins January 1942
3. The Rats of Tobruk (1944)
68 min | Action, Drama, War
Tells the story of three men--Bluey, a tough two fisted drover (Taylor), Milo, a laconic dingo trapper (Rafferty), and Pete, an intellectual English "new chum" (Finch). Together they serve ... See full summary »
Director: Charles Chauvel | Stars: Grant Taylor, Peter Finch, Chips Rafferty, Pauline Garrick
Votes: 305
Invasion of New Guinea January 1942
4. Conspiracy (2001 TV Movie)
R | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Clare Bullus, Stanley Tucci, Simon Markey, David Glover
Votes: 24,848
Wannsee conference January 1942
5. Three Came Home (1950)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, War
During Word War II, American author Agnes Newton Keith is imprisoned by the Japanese in various POW camps in North Borneo and Sarawak.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, Florence Desmond, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 2,138
Occupation of Borneo February 1942
6. Malaya (1949)
Passed | 98 min | Adventure, Drama, War
Newspaperman Royer convinces government officials of a plan to obtain rubber by smuggling it out from under the Japanese. Carnahan is let out of prison to help.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Valentina Cortese, Sydney Greenstreet
Votes: 1,445
Occupation of Malaya February 1942
7. Come and See (1985)
Not Rated | 142 min | Drama, Thriller, War
After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas
Votes: 97,403
Dirlewanger Brigade deployed to Byelorussia February 1942
8. Paratrooper (1953)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
In 1940, an American claiming to be Canadian volunteers for the British Army's paratroop school.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Alan Ladd, Leo Genn, Susan Stephen, Harry Andrews
Votes: 802 | Gross: $5.19M
Operation Biting February 1942
9. Canopy (2013)
PG-13 | 84 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Singapore, February 1942. An Australian fighter pilot is shot down over the jungle and must find his way back to Allied lines, through Japanese-held territory.
Director: Aaron Wilson | Stars: Khan Chittenden, Morning Tzu-Yi Mo, Yoshi Yamamoto, Robert Menzies
Votes: 1,160 | Gross: $0.01M
Fall of Singapore February 1942
10. Paradise Road (1997)
R | 122 min | Drama, History, War
A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music to relieve their misery.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 5,930 | Gross: $1.92M
Banka Island massacre February 1942
11. The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Passed | 140 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When the U.S. forces withdraw from Java, ahead of the Japanese invasion, U.S. Navy doctor Corydon M. Wassell coordinates the remaining wounded servicemen and leads them to safety towards the last Allied evacuation points.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso, Dennis O'Keefe
Votes: 1,102
Battle of Java Sea February 1942
12. Australia (2008)
PG-13 | 165 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Shea Adams, Eddie Baroo
Votes: 129,785 | Gross: $49.55M
Bombing of Darwin February 1942
13. Midway (2019)
PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans
Votes: 94,524 | Gross: $56.85M
Marshalls-Gilberts raid February 1942
14. Come See the Paradise (1990)
R | 138 min | Drama, Romance, War
The passionate romance between an Irish-American man and a Japanese-American woman is threatened when the Pearl Harbor attacks happen and the woman is forced into a prison camp because of her ethnicity.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita, Sab Shimono, Shizuko Hoshi
Votes: 3,061 | Gross: $0.85M
Internment of Japanese Americans February 1942
15. Attack on the Iron Coast (1968)
G | 89 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, a commando leader named Major Jamie Wilson leads a group of soldiers on a suicide mission to destroy a Nazi naval stronghold on the French coast.
Director: Paul Wendkos | Stars: Lloyd Bridges, Andrew Keir, Sue Lloyd, Mark Eden
Votes: 768
St Nazaire raid March 1942
16. They Were Expendable (1945)
Approved | 135 min | Drama, War
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Directors: John Ford, Robert Montgomery | Stars: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt
Votes: 9,263
General MacArthur evacuated from The Philippines March 1942
17. Never So Few (1959)
Approved | 125 min | Drama, War
During WW2, the American OSS mounts covert operations with the native Kachin against the Japanese army in the jungles of Burma.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen
Votes: 3,420
OSS Detachment 101 formed April 1942
18. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Passed | 138 min | Drama, History, War
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Tim Murdock
Votes: 6,462
Doolittle’s raid April 1942
19. Two Men Went to War (2002)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, War, Drama
Comedy drama based on the true story of two British Army dentists who in 1942, eager to see action, go A.W.O.L. and invade occupied France on their own.
