Hollywood Canteen

The film is an excellent period piece... one of those Hollywood wartime spectaculars that sort of carries out that sense of wartime thrift -- use just enough plot to glue the songs lightly together, and make sure you wave the flag enough to produce some enthusiasm for the "Buy War Bonds" trailer. The plot's thin, the music's good, the dancing OK, and it's actually pretty cool to see stars being "themselves." Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet are hilarious in a two-minute gag that evokes "The Maltese Falcon."

I am a great fan of the late John Garfield. If you are a Garfield buff, it may surprise you to learn that anyone would consider Hollywood Canteen a great Garfield film since he's on screen for such a very short time and since he did so many more "substantive" vehicles like "Body and Soul", "Gentleman's Agreement", "The Breaking Point", and "Force of Evil".

But you'd have to understand that the idea for the real Hollywood Canteen originated with Garfield, supposedly after he paid a visit to the famous Stage Door Canteen in New York. He got together with Bette Davis, and between them they persuaded all the major studios to support a similar place in Hollywood where servicemen could relax, have fun, and mingle with movie stars.

The movie's plot is utterly preposterous, but that makes no difference. The chemistry between stars Joan Leslie and Robert Hutton is wonderful. Joan's role was originally to have been played by Ann Sheridan, but she turned it down because she, too, thought the idea of a soldier on leave falling in love with a movie star at the Canteen and actually getting a chance to spend some with her was ridiculous.

In my opinion, Joan turned out to be absolutely perfect. She was quite young when the movie was made (only 18 or 19), but one of Warner Brothers' most popular actresses of the early 1940s.

Formal reviews of Hollywood Canteen at the time it was released tended to pan the movie, even though it was a commercial success. But for today's audiences it's two hours of great fun. There are terrific song and dance numbers by some of Hollywood's best.

The great irony of this movie has to do with what happened to John Garfield. Declared 4-F because of a heart condition, Garfield repeatedly tried to enlist but was turned down. He gave tirelessly of himself, entertaining troops in USO shows stateside and in Europe. Even Bette Davis acknowledged that he was the driving force behind the Canteen.

So it is inconceivable to me that someone who gave so much of himself to the war effort could have been blacklisted as a communist sympathizer. His career and his life were ruined, and he died suddenly in May, 1952.

As the great playwright, Clifford Odets, wrote in his letter to The New York Times the Sunday after Garfield died, "Despite any and all gossip to the contrary, I, who was in a position to know, state without equivocation that of all his possessions Garfield was proudest of his American heritage, even rudely so."

Anyway, enough of this heavy stuff. If you get a chance to see Hollywood Canteen, don't miss it. It's great entertainment.

I've got a weak spot when it comes to these all star extravaganzas which can never be again. With the old Hollywood studio system gone there's no place where all this talent can gather under one roof for the same picture. Put a film like this today it would have the budget of a second world country.

The plots of these things are invariably silly, in this one it's GI Robert Hutton becoming the one millionth serviceman to enter the Hollywood Canteen and he gets an all expense weekend there with the girl of his dreams, Warner Brothers star Joan Leslie. That was part of the mythology of the day, if the film were done at Columbia Rita Hayworth might have been the object of Hutton's desires. That one I can believe a little more.

The Hollywood Canteen in real life was the inspiration and personal project of Bette Davis and John Garfield and they preside over the film and it's many guest stars, mostly from the Warner Brothers lot.

One exception to the rule was Roy Rogers who came over from Republic Pictures and brought the Sons of the Pioneers with him. I wonder what Herbert J. Yates got out of Jack Warner for Rogers's services? Anyway Roy gets to introduce the Cole Porter classic Don't Fence Me In in this film.

Later on the Andrews Sisters sing it and they had a big hit record with Don't Fence Me In with Decca though they sang it with a well known crooner from that other studio Paramount for Decca Records.

Joan Crawford made her first appearance at Warner Brothers in this film after leaving MGM. She dances with GI Dane Clark who after seeing combat in the Pacific faints at the realization he's dancing with JOAN CRAWFORD. Those were the days.

Still I love these films so.

Simple story that would inspire any soldier or soldier to be. Serve your country and you could be rewarded with being supported and entertained by top Movie Stars!

Two soldiers on leave wander thru Hollywood and Vine area and there they find the Hollywood Canteen, a USO for all branches of the service. Many famous actresses and actors volunteer to entertain and/or dance with lonely servicemen, chat with the homesick men, and serve the young soldiers food and drink.

Our story follows one of the soldiers that has a crush on actress Joan Leslie and his dream of meeting the beautiful actress. Suddenly he gets a real "Hollywood" welcome by becoming the 1 millionth man to enter the USO canteen. His prize, a date with the Hollywood Actress of his choice.

Fun to see Bette Davis, Joan Leslie, Joan Crawford, Jane Wyman, and many more famous women in their dewy youth. Great to see handsome John Garfield, Alan Hale, Jack Carson,+ more in their younger years.

Great entertainment by Roy Rogers, Dorsey Band, Andrew Sisters and Eddie Cantor.

If you want suspense, drama, excitement - find another movie. This is pure entertainment with a huge cast of top name stars. The story is a poor excuse to parade the big names, but who cares about plot when you have this historical document demonstrating how "old fashion decent folks" used to behave. The canteen was real, the stars banded together to do their part for the war effort. As a retired military officer I remember the good days when the military was respected and treated just as good as it was shown in the movie.

I could never imagine todays self centered stars banding together to do something similar to the Hollywood canteen. Hurray for Hollywood - the real entertainment folks with true talent.