IMDb > Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Hollywood Canteen (1944) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   612 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Delmer Daves
Writer:
Delmer Daves (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Hollywood Canteen on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 December 1944 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Musical | Romance more
Tagline:
62 Stars in Warners' Biggest Ever! more
Plot:
Two soldiers on sick leave spend three nights at the Hollywood Canteen before going back to active duty... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars. more
User Comments:
A movie that's great fun, with a sad, ironic undercurrent more (20 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
The Andrews Sisters ... Themselves (as Andrews Sisters)

Jack Benny ... Himself
Joe E. Brown ... Himself
Eddie Cantor ... Himself

Kitty Carlisle ... Herself

Jack Carson ... Himself
Dane Clark ... Sergeant Nowland

Joan Crawford ... Herself
Helmut Dantine ... Himself

Bette Davis ... Herself
Faye Emerson ... Herself
Victor Francen ... Himself
John Garfield ... Himself

Sydney Greenstreet ... Himself
Alan Hale ... Himself
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
124 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl
Company:
Warner Bros. Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Cole Porter's genial, "unsophisticated" cowboy song, "Don't Fence Me In," via the Decca recording by Bing Crosby (who did not appear in the picture) and The Andrews Sisters, reigned as the number-one "Billboard" single for eight weeks, between December 23, 1944 and February 10, 1945. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When "Slim" is sightseeing in Hollywood at the beginning of the film his infantry division patch (40th Div) is shown on his left shoulder. However, in one scene (right after the swimming pool), the patch is displayed on his right shoulder. more
Quotes:
[after unintentionally scaring away a marine sergeant]
Peter Lorre: [sadly] All I wanted to ask him is to join me in a cigarette!
Sydney Greenstreet: He didn't trust us, Peter.
Peter Lorre: No... and we are such gentle people!
Sydney Greenstreet: ...Are we?
Peter Lorre: [Backs away, frightened]
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) (V) more
Soundtrack:
The Very Thought of You more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
24 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
A movie that's great fun, with a sad, ironic undercurrent, 5 June 2001
10/10
Author: Dr. John Fox (drdisc) from West Chester, Pennsylvania

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", 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 together 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 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 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 playwrite, Clifford Odets wrote in his letter of tribute to The New York Times, "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.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (20 total)

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Luckily Ann Sheriden was wrong about this one. mike54191
Joan Leslie hawkeye_74
Jack and Jane wbrainard
Hard Dancing Soldier with Patty? HOHNancy
the shoulder shaking singer katwess
The Golden Gate Quartet ericmozart
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