Director: John Henderson | Stars: Kenneth Cranham, Leo Bill, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Valentine
Votes: 944 | Gross: $0.15M
The ‘amateur commandos’ land in France April 1942
20. Foxhole in Cairo (1960)
80 min | War, Drama
A German Agent in Libya is allowed to get back to Rommel with false information.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, Niall MacGinnis, Neil McCallum
Votes: 193
Operation Salaam April 1942
21. Back to Bataan (1945)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, War
In 1942, after the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, U.S. Army Col. Joseph Madden stays behind to organize the local resistance against the Japanese invaders.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Beulah Bondi, Fely Franquelli
Votes: 4,374
Bataan death march April 1942
22. Battle of the Coral Sea (1959)
Approved | 86 min | Action, Drama, Romance
In 1942 submarine commander Jeff Conway secretly photographs Japanese aircraft carriers in the Coral Sea but his submarine is damaged and he's forced to surrender.
Director: Paul Wendkos | Stars: Cliff Robertson, Gia Scala, Teru Shimada, Patricia Cutts
Votes: 830
Battle of the Coral Sea May 1942
23. 49th Parallel (1941)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
Director: Michael Powell | Stars: Leslie Howard, Laurence Olivier, Richard George, Eric Portman
Votes: 7,672
Battle of St Lawrence begins May 1942
24. Sahara (I) (1943)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
After the fall of Tobruk in 1942, during the Allied retreat in the Libyan desert, an American tank picks-up a motley group of survivors but they face advancing Germans and a lack of water.
Director: Zoltan Korda | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carrol Naish, Lloyd Bridges
Votes: 9,757
Battle of Gazala May 1942
25. The Thousand Plane Raid (1969)
G | 93 min | Adventure, War
A U.S. Air Force colonel convinces the Allies during World War II that a daylight bombing raid of Germany will bring a quick end to the war.
Director: Boris Sagal | Stars: Christopher George, Laraine Stephens, J.D. Cannon, Gary Marshal
Votes: 540
First thousand bomber raid over Germany May 1942
26. Anthropoid (2016)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, History
Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich's third in command after Hitler and Himmler.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Brian Caspe, Karel Hermánek Jr.
Votes: 54,267 | Gross: $2.96M
Assassination of Heydrich May 1942
27. Corregidor (1943)
Approved | 73 min | Drama
A doctor and his staff in a hospital on the Philippine island of Corregidor shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor try to treat the sick, injured and wounded as American and Filipino troops desperately try to beat back a ferocious Japanese attack.
Director: William Nigh | Stars: Otto Kruger, Elissa Landi, Donald Woods, Frank Jenks
Votes: 319
Battle of Corregidor May 1942
28. The Butcher of Prague (2011)
126 min | Drama, History, War
The burning of the village of Lidice by Nazi Germany is the only official genocide during the war. The film tells three interconnected stories that all have to do with burning down and the ... See full summary »
Director: Petr Nikolaev | Stars: Karel Roden, Zuzana Fialová, Zuzana Bydzovská, Roman Luknár
Votes: 1,532
Destruction of Lidice June 1942
29. O.S.S. (1946)
Approved | 108 min | Drama, War
During WW2, the O.S.S. sends teams of spies and saboteurs into Nazi-occupied France.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Alan Ladd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles, John Hoyt
Votes: 574
OSS formed June 1942
30. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 233,419 | Gross: $44.91M
Construction of the Burma railway June 1942
31. Attack Force Z (1981)
Not Rated | 84 min | Action, Drama, History
A group of Australian commandos launch a secret mission against Japanese forces in World War II.
Director: Tim Burstall | Stars: John Phillip Law, Mel Gibson, Sam Neill, Chris Haywood
Votes: 2,722
Z Special Force formed June 1942
32. Midway (1976)
PG | 132 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford
Votes: 21,502
Battle of Midway June 1942
33. Kokoda: 39th Battalion (2006)
PG-13 | 92 min | Action, Drama, War
A bitter battle is fought between Australian and Japanese soldiers along the Kokoda trail in New Guinea during World War II.
Director: Alister Grierson | Stars: Jack Finsterer, Travis McMahon, Simon Stone, Luke Ford
Votes: 3,185
Kokoda Trail campaign July 1942
34. The Round Up (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, History, War
A faithful retelling of the 1942 "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" and the events surrounding it.
Director: Rose Bosch | Stars: Jean Reno, Mélanie Laurent, Gad Elmaleh, Raphaëlle Agogué
Votes: 9,375
Vel’ d’Hiv round up July 1942
35. Pacific Inferno (1979)
89 min | War
After the fall of the Philippines in World War II, the Japanese discover that Gen. MacArthur ordered millions of dollars in silver dumped in Manila Bay in order that it not fall into enemy ... See full summary »
Director: Rolf Bayer | Stars: Jim Brown, Richard Jaeckel, Timothy Brown, Rik Van Nutter
Votes: 269
Contents of the Philippines treasury retrieved from Manila Bay July 1942
36. Stormbird: The Me 262 Story (2016 TV Movie)
History
Stars: James Brown, Daniel Jack Evans, Oliver Fritz, Edward Hellewell
First jet powered flight of the ME262 July 1942
37. The Counterfeiters (2007)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, History
The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Votes: 47,188 | Gross: $5.48M
Operation Bernhard July 1942
38. Korczak (1990)
Unrated | 118 min | Biography, Drama, War
The last days of life of the legendary Polish pedagogue Dr. Janusz Korczak and his heroic dedication to protecting Jewish orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Wojciech Pszoniak, Ewa Dalkowska, Teresa Budzisz-Krzyzanowska, Marzena Trybala
Votes: 1,598
Grossaktion Warsaw July 1942
39. The Spy (2019)
TV-MA | 53 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on the life of Israeli spy Eli Cohen.
Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen, Noah Emmerich, Hadar Ratzon Rotem, Alexander Siddig
Votes: 49,311
Sonja Wigert joins Swedish intelligence July 1942
40. Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack
Votes: 9,134 | Gross: $3.56M
Inception of the Manhattan Project August 1942
41. Süskind (2012)
118 min | Biography, Drama, History
During WWII, a member of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam finds a way to spare children from deportation to the death camps.
Director: Rudolf van den Berg | Stars: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Karl Markovics, Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Katja Herbers
Votes: 2,660
Walter Suskind appointed to manage the Judische Schouwburg July 1942
42. 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, History, War
The true story of Carlson's Raiders and their World War II attack on Makin Island.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Randolph Scott, Alan Curtis, Noah Beery Jr., J. Carrol Naish
Votes: 1,647
Raid on Makin Island August 1942
43. Enemy at the Gates (2001)
R | 131 min | Action, Drama, War
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz
Votes: 277,722 | Gross: $51.40M
Battle of Stalingrad August 1942
44. Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, War
The story of a large U.S. Marines invasion task force bound for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte
Votes: 2,280
Operation Watchtower August 1942
45. Saboteur (1942)
Passed | 109 min | Thriller, War
A young man accused of sabotage goes on the run to prove his innocence.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter
Votes: 27,993
Operation Pastorious August 1942
46. A Rose in Winter (2018)
135 min | Drama
A ROSE IN WINTER recounts the extraordinary life of Edith Stein. Born Jewish, she demonstrated uncompromising courage as an outspoken advocate for equity in the Women' Rights Movement at ... See full summary »
Director: Joshua Sinclair | Stars: Zana Marjanovic, Christian Cooke, Ken Duken, Anja Kruse
Votes: 72
Edith Stein arrested August 1942
47. Back to 1942 (2012)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, History, War
A deadly drought in 1942 takes its toll on central China's Henan province during the war against Japan.
Director: Xiaogang Feng | Stars: Guoli Zhang, Hanyu Zhang, Wei Fan, Yuanzheng Feng
Votes: 3,732 | Gross: $0.31M
Henan Famine August 1942
48. Age of Heroes (2011)
Not Rated | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.
Director: Adrian Vitoria | Stars: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Aksel Hennie, Izabella Miko
Votes: 10,217
30 Commando formed August 1942
49. Occupation (2018)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A small group of town residents have to band together after a devastating ground invasion. As they struggle to survive, they realize they must stay one step ahead of their attackers, and work together for a chance to strike back.
Director: Luke Sparke | Stars: Dan Ewing, Temuera Morrison, Stephany Jacobsen, Rhiannon Fish
Votes: 17,313
The Korets Pogrom September 1942
50. Marine Raiders (1944)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, War
A U.S. Marine major tries to keep his captain on the right track through combat on Guadalcanal, training new recruits in San Diego, and a relationship with a WAAAF while on leave in Australia.
Director: Harold D. Schuster | Stars: Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey, Frank McHugh
Votes: 390
Battle of Edsons Ridge September 1942
51. They Who Dare (1954)
107 min | Drama, History, War
During World War II, British commandos are sent to destroy a Luftwaffe airfield on a Greek island.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Denholm Elliott, Kay Callard, William Russell
Votes: 799
Operation Anglo September 1942
52. Tobruk (1967)
Approved | 107 min | Drama, War
A Canadian POW major is rescued by a special British military unit made up of Germans to help lead an attack on a major German fuel depot in Tobruk, Libya.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Rock Hudson, George Peppard, Nigel Green, Guy Stockwell
Votes: 3,586
Operation Agreement September 1942
53. The Sinking of the Laconia (2010– )
Drama, History, War
Dramatisation of the true story of the sinking of the liner Laconia by a German U-boat in 1942 through the eyes of six survivors.
Stars: Andrew Buchan, Ken Duken, Lindsay Duncan, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 1,204
The Laconia Incident September 1942
54. El Alamein - The Line of Fire (2002)
117 min | Drama, War
War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel ... See full summary »
Director: Enzo Monteleone | Stars: Paolo Briguglia, Pierfrancesco Favino, Luciano Scarpa, Emilio Solfrizzi
Votes: 2,016
Second battle of El Alamein October 1942
55. Above Us the Waves (1955)
Approved | 92 min | Drama, War
The attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden, James Robertson Justice
Votes: 1,631
Operation Title October 1942
56. Island Rescue (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, War
During WW2, British Major Valentine Moreland is tasked with rescuing a prized pedigree cow from the German-occupied Channel Island of Armorel.
Director: Ralph Thomas | Stars: David Niven, Glynis Johns, George Coulouris, Barry Jones
Votes: 380
Operation Basalt October 1942
57. Play Dirty (1969)
R | 118 min | Adventure, Drama, War
During World War II a group of British commandos in North Africa disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital German oil depot.
Director: André De Toth | Stars: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews
Votes: 3,778
Popski’s Private Army formed October 1942
58. Odette (1950)
105 min | Drama, History, War
During WW2, a French woman living in England volunteers to work for British Intelligence in Nazi-occupied France.
Director: Herbert Wilcox | Stars: Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard, Marius Goring, Peter Ustinov
Votes: 1,043
Odette Samson lands in France November 1942
59. The Steel Bayonet (1957)
85 min | Drama, War
A small band of British soldiers is sent on a mission to hold up a German advance.
Director: Michael Carreras | Stars: Raymond Francis, John Paul, Kieron Moore, Paddy Joyce
Votes: 196
Tunisian campaign begins November 1942
60. Betrayed (2020)
126 min | Drama, History, War
The Braude family's experiences when Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany and Jews were arrested and deported.
Director: Eirik Svensson | Stars: Jakob Oftebro, Pia Halvorsen, Michalis Koutsogiannakis, Carl Martin Eggesbø
Votes: 2,415
Norwegian Jews embark on the SS Donau November 1942
61. The Thin Red Line (1998)
R | 170 min | Drama, History, War
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Kirk Acevedo
Votes: 199,681 | Gross: $36.40M
Battle of Mount Austen December 1942
62. The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
Director: José Ferrer | Stars: José Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Dora Bryan, Christopher Lee
Votes: 1,997
Operation Frankton December 1942
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