'Desperate Journey' at the box office

In September, 2011, I did a posting on the Flynn threads about his box office standing, and the rankings of his films for each year. I'm not an expert in this- far from it- and took the info from Wikipedia, so it may not be the last word in accuracy. But the info I saw there jibes with things I've seen on other sites, and I'm guessing it's fairly reliable-- or at least close to. Go to "1942 in film" on Wiki, and you can see their rankings.

Anyway, according to Wikipedia, "Desperate Journey" was number two at the box office in 1942 (the U.S. box office-- Wiki info is sometimes unclear, though here it specifically says "U.S." Some of their later rankings seem more international). "Mrs. Miniver" was number one, "Random Harvest" was number three, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" number four, and Flynn's "Gentleman Jim" number five. Considering its status at that time, "Miniver's" ranking isn't surprising to me, but I was surprised by "Desperate Journey" being at number two. "DJ" is a terrific film, and lots of fun-- all the things that the reviewers and posters on this site say about it. I love the film, myself. But of all the movies made that year, I wouldn't have guessed it as being in the number two slot. Ahead of "Yankee Doodle Dandy!" It may just confirm what many reviewers on imdb. have said about it, that it is an entertaining, well-made film, with lots of rousing 'win-the-war' spirit. You can see why wartime audiences responded to it so well. "Mrs. Miniver" is also a rousing sort of film, but in a more respectable way, I guess- at least for the Academy Awards. Considering the world situation in 1942, it's not surprising that people warmed to these films.

I think "Gentleman Jim" is a better all-around film than "DJ," but they are obviously very different kinds of movies. Though both tell their stories in very entertaining ways, and mix action, comedy, and drama very effectively. No accident, I guess, that both were directed by ace director Raoul Walsh- a guy who consistently made entertaining films.

Anyway, I think it's interesting that "DJ" outranked so many other classics of that year, at the box office (at least according to Wikipedia)-- "The Black Swan," "Holiday Inn", Across the Pacific," "The Spoilers," "The Road to Morocco," "Woman of the Year," "The Major and the Minor," "Pride of the Yankees," "This Gun For Hire," "Reap the Wild Wind," many others (they list "Casablanca" for both 1942- 15th, and 1943- 6th-- so that film, which you would expect to be at the top, may have split box office takings, over two years). At first glance, it's hard to believe "DJ" outranked all those movies- so you wonder if the Wiki info is a little questionable. But the film is an entertaining, effective morale booster, so wartime audiences must have responded to it.

If anyone has more info about this, I'd be glad to read it. Let me know what you think.