This wonderful short featuring Dinah Shore, tells the story of the Hollywood Canteen, a converted Barn located in Hollywood. It operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard between October 3, 1942, and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day), as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for servicemen, usually on their way overseas. Even though the majority of visitors were U.S servicemen, the canteen was open to servicemen of allied countries as well as women in all branches of service. A serviceman’s ticket for admission was his uniform, and everything at the canteen was free of charge. The East Coast counterpart was the NY-based Stage Door Canteen, which featured Broadway stars and was also celebrated in a film, Stage Door Canteen.

The film features many celebrities including Lana Turner, Deanna Durbin and Marlene Deitrich, with musical acts including Xavier Cugat and Jimmy Durante. Judge and Mrs. Hardy, Jimmy Simms, Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr, Red Skelton and other celebrities are also seen.

At 3:30, Shore sings a song dedicated to troops on the China-Burma-India front.

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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