It's a shame that many of the great stars here do not appear together, for it is a movie and theater addict's dream to see such fabulous personalities like Tallulah Bankhead, Judith Anderson, Katharine Hepburn, Katherine Cornell and Lynn Fontanne work together, in addition to socializing. Some are on and off so fast that you may forget that they were in this classic World War II musical overstuffed with talent. It's no different than the more well known "Hollywood Canteen" made by Warner Brothers the following year, featuring some dramatic stars doing musical numbers and tons and tons of specialties.
The dramatic stars here don't sing or dance; They mainly walk around and socialize with the soldiers and sailors patronizing the famous nightclub where only military personnel were allowed to visit. Some film personalities not known for their stage work do appear here, most memorably Johnny Weismueller (showing the very macho Franklin Pangborn how to do his Tarzan yell), Merle Oberon, William Demarest, recording star Peggy Lee, and radio personalities Kay Kyser, Edgar Bergen and Jack Benny.
Among the recent Broadway stars who get to perform musical numbers are Broadway's two Ethels (Waters and Merman) and Ray Bolger, with comic moments from Ed Wynn and Hugh Herbert and a particularly memorable anti-Nazi song (followed with a musical rendering of "The Lord's Prayer") by British comic favorite Gracie Fields. The rare film appearance by the legendary Katherine Cornell is memorable by her sudden recital of a scene from "Romeo and Juliet" with a stage struck soldier. Bankhead roams around the tables as only she can, offering unsolicited advice to the romantic goings on between the soldiers and the girls working at the factory. What little story there is involves canteen worker Cheryl Walker who marries a visiting soldier and is dismissed from her duties by president Selena Royle for breaking the rules. Walker is consoled by Katherine Hepburn who provides the moral of the story. Those watching this lengthy film simply for her presence in it will have to wait more than two hours for her appearance, but she makes the most out of her small cameo.
The magnificent Judith Anderson gets to show her real personality by being rather flip with a soldier who didn't recognize her when she greeted him upon his arrival. The film makes more attention towards her role of Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca" than it does her legendary stage work which was very active at this time with acclaimed revivals of "Hamlet" and "The Three Sisters" while making occasional supporting appearances in movies. Dame May Witty, very busy in movies at this time, is a surprise visitor to the canteen, treated very regally in her encounter with the beautiful Merle Oberon. The film does make its point with all of these cameos, being a very important historical record of how soldiers and sailors on leave were entertained while on the town.
The dramatic stars here don't sing or dance; They mainly walk around and socialize with the soldiers and sailors patronizing the famous nightclub where only military personnel were allowed to visit. Some film personalities not known for their stage work do appear here, most memorably Johnny Weismueller (showing the very macho Franklin Pangborn how to do his Tarzan yell), Merle Oberon, William Demarest, recording star Peggy Lee, and radio personalities Kay Kyser, Edgar Bergen and Jack Benny.
Among the recent Broadway stars who get to perform musical numbers are Broadway's two Ethels (Waters and Merman) and Ray Bolger, with comic moments from Ed Wynn and Hugh Herbert and a particularly memorable anti-Nazi song (followed with a musical rendering of "The Lord's Prayer") by British comic favorite Gracie Fields. The rare film appearance by the legendary Katherine Cornell is memorable by her sudden recital of a scene from "Romeo and Juliet" with a stage struck soldier. Bankhead roams around the tables as only she can, offering unsolicited advice to the romantic goings on between the soldiers and the girls working at the factory. What little story there is involves canteen worker Cheryl Walker who marries a visiting soldier and is dismissed from her duties by president Selena Royle for breaking the rules. Walker is consoled by Katherine Hepburn who provides the moral of the story. Those watching this lengthy film simply for her presence in it will have to wait more than two hours for her appearance, but she makes the most out of her small cameo.
The magnificent Judith Anderson gets to show her real personality by being rather flip with a soldier who didn't recognize her when she greeted him upon his arrival. The film makes more attention towards her role of Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca" than it does her legendary stage work which was very active at this time with acclaimed revivals of "Hamlet" and "The Three Sisters" while making occasional supporting appearances in movies. Dame May Witty, very busy in movies at this time, is a surprise visitor to the canteen, treated very regally in her encounter with the beautiful Merle Oberon. The film does make its point with all of these cameos, being a very important historical record of how soldiers and sailors on leave were entertained while on the town.