OBSCURE TREASURE
What a true treasure is the movie "Stage Door Canteen"!
I am the first to admit that the dialogue can be quite corny, but you have to consider the era in which the movie was made. Movies made in that era had a rather strict moral code to follow and it was important that a movie convey a degree of a positive example of how one's life could be lived. And this movie conveyed the "ideal" version of that concept, and therefore was oftentimes not based in reality.
I consider this movie to be extremely sentimental and it has successfully represented the deep emotional struggles that this world war brought to the American people. I cannot listen to most of the songs in this movie without being moved emotionally, usually to the point of tears.
The initial song is a beautiful rendition of The Lord's Prayer sung with incredible emotion to the troops at the Stage Door Canteen and you have to know how much that song and prayer meant to those GI's who were being shipped overseas not knowing if they would ever return.
Another song that makes me cry every time I hear it is the song, "We mustn't say goodbye". The lyrics just tug and tug and tug at your heartstrings until you can't help but shed a tear. I know that there must have been total quiet save for the sound of weeping in theatres across the country when this song came on.
In contrast, it is an awesome delight to hear and watch Gypsy Rose Lee sing and perform her number. Her song is witty and intellegent and sung with pointed deliberance.
In addition, we are reminded of what a great and profoundly unique talent we had in Ethel Waters as she sings her song "Quicksand" accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra.
Anyway, I wish that this movie could somehow be showcased in a museum dedicated to the service men and women of WWII. Uniforms and artifacts convey the props of that war, but this movie conveys the deep emotion and sentiment of our country during the most critical war of our time.
I would hate to see these songs and performances lost in obsurity.