Stage Door Canteen

Stage Door Canteen (1943)

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A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.

Date of release
1943-06-24
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (20)
Runtime
2h 12m
Genres
Comedy, Romance, War
Director
Frank Borzage

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Stage Door Canteen is a 1943 American World War II film with musical numbers and other entertainment interspersed with dramatic scenes by a largely unknown cast. The film was produced by Sol Lesser's Principal Artists Productions and directed by Frank Borzage. The film features many celebrity cameo appearances but primarily relates a simple drama set in the famed New York City restaurant and nightclub for American and Allied servicemen. Six bands are featured. The score and the original song, "We Mustn't Say Goodbye", were nominated for Academy Awards.

Production

Stage Door Canteen was made under the auspices of the American Theatre Wing. The actual Stage Door Canteen in New York City was a basement club located in the 44th Street Theatre, and it could not be used for the filming as it was too busy receiving servicemen. The settings were recreated at the Fox Movietone Studio in New York and at RKO Pathé Studios in Los Angeles.

Star appearances range from momentary cameos, such as Johnny Weissmuller working in the Canteen's kitchen, to more substantial roles. In a June 1943 feature story titled "Show Business at War", Life magazine counted a total of 82 performers in Stage Door Canteen, and provided total screen time for some of them:

Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy (248 seconds) and Mortimer Snerd (102 seconds)

Gypsy Rose Lee, performing a "strip" on stage (331 seconds)

Gracie Fields, singing the "Machine Gun Song" and "The Lord's Prayer" (197 seconds)

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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