Mrs. Miniver: 1942 Best Picture

“Mrs. Miniver”, starring Greer Garson, ruled the day at the 15th Annual Academy Awards with 12 nominations and 6 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Based upon the 1940 novel of the same name Jan Struther, the movie depicts how World War II affects the life of a British housewife in rural England and her loved ones. The film features a scene where Kay Miniver (Garson) has a confrontation with a wounded German fighter whose plane is shot down. She doesn’t kill him like Scarlett O’Hara did to the Union soldeier in “Gone with the Wind.” In this one, he’s got the gun — at first.

Greer Garson’s long acceptance speech is so famous that Jeopardy! had a clue on it, not to mention another clue on how, in real life, Garson married the man who played her son in the film! There are plenty of Jeopardy! clues on “Mrs. Miniver”:

CLASSIC CINEMA $1200: In a 1942 film Greer Garson as this heroic title Mrs. dodged bombs during the Blitz
STUPID SHOW BIZ ANSWERS $800: Greer Garson became the Mrs. of actor Richard Ney after he played her son Vin Miniver in this 1942 film
BRITISH AUTHORS $1000: This “Lost Horizon” author won an Oscar for co-writing the 1942 film “Mrs. Miniver”
THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS $300: Peter Lawford had a bit role as a pilot in this Greer Garson film, the “Best Picture” of 1942
NOT BORED OF DIRECTORS $2000: Audiences weren’t bored by William Wyler’s 5th Oscar nomination, for this Greer Garson film; good thing, as he got 7 more
OSCAR WINNERS OF YORE $800: Greer Garson survives a Luftwaffe attack & the annual flower show as this title “Mrs.”
THE OSCARS $1600: The rumor that her acceptance speech for “Mrs. Miniver” ran over an hour is untrue; actually it was about 7 minutes
OSCAR-WINNING ROLES $2000: 1942: Kay Miniver
ODD WORDS $1000: A fur used to line robes during the Middle Ages, or a “Mrs.” played by Greer Garson
ENTERTAINMENT $600: Best known for her Oscar-winning role as “Mrs. Miniver”, she passed away in 1996
FILMS OF THE ’40s $600: She was “Mrs. Miniver”, “Madame Curie” & “Mrs. Parkington”

Walt Disney strikes again:
THE NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY $800: Disney animators studied real animals & photos of the forests of Maine to portray nature in this 1942 film
CLASSIC MOVIE CHARACTERS: The parents of this 1942 film character are an unnamed mother & a father known as “the great prince of the forest”
STAG FILMS $400: Songs in this 1942 film include “Little April Shower” & “Thumper Song”
CLASSIC DISNEY FILMS $100: The title fawn in Disney’s 1942 film is this deer
CLASSIC CINEMA OF THE ’40s $800: This animated Disney film that featured a forest fire was the No. 1 box-office draw of 1942
STAR BUCKS $400: This young stag locks horns with a rival to fight successfully for Faline’s affection
WORLD WAR II: ON THE HOME FRONT $800: This Disney feature opened Aug. 13, 1942, & the mother’s death couldn’t have soothed many war-worried kids
TOP MONEYMAKING FILMS BY YEAR $600: 1942: “Bambi”, “Mrs. Miniver”, “Casablanca”

More 1942 clues:
(Casablanca is not included because its nominations came in the 16th Academy Awards)
OSCAR-NOMINATED SPORTS FLICKS $1000: Several major league ballplayers had cameos in this 1942 Gary Cooper flick, including Babe Ruth & Bill Dickey
AFI’S 100 YEARS 100 MOVIES $800: One of the 2 years, both more than 5 decades ago, represented on the AFI ballot with 11 films each
STUPID ANSWERS $600: Actor Byron Barr changed his name to this after playing a man named Gig Young in the 1942 film “The Gay Sisters”
SPORTS FRANCHISES ON FILM $400: 1942: At first base, Gary Cooper
RONALD REAGAN $2000: Reagan called this 1942 film in which he played an amputee the best one he ever made
CANADIAN HISTORY $800: This institution, the NFB, founded by Parliament in 1939, added an animation department in 1942
GEORGE M. COHAN $1000: In 1942 Cagney played Cohan on film & in 1968 this man played him on Broadway
GIVE THE ROLE TO GARY $600: Film, 1942: Lou Gehrig
COLOR MY WORLD $200: Bing was first “dreaming of” this kind of holiday in the 1942 film “Holiday Inn”
THE RIGHT GENES $200: He was lucky enough to co-star with Judy Garland in his first feature film, “For Me and My Gal”, in 1942
MOVIE NOSTALGIA $200: This “bathing beauty” dove into films in 1942, in “Andy Hardy’s Double Life”
WELLES $1000: This “magnificent” Welles film was mutilated by the studio before its 1942 release
BETTE DAVIS FILMS $1,100 (Daily Double): (VIDEO DAILY DOUBLE): “(Hi, I’m Jeri Ryan) In a March 1998 episode of my TV series, I sang “It Can’t Be Wrong”, a song from this 1942 Bette Davis film”
OSCAR SONGS $200: 1942 Irving Berlin classic that’s sold more records than any other