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This 61 year old film, while overlong and not great, remains a fascinating glimpse of America in the midst of World War II. The basic story line is about four soldiers just out of basic training who are about to be shipped overseas to the front (which one is secret). On a three day leave in New York City they continually visit the Stage Door Canteen, where the food is free and they can dance and talk with volunteer hostesses who operate under very severe rules regarding not dating the soldiers. A huge array of stage, screen, and radio personalities and big bands, all of whom worked fro free, is on hand to entertain evey couple of minutes, and the acts range from comedy (some very dated) to dramatic recitations and songs. Gypsy Rose Lee is on hand to do a G rated strip and even the Lunts are there to perform. So the story is merely there to provide over two hours of contemporary entertainment to boost the soldiers' (and our) morale. This has always been a favorite of mine and I just got it on DVD to replace my VHS copy.
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Certainly not a classic but still a thoroughly entertaining film. I posted about this film some time back and still amazed that a few inmates did not know who Benny Goodman's "girl singer" was. (The great Peggy Lee, of course.)The ending is intentionally emotional. I'm sure it grabbed the audiences in 1943.
Another movie that's somewhat similar is "Hollywood Canteen." It was also made in 1943. It's not as good a story as "Stage Door Canteen" but some of the acts are better known.
I have the original 135 minute version of "Stage Door Canteen." Do you have that or the 94-minute television cut? The longer version is more cohesive and is, imho, thoroughly superior to the shorter version.
The DVD is have is the longer one but I belkieve it's 132 minutes long.
But the All Movie Guide sez 132 minutes. I will assume the DVD box is wrong.How's the digital transfer on your version? On mine (Movie Classics) the transfer is excellent and they seemed to have used a very good print.
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