Best Picture nominees:
49th Parallel
Kings Row
The Magnificent Ambersons
Mrs. Miniver
The Pied Piper
The Pride of the Yankees
Random Harvest
The Talk of the Town
Wake Island
Yankee Doodle Dandy
What won: Mrs. Miniver
The film with the most Academy Awards of the night with six as well as the highest-grossing film of 1942, Mrs. Miniver shows how the war can affect everybody - the young, the old, men, women, children, families, politics, social classes, property - this does it all with nary a battle sequence in sight. Joseph Goebbels, the head of Nazi propaganda, nailed it on the head when he said the film "shows the destiny of a family during the current war, and its refined powerful propagandistic tendency has up to now only been dreamed of. There is not a single angry word spoken against Germany; nevertheless the anti-German tendency is perfectly accomplished."
What should have won: Mrs. Miniver
In a year with a handful of war pictures in this category, William Wyler's felt the most apt and had the most class. Wake Island takes the more bombastic approach, The Pied Piper shows us how dangerous it could be traveling through Europe, and 49th Parallel projects what could have been in North America, but Mrs. Miniver is the all-encompassing anti-war story that feels the most genuine. Garson may have deserved her Oscar for Random Harvest (1942) instead of this, but this is no substitute to scoff at. She's delightful as the central character in this English town ravaged by the war. Her supporting cast is phenomenal as well. The affected homefront is also beautifully shot, especially the final scene in which a damaged church stands out as the location of a rousing speech that caps off this appropriately sentimental film. With all of this being said, I'm not sure if this would have been my pick if World War II wasn't raging on. But the combination of the war as well as how superb all aspects of the filmmaking is makes this my Best Picture of 1942.
My Best Picture nominee rankings:
1. Mrs. Miniver (8/10)
2. Random Harvest (8/10)
3. The Magnificent Ambersons (8/10)
4. Yankee Doodle Dandy (8/10)
5. The Talk of the Town (8/10)
6. 49th Parallel (7/10)
7. The Pride of the Yankees (7/10)
8. Kings Row (7/10)
9. The Pied Piper (7/10)
10. Wake Island (6/10)