Stage Door Canteen (film)

1943 film by Frank Borzage
the New York City entertainment venue
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Stage Door Canteen is a 1943 American World War II film with musical numbers and other entertainment interspersed with dramatic scenes by a largely unknown cast. The film was produced by Sol Lesser's Principal Artists Productions and directed by Frank Borzage. The film features many celebrity cameo appearances but primarily relates a simple drama set in the famed New York City restaurant and nightclub for American and Allied servicemen. Six bands are featured. The score and the original song, "We Mustn't Say Goodbye", were nominated for Academy Awards. Stage Door Canteen is in the public domain in North America and for this reason is widely available in many DVD and VHS releases of varying quality.

The film, made in wartime, celebrates the work of the Stage Door Canteen, created in New York City as a recreational center for both American and Allied servicemen on leave to socialize with, be entertained or served by Broadway celebrities. The storyline follows several women who volunteer for the Canteen and must adhere to strict rules of conduct, the most important of which is that their job is to provide friendly companionship to and be dance partners for the (often nervous) men who are soon to be sent into combat. No romantic fraternization is allowed. Eileen is a volunteer who confesses to only becoming involved in the Canteen in order to be discovered by one of the Hollywood stars in attendance. She ultimately falls in love with and becomes engaged to one of the soldiers.

Stage Door Canteen was named one of the ten best motion pictures of 1943 in a Film Daily poll of 439 newspaper and radio reviewers. The film received two Academy Award nominations—for the original score by Fred Rich, and for the original song, "We Mustn't Say Goodbye", by James V. Monaco (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, prefaced his remarks on the film by stating his aversion to the contemporary trend toward all star spectacles, which he called "cheap showmanship": <blockquote>But for once, we've got to make a frank concession. As done in Stage Door Canteen this parading of show world notables has some real dramatic point. It shapes a glamorous, atmospheric setting within which a slight story is played—a setting as real as is the Canteen for a story that is old as the hills. And, besides, some of the acts are pretty good. The film was such a success at the boxoffice that Lesser was able to turn over $1.5 million—the equivalent of more than $20.5 million today. "Patriotism, entertainment, and romance mix badly", wrote modern critic Pauline Kael, who looked back on the film for The New Yorker. "Many famous performers make fools of themselves Katharine Cornell, Katharine Hepburn, and Paul Muni fare a shade worse than most of the other 50 odd famous performers; Ray Bolger and Ed Wynn come off rather better." Kael termed the film "depressing" and particularly criticized Delmer Daves's "horribly elaborate narrative". Dave Kehr of The New York Times called the film "an interesting document on World War II".