Movie Review: Stage Door Canteen (1943)
A troop train carrying soldiers to a base near New York City has typical troopers California, Dakota, Jersey and Tex on board. Only Jersey has a steady girl, and he’s hoping they have some time before being shipped overseas to see her. California’s never even kissed a girl, and Dakota has sworn off romance for the duration. Tex would like a new girl, but it seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, several young hostesses get ready to work at the Stage Door Canteen. This is a special servicemen’s club set up near Broadway where celebrities volunteer their time and talent to entertain the troops. One of the women, Eileen, is less interested in the volunteer work than in being noticed by a Hollywood or Broadway scout, so she can advance her acting career.
Our troopers get passes as their ship is not ready to leave, so they come to the Stage Door Canteen. Despite the restrictions (the hostesses are there to lend a friendly ear and dance partners to the lonely soldiers; no physical affection or outside dating allowed) Dakota and Eileen find romance blossoming. Too bad there’s a war on!
This 1943 film is a tribute to the real-life canteen, and can be fairly described as star-studded. Musicians like Count Basie and Benny Goodman, comedians like Ed Bergen and Harpo Marx, and many cameos from performers like Lunt & Fontanne and Johnny Weismuller. In real life, the canteen probably didn’t feature all these people at once, but all of them did appear at the Stage Door Canteen or the West Coast Hollywood Canteen at one time or another.
The story is paper-thin, only there to connect together the music and comedy acts. The music is first-rate, and the format allows a variety of musical genres, from swing to religious. The comedy is a bit more dated, and younger viewers may find themselves lost trying to figure out who some of these people are. The wartime setting is often mentioned, with as many different types of servicemembers crammed in as possible, including the Allied forces.
That leads to a bit of puzzlement at one point where Chinese airmen are set to sail to China–from New York City. (There are some mild ethnic slurs towards the Japanese.)
The film is long by 1940s standards, over two hours, but is in the public domain so you can probably find a good version online or on cheap DVD. Highly recommended for fans of any of the artists involved–your kids may want to skip right to the music bits.
In fact, let’s have a moment with Gracie Fields singing “The Lord’s Prayer.”
