Stage Door Canteen

This movie has more stars in it than the firmament! Even more stars than its cousin Hollywood Canteen.

I remember seeing it as a child in 1943 and have had it on tape for years and wonder why it has not been digitally remastered. The picture is scratchy and bumpy in parts, but nothing can spoil the innocence of our youth in uniform ready to go off to war.

Cameo appearances of so many entertainers on one stage give you an idea of what vaudeville and the big band era were like. There is no plot line or even a semblance of continuity in the performances of these stars, but all are polished appearances as if the casts were on tour. Their time was donated and their patriotism shows through loud and clear.

The story line involves a group of army enlistees who are given a mini furlough in New York City before they ship out. They are in awe of the big city at first but are told of a place where there is entertainment and free food. This, of course, is the canteen. Over the course of less than forty-eight hours, Dakota, Californa, Tex, Jersey, and others pair off with hostesses at the Stage Door Canteen. It is amazing how quickly love blooms in this setting. The hostesses have taken a vow not to get involved with the fellas, but how can they resist when they see the innocence, charm, and sincerity of the boys?

If there are starring roles in the storyline, they belong to California and Eileen, though they are not paired as sweethearts. California (LonMcAllister)looks like a teenager and is so likable. He has never kissed a girl! Eileen (Cheryl Walker) is torn between her duty to the canteen and her love for Dakota.

Some have said this movie is a morale booster or war-time propaganda. I like to think of it as the way things were during World War II.

You'll never see films like Stage Door Canteen again. The all star support the troops film is a thing of the past. Try to make something like that today and see how many stars would be willing. This is an art form deader than the dinosaur.

No reason it can't be enjoyed though. Skip the slight plot involving the servicemen who are patronizing the Stage Door Canteen who hook up with the hostesses there. Concentrate on the number of stars in the film, each doing some bit of business for themselves.

Though a number of film stars are here, the film concentrates on stars of the Broadway stage. Katherine Cornell makes her one and only appearance in a film, in fact my favorite part of Stage Door Canteen is her impromptu reading from Romeo and Juliet with bashful GI Lon McCallister who played Romeo in high school. Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne are here also. The Lunts later did some televised plays and we have some kinescope version of them. They eschewed the screen though, so even a bit of footage of them doing kitchen police at the Canteen we should be grateful for.

The concert violinist Yehuda Menuhin is also here and it's nice the GIs took time to hear some serious music, a break from the swing bands of the era that are featured like Count Basie, Freddy Martin, Benny Goodman, and Kay Kyser.

Director Frank Borzage was known for doing films of tender romances and the nominal leads William Terry and Cheryl Walker were little heard from again. Still they do their best to provide the note of poignancy for the serviceman enjoying time with the stars before going to war.

Funniest unintentional moment occurs when Franklin Pangborn and Johnny Weissmuller are on the serving line. Pangborn who was very close to being an out gay actor at the time is looking admiringly at Tarzan and engages in a little banter with Weissmuller. Tarzan decides things are too hot in the kitchen and removes his shirt. I thought Pangborn was going to faint on the spot.

I'm a sucker for these all star extravaganzas, I'll never give a bad review to one of them. Stage Door Canteen provides a glimpse of a bygone era, not likely to return.

A young soldier romances a hostess at the famed New York City canteen. A barrage of entertainers feed, mingle, chat and perform for the soldiers. Starring Cheryl Walker and William Terry. Just a few of the big stars contributing are: George Raft, Ed Wynn, Tallulah Bankhead, Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, Katherine Hepburn, Georgie Jessel, Kay Kyser, Count Basie, Gypsy Rose Lee, Benny Goodman, Helen Hayes and Edgar Bergen. Most prints of this "rally the boys" film run 132 minutes and others run 93 minutes. Watching this is like looking into a window of an era. Relaxing.

"Stage Door Canteen" was created by the theater people in New York as a way of entertaining the young men who were going to fight in WWII. Most of the young men passing through the canteen, were facing an unsure fate, but at the moment they were among the Broadway luminaries of the period, all the fears and troubles evaporated as they stood among the stars of the New York theater.

In fact, what comes across in the film is the easy camaraderie all the young men shared with people that otherwise they had never met in their ordinary lives. Meeting the likes of Tallulah Bankhead, a woman larger than life, was almost impossible for most of the people going to war.

Some of the best actors of that era are seen doing "supporting roles" in the film. Katherine Cornell, Paul Muni, Katherine Hepburn, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontaine, Ina Claire, Ray Bolger, Helen Hayes, are seen interacting with the GIs and as they give them hope and courage about an uncertain future of their lives.

The film is good to watch some of these long gone theater stars in a nostalgic look at our past.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon this during a week of WW2 B&W's run on TMC. Read all the other posts for a description. I'd just like to add my admiration for my dad's generation. What a fabulous film! I so envy their patriotism. Sure there were plenty of scumbags exploiting and dodging the war but this film makes me think of all those young men going of to an almost certain death. Our losses were bad, but I was surprised at the tribute paid to the Russian and Chinese servicemen (and women) whose losses were each in the multi-millions. I appreciated the performers for their skill and professionalism. The violinist seemed out of place until you see the crowd, enthralled, quiet, and admiring, politely keeping quiet, and then the applause. It made me think of how my dad's generation, without our over-bearing music industry, appreciated real classic music. Now, classic music is largely unappreciated by the masses. The comments of others on Hepburn are not deserved. As usual, people often try to judge films, attitudes, and events based on present-day ideals. Yeah, patriotism may be embarrassing and corny now, but in 1942 after some of your relatives are killed trying to stop Hitler I don't think it was out of place. Hepburns performance was one of the few of hers that I liked. I hoped she didn't have to be coaxed.