Here are two shorts from WWII: Hollywood Canteen, and Private Snafu in “The Chow Hound”.
In 1942, Hollywood legends John Garfield, Bette Davis and Jules C. Stein opened the Hollywood Canteen. Located at 1451 Cahuenga Blvd. in Los Angeles, the club offered food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas. The canteen was open to USA servicemen and women, as well as members of the military from allied countries. A serviceperson’s ticket for admission was his or her uniform and everything at the canteen was free of charge. The Hollywood Canteen closed on November 22, 1945.
Title: Hollywood Canteen – Overseas Special (:06-10). Hollywood Canteen. Servicemen file in. People dance and eat inside the Canteen. Dinah Shore speaks (:11-1:13). Lana Turner, Marlene Dietrich, and Deanna Durbin. Xavier Cugat plays music as couples dance. Judge and Mrs. Hardy behind the snack bar. Eddie Cantor sings a song onstage (1:14-2:10). Hedy Lamarr signs autographs. Red Skeleton tells jokes and drinks. Jimmy Durante. Service men clap. Dinah Shore talks (2:11-3:35). Dinah Shore sings (3:36-5:35).
“The Chow Hound” cartoon was directed by Frank Tashlin and first released in June, 1944.
It features Private Snafu and is one of a series of cartoons produced between 1943 and 1945. The films were designed to instruct service personnel about security, proper sanitation habits, booby traps and other military subjects, and to improve troop morale. Primarily, they demonstrate the negative consequences of doing things wrong — in this case, the toon rails against food waste. The main character SNAFU’s name is a play on the military slang acronym SNAFU, “Situation Normal: All F*cked Up.” The cleaned-up version of that phrase, usually used on radio and in print, was “Situation Normal: All Fouled Up.” The voice of Private Snafu was performed by Mel Blanc.
Title: Private Snafu in the Chow Hound (A bonus Cartoon) (5:36-5:45). A bull whistles at a cow. The bull marries the cow. Just as he is going to have alone time with his new bride, the Nazis and Japan declare war. Soldiers march. The bull sees a picture of Uncle Sam. He enlists and is waving goodbye on a train. The bull is on a train. Submarine periscopes see the U.S.A. coming and huddle together (5:46-7:06). The ship lands and the food supply takes a craft to shore. Trucks. A camel carries the food. Food must go on to Snafu. Trucks go down winding roads.American bombers head east. Food supplies are dropped. Snafu, the star, must eat. He is called to dinner and gets lots of food (7:07-9:12). Snafu eats and eats, he is full. He then rests against a tree. The bull is there and he hits Snafu from behind and sends him high into the sky. The bull speaks to the viewer, he signed up to be food but is now waste, he slams a trash can lid shut (9:13-9:58)
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
