This 1960s color episode (#467) of the television series, “The Big Picture” uses footage shot by the United States Army Signal Corps to explain the mission of the United Service Organizations, or USO, from World War II through the Vietnam War (TRT 28:44).
Animated opening titles: “The United States Army Presents The Big Picture, Produced for the Office of the Chief of Information by the Army Pictorial Center” (0:08). Bob Hope holds a golf club during an open-air USO show in Vietnam (0:40). Caroll Baker joins in the performance. A crowd of applauding enlisted men (1:12). Title card: “USO Wherever They Go!” (1:44). A world map dotted with locations of active USO duty, Europe to Vietnam (1:59). A military parade. A neon “USO” sign. Caroll Baker dances in a black leotard while men in uniform do the monkey around her. Baker sings while Bob Hope looks on, unsmiling (2:36). The audience responds (3:23). An unnamed host in an office set (3:29). Member agencies of the USO are listed, represented by placards: The YMCA, The National Catholic Community Service (NCCS), The Jewish Welfare Board (JWB), the YWCA, the Salvation Army, and the National Travelers Aid Association (3:51). A blindfolded draft selection process during WWII. Men with hands raised take an oath of enlistment. Boot camps. Men shipping out (4:35). Comedian Joe E. Brown dances onstage, mugs at a microphone during a WWII-era USO show (5:51). A train with a banner “Buy War Bonds.” Montage of autograph signings, camp shows: Maureen O’Hara, James Cagney. Lucille Ball waves from the back of a train (6:13). James Stewart on a base. Jackie Coogan. Tyrone Power taking the oath. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Robert Taylor in an aviator’s jacket, in a plane. Clark Gable fires a machine gun. Carole Lombard. Kay Francis with the cast of “Four Jills in a Jeep” (6:26). Al Jolson, Merle Oberon on stage. Patricia Morrison joins her. Allen Jenkins, Frank McHugh dance comically (7:14). Captain Melvyn Douglas. Ann Sheridan. Ben Blue clowns. Radio personality Jackie Miles (7:49). Mickey Rooney laughs with enlisted men. Ingrid Bergman shakes Jack Benny violently. James Cagney raises a glass of beer in a toast. Bob Hope shakes a hand (8:24). A sea of helmets, “dixie cup” hats. A woman dancer with a young man who can’t match her high kicks (8:45). A montage of lesser-known stars: A banjo act, an acrobat, clowns, dancing girls (9:23). USO during the Korean War. Wally Vernon. Frances Langford. Debbie Reynolds (10:29). Marilyn Monroe arrives waving, smiling. Monroe sings on stage (11:33). A car arrives at a military base. Games of baseball, volleyball, basketball, checkers. Reading (12:25). Men shop at a post exchange (13:05). A library. A movie is screened in a film screening room. Woodworking, model shipbuilding. A religious service at an army chapel (13:23). A man wanders off-post, window shopping, frowning (14:04). Men board a Trailways bus (14:40). Times Square, with signs for Canadian Club whiskey, Coca-Cola, London Character Shoes, Allied Chemical. Zoom on a USO flag (14:44). A soldier walks up to a Travelers Aid counter. A USO lounge (15:28). Exterior, “The New Yorker,” with a marquee advertising the “Manhattan Room.” A serviceman exits an 8th Ave. subway station. A dance at a USO lounge. A band plays Fender guitars (16:16). A church (17:10). A home-cooked dinner. A sign, “House for Sale” (17:37). Coffee is poured from a carafe. A box office. Stadium sports. A statue of George M. Cohan. Howard Johnson’s at Duffy Square in Manhattan. A guided tour (18:38). Sailors arrive in Naples. A USO information kiosk. Sailors at the ruins of Pompei. The Acropolis in Greece (20:20). A mosque in Turkey. Surfing in Waikiki, Hawaii (21:53). Young men talk to women in a USO lounge. A living room (22:15). A craft market (22:52). Saigon, Vietnam’s USO club advertises Martha Raye. Men play cards, billiards. A dining hall (23:36). A Danang club with glass windows and milkshakes (25:37). USO CEO Harvey Firestone Jr. speaks (27:10).
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is a nonprofit that was founded in 1941. It has worked in partnership with the Department of War (and later the Department of Defense). Although it is congressionally-chartered, it is not a government agency.
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
