Stage Door Canteen

Sunday, May 30
7:00 PM (please note special start time)
Admission: $5.00
Movies on a Big Screen at The Guild
2828 35th St, Sacramento, CA


Stage Door Canteen
This star-studded World War II musical drama was largely financed by Theatre Guild, with proceeds going to various wartime fundraising concerns. Most of the story takes place at the Stage Door Canteen, a Manhattan-based home away from home for soldiers, sailors and marines. Within the walls of this non-profit establishment, servicemen are entertained by top musical, comedy and dramatic acts, and waited on by celebrities.

In "Stage Door Canteen," one of the Canteen servers, Eileen (Cheryl Walker) falls in love with one of the visiting soldiers Private Ed "Dakota" Smith (William Terry), despite the establishment's strict "no dating" rules. There's more to the plot than that, which is superbly directed by Frank Borzage ("A Farewell to Arms"), but the plot is mainly a device to link together a spectacular series of specialty acts and depict the life of servicemen on leave.

Stars abound in both cameos and more lengthy roles in this, including Katherine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Harpo Marx, Edger Bergen (with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd), Jack Benny, Freddy Martin, George Raft, Kay Kyser, Gypsy Rose Lee, Ethel Merman, Xavier Cugat, Count Basie and his Orchestra, Ed Wynn, Benny Goodman, Ray Bolger, Guy Lombardo, and dozens upon dozens more!