Hollywood Canteen

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.

Hollywoodcanteen was made in 1944 as World War II was hitting it's peak. This star-studded film, captures a time now long gone-the glamor which was Hollywood.

Robert Hutton plays Corporal Slim Green. A purple-heart winner on a one week leave in Hollywood, California. After catching the local sights, he goes to the Hollywoodcanteen for servicemen in the hopes of meeting his dream girl, Joan Leslie. The innocence of this romance is a real trip down memory lane; when a kiss, a gentle touch, and a starry-eyed stare meant everything.

Dane Clark as Hutton's sidekick from New York, Sgt. Nolan, steals the show. Clark is at his finest, as the wounded buddy trying his best to find a girl of his own. He finally does in the stunningly beautiful Janis Paige. As Angela, Paige is witty, sexy, and sets the screen ablaze.

The farewell ending at the train station (re-acted in the 1979 Richard Gere film, YANKS), is one of the most moving and romantic in screen history.

An enjoyable, upbeat, romantic, and entertaining movie.

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.

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.

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

*** (out of 4)

The Hollywood Canteen club was started by Bette Davis and John Garfield as a way for Hollywood to show support to U.S. Troops who were heading overseas. The club offered the service people a chance to meet, dance and be waited on by various celebrities from Hollywood. This movie here gathers up some of the biggest people in the business and we're given a side story of a soldier (Robert Hutton) getting a three day pass and spending it at the club where he meets and falls in love with Joan Leslie. If you're looking for a film with a story then you're not going to find it here. Many people have attacked this film for being stupid and I understand that but at the same time this thing offers up a chance to see the actual club and we also get some of the biggest stars every put together for a film. A lot of the cameos are rather silly and of course everyone is introduced by name but it's still quite fun seeing so many people in one film. Not only do we get Davis, Garfield and Leslie but there's dozens of other stars including the likes of Crawford, Stanwyck, Lorre, Greenstreet, Rogers (and Trigger), Benny, Parker, Alexis Smith, Ida Lupino, Henried, Brown and countless others. Seeing these stars in one picture is reason enough to check it out and there are also some musical numbers to keep you entertained. I think the film works best during the first hour when we're inside the club and the various stars are just making cameos. Once the love story kicks in things gets extremely silly and obviously staged but both Hutton and especially Leslie are charming enough to keep you slightly entertained. At 124-minutes the film does run out of gas before it's over with but film buffs should still enjoy it.