Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Fantastic!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Blistering performances.

All-star Warner Bros. hokum about a soldier (Robert Hutton) with the biggest crush on Joan Leslie. Who can blame him? So he spends his leave at the Hollywood Canteen meeting various stars and, of course, the lovely Joan Leslie herself. The story is slight but it's just an excuse to promote the Hollywood Canteen, a club that offered free food and entertainment to servicemen during World War II. The Canteen's founders, Bette Davis and John Garfield, are among the many movie stars that appear here. Ann Sheridan is one of the few stars that doesn't appear, despite her name being dropped repeatedly.It is a little bit self-congratulatory, with movie stars patting themselves on the back for what good people they are. Some things never change as that's still the case today. But, cynicism aside, it's all good fun and completely charming. There are lots of musical performances from the likes of the Andrews Sisters, Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, and several actors. Highlights among the cameos is Joan Crawford's first appearance under contract to WB and Syndey Greenstreet & Peter Lorre spooking a Marine. It's not high art but it's a good time and it made me smile.

Almost every face in this movie was a notable star but only a handful are remembered today. A few, like Joe E. Brown, I knew only from caricatures in cartoons.The musical performances are the best part, in fact, I fast-forwarded through most of the cringe-worthy story sections to concentrate on those. The story almost seems like a horrible joke on any real servicemen who might have seen this.As others have noted, one of the highlights is the Golden Gate Quartet number. I've read that studios had to plan scenes with substantial black performers ( i.e. those not portraying servants) so that they could be cut from the movie without damaging the story. Southern white audiences demanded that. It is very much in evidence here. Unlike most of the other musical segments they have no tie-in with the action on the floor.Too bad someone couldn't come up with a better story to tie it all together but the time-capsule nature of it makes up for some of that.

This film is, on a dramatic level, a lot of Hollywood hokum and hooey. But on another level, it is a quasi-documentary. The Hollywood Canteen did exist in 1944 and did feature the efforts of stars and starlets, giving their all for the GIs.Like many films produced during the WWII years, Hollywood Canteen played a role in the attempts to bolster morale overseas and on the home front. What better way to do that than to create this fantasy about a GI on leave who visits the canteen, meets his dream girl--who happens to be a starlet--and falls in love. The preposterous part is that she also falls in love with him.The GI, Slim, (played by Robert Hutton) has been dreaming about actress Joan Leslie (played by herself) as he served his country. Visiting the canteen, his only wish is to meet Miss Leslie. Thanks to the machinations of John Garfield, Bette Davis and others, he gets his wish and more. Slim is a humble everyman who might have been portrayed by Jimmy Stewart (except that Jimmy was dropping bombs on Germany from a B-24 in real life). His pal (Dane Clark) is a not-so-humble operator who meets another starlet from Warner Brothers who won't give him the time of day. But it turns out that the "starlet" is really just a studio tour guide (Janis Paige). Ms. Page is really delightful in her role as the girl who eventually gives in to the soldier's rough charms.I was somewhat surprised that HC was filmed in B&W. But the camera work, lighting and other production values show a sense of pride, despite the fact that they could have just slapped this star vehicle together. And what stars! The cast is a roundup of current talent from Warner Brothers. Since the setting is a canteen, numerous musical performances are included.With violinist Joseph Szigeti as his straight man, Jack Benny proves it takes a real musician to play as "badly" as he does.Joan McCracken is the principal dancer in the Ballet in Jive dance number. She was Bob Fosse's second wife. I was surprised when I read that she had been a rockette, because of her diminutive stature, but she was 5'5" and research shows that that was the minimum height for rockettes in her time.Also notable is a singing number by Kitty Carlisle.This film was a love letter to servicemen everywhere (and American allies too!). As sappy as it might be, it is a lovely time capsule that captures the real hopes of Americans invested in the war effort and the soldiers who fought so far from home.

Hollywood Canteen is a real gem of a movie. But despite all the music and delightful cameos, it's really the love story between the movie star and the soldier that keeps this movie together. Others have said it's preposterous that a famous movie star would be likely to become so involved with a simple Joe average soldier on a few days leave during the war. But I don't agree. At the time Joan Leslie's character is very young and beautiful. But also appears to be no Dumbo. Plus she's human like everybody else and see's in the young good natured if star struck soldier, a young man who is sensible, kind, generous and caring. In short,somebody she could actually fall in love with.The chemistry between Joan Leslie and Robert Hutton in this movie as the lovers is there for all to see. So why could it not have happened in real life? There is also the tale of Hutton's friend, the Sergeant played by Dane Clark. He's a bit of a rough diamond but well-meaning and definitely funny. And he too finds love with the beautiful Janis Paige playing the ambitious studio guide who is quite delightful in the way she handles the ebullient Sergeant.All in all this is a wonderful movie that I would recommend to anybody interested in seeing how it used to be done.