Ted Billings Frankenstein", starring Boris Karloff; the 1937 version of "The Prince and the Pauper", Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, and Billy and Bobby Mauch; "Stagecoach" (1939), starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor; "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon; the Bob Hope comedy, "The Princess and the Pirate"; and the 1947 classic comedy, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. His final screen appearance was in a small, unnamed role in Otto Preminger's "Forever Amber", starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde; the film was released in October 1947, three months after Billings' death on July
William Wyler films that could be considered anti-Nazi were banned by the Hays Office. U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, Joseph Kennedy, told the studios to stop making pro-British and anti-German films. Kennedy felt that British defeat was imminent. But MGM producer Eddie Mannix disagreed, saying that "someone should salute England. And even if we lose $100,000, that'll be okay." "Mrs. Miniver" went on to win six Academy Awards, becoming the top box office hit of 1942. It was Wyler's first Academy Award for Best Director. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill both loved the film, said historian Emily Yellin,