Hollywood Canteen
by Delmer Daves
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Actor: Alan Hale, Alexis Smith, Andrea King, Eleanor Parker, Kitty CarlisleDirector: Delmer Daves
Primary Contributor: Jack Benny
Primary Contributor: Bette Davis
Primary Contributor: John Garfield
Primary Contributor: Joan Crawford
Primary Contributor: Joan Leslie
Primary Contributor: Eddie Cantor
Primary Contributor: Jack Carson
Primary Contributor: Ida Lupino
Primary Contributor: Peter Lorre
Primary Contributor: Dennis Morgan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 124 minutes
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Hollywood Canteen
DVD Review: Hollywood Canteen is an excellent film
Summary: 5 Stars
Hollywood Canteen is an excellent and enjoyable film. It bears some resemblance to the earlier Stage Door Canteen movie, which was written not long after Pearl Harbor and filmed in the fall of 1942. Stage Door Canteen, which is a good film also, portaryed the East Coast (NY) version of the Hollywood Canteen, where those in the armed forces were able to stop in for a free meal and meet the stars of stage and screen before returning to action. The movie, Hollywood Canteen was written and filmed early in 1944, and the tone is a little more lighthearted than Stage Door Canteen, which bore the mark of 1942 when the Allies were arguably losing the war. The film, Hollywood Canteen is about the place of the same name - a dinner and showplace where those in the armed forces could mingle with Hollywood stars (and they did show up quite regularly). The story is pretty simple: a soldier wins a date with a real film star (Joan Leslie, costar of Yankee Doodle Dandy and numerous other films), and a number of other minor and humorous subplots run. Viewers will be treated to a number of excellent performances - song, jokes, dance, musical performances of some of the top stars of the day. Commedian Jack Benny makes an extended appearance, and many stars from Peter Lorre to Paul Henreid to Bette Davis also appear, playing themselves. Fans of the Golden Era of Hollywood in particular will really enjoy this picture as so many recognizable stars make appearances and give short but memorable performacnes. I have shown parts of this film to my students, and they are surprised at the excellent music, singing, and the general production quality of the movie and generally enjoy the performances in the film.
Some reviewers on Amazon and IMDB have written that a romance between a soldier and a young film actress was not believable. I do not agree. It may be "preposterous" to the cynical, but such romances did happen. Perhaps the best known is the romance between hero marine John Basilone and actress Virginia Grey during his war bond tour after Guadalcanal (and which was also portrayed in the HBO miniseries 'The Pacific'). The film handles the romance between Slim (ably played by Robert Hutton) and the acress Joan Leslie (as herself) very well, and with a great deal of respect. For me, the most touching moment of the film, apart from the ending (an ending which has been copied a number of times in romantic films since), is when Slim meets John Leslie's family. At dinner, Joan's father says a long prayer for servicemen and women fighting the Axis all around the world. It is a very poignant moment, especially when Joan Leslie looks up at her father in the film at the end of that prayer, as if to say "thank you." Its too bad the director cut away quickly. That scene, and indeed the whole film, serves to remind us of that great generation, and what they did for the world. If you like the classic old films -- their music, humor, and generally positive, upbeat stories (and great "Hollywood endings"), you will really enjoy Hollywood Canteen.
More Hollywood Canteen reviews:
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Description of Hollywood Canteen
The Hollywood Canteen was a club for GIs where Joan Crawford might over- easy you some eggs and John Garfield might scrub out the frying pan. The movie Hollywood Canteen is a snappy, starry salute to that World War II landmark, built around a storyline involving a corporal who wins a date with winsome Joan Leslie. At ease, soldiers, as real-life canteen co-founders Bette Davis and Garfield plus dozens more luminaries - from Jack Benny to Barbara Stanwyck to Roy Rogers and Trigger - dazzle the troops and modern fans in "a great big scrambled vaudeville show with enough talent to have made a dozen fine movies" (Howard Barnes, New York Herald Tribune).Bestsellers in DVD
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