May 5th
Stage Door Canteen*        
(US 1943)                   

United Artists. 132m. bw

Servicemen on their way to fight in WWII find comfort and entertainment at the Stage Door Canteen in New York where actors and entertainers provide their talent for free for the war effort.
Hollywood does its bit in this overlong, elementary flagwaver with several guest appearances by stars of somewhat obscure fame nowadays, among the more well known faces, in a pleasant record of some of their acts. The dramatic plot threading the guest spots is not as tame as might be supposed, and provides some occasional surprises while the general tone remains jingoistic.

Written by: Delmer Davies.
Producers: Sol Lesser, Frank Borzage.
Director: Frank Borzage.
Starring (in no particular order): William Terry, Cheryl Walker, Lon McCallister, Margaret Early, Frederick Brady, Dorothea Kent, Michael Harrison, Judith Anderson, Tallulah Bankhead, Count Basie and his Orchestra, Ralph Bellamy, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Ray Bolder, Ina Claire, Katharine Cornell, Gracie Fields, Lynn Fontaine, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Sam Jaffe, George Jessel, Tom Kennedy, Gypsy Rose Lee, Harpo Marx, Yehudi Menuhin, Ethel Merman, Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, George Raft, Ethel Waters, Johnny Weissmuller, May Whitty, Ed Wynn, and others.
Photography: Harry J. Wild.
Music: Freddie Rich, and others.
Art Direction: Hans Peters.