Now that TCM is more than halfway through its celebrity strewn Guest Programmer Month, it seems apropos to remember that long ago Hollywood era when movies stuffed with countless performances – or frequently just appearances – by film and/or stage actors, comedians, singers, and other personalities could be found in theaters. While the formula was used to sell tickets (and sometimes war bonds), the resulting movies are largely curios that captured the spirit of their times which serve to introduce or remind us of some lost or forgotten talents and stars.

Not to be confused with dramas (etc.) that include more than a handful of recognizable actors like Twelve Angry Men (1957), Ocean’s Eleven (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Longest Day (1962), Ship of Fools (1965), Airport (1970) - and all the other (special effects laden) disaster movies that followed it, Murder on the Orient Express (1974) or even That’s Entertainment! (1974) - and its sequels, these star-studded musicals, comedies, and revues are held together with paper thin, nonsensical or just passable plots that serve to connect their different acts:

The Goldwyn Follies (1938) – at 2 hours, it’s one of the shortest movies in the bunch; a Musical that has the fewest credited and least recognizable performers in its cast. It was producer Sam Goldywn’s attempt to recreate the kind of revue that made showman Florenz Ziegfeld famous, but it failed to attract an audience and lost money. It features a Ben Hecht script that actually pokes fun at the legendary producer: the story involves a film producer (Adolphe Menjou) that falls in love with someone who’s unaware of his affections. Goldwyn himself was infatuated to the point of obsession with one of the film’s leading performers – Vera Zorina, unbeknownst (only) to the ballerina, according to A. Scott Berg’s excellent biography about the producer. As for the rest of the film, unless you love ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, or even more improbably the Ritz Brothers (Al, Harry, Jimmy) and their antics, you’re unlikely to enjoy much of this movie; both acts are used as filler between the main plot and its musical performances which include Zorina’s stunning Water-nymph ballet (it begins with her rising out of a pool of water and ends with her disappearing down into it). Kenny Baker’s radio performance of the Academy Award nominated Gershwin brothers song (“It’s very clear, our love is here to stay”) is also memorable, as is its (early) Technicolor presentation, Richard Day’s Art Direction and Alfred Newman’s Score (both of whom received Oscar nominations).

Stage Door Canteen (1943) – 2h, 12m – this World War II era musical features a fictional lightweight romantic story about a soldier who visits one of the real USO-like dance halls (labeled canteens) that were staffed by stars from Broadway and/or Hollywood to make our servicemen and women feel special during their leaves. Written by Delmer Daves and directed by Frank Borzage, it received Oscar nominations for its Score and one of its songs, “We Mustn’t Say Goodbye” (though “Good Night Sweetheart”, which plays at the end of every night, is much more memorable!). The story involves several soldiers from the same company, who’ve yet to see action, that stop in New York on their way overseas. They are fortunate to receive three consecutive 24 hour leaves during which several interweaving stories play out against a backdrop of performances and appearances by