Stage Door Canteen

STAGE DOOR CANTEEN (1943) is a lot of fun for what it is. What it is is a patriotic morale-booster that brings the star-studded experience of New York's Stage Door Canteen to a wartime audience. Canteens were set up by big names in show business to entertain servicemen on their home soil, free of charge.

The film is chock-full of celebrity cameos by dozens of famous stars of the stage, screen, and radio. Most of the celebrities are identified in some way, although big-time classic movie fans should have fun spotting them first.

The movie is a product of its time, and seen many decades removed from its original context it becomes something of a time capsule, showcasing the entertainment of a past generation. Some of the names will be a bit obscure to modern audiences (particularly stage stars who didn't make many movies).* Guest stars include ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, Oscar-winners Katharine Hepburn and Paul Muni, the jazz bands of Benny Goodman and Count Basie, and various Hollywood supporting players and entertainment personalities.

Where else can you see Franklin Pangborn wash dishes with jungle man Johnny Weissmuller? Other highlights are scenes between married Broadway stars Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, a rousing song by Ethel Merman, and a comic striptease by Gypsy Rose Lee (strictly rated G -- more "tease" than "strip").

Classic movie fans will get more out of this film than the uninitiated, who might not recognize the faces or even the names that go with them. The movie works best when you can appreciate the cameos.

Don't expect much in the way of plot. Comedy bits and musical numbers are strung together by a story of young soldiers visiting the Canteen on leave before being shipped overseas and the girls they meet inside. The young romances reflect the bittersweet reality of wartime relationships.

Cheryl Walker is lovely as the ice queen hostess who comes to the Canteen for all the wrong reasons. She's looking to further her own acting career and isn't particularly interested in showing the soldiers a good time. Marjorie Riordan is cute as one of the other hostesses, who spends time with a soldier who has no sweetheart back home.

STAGE DOOR CANTEEN isn't wartime escapism. Director Frank Borzage doesn't try to distract the audience from the global situation. He keeps the audience constantly reminded, with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines that populate the Canteen and the alternately upbeat and somber patriotic tunes. Amid all the star-gazing, the film comes out in support of the U.S. servicemen, as well as America's allies in combat from Australia, the U.K., Russia, and even China. It's not hard to imagine the comfort the film must have given audiences at the height of World War II.

*The similarly-themed HOLLYWOOD_CANTEEN (1944) may have more recognizable stars, boasting some of the biggest names from Warner Bros. films (Bette Davis, Joan Leslie, Joan Crawford, John Garfield, S.Z. Sakall, Ida Lupino, Jack Carson, Sydney Greenstreet, Jane Wyman, etc.).

"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.

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.

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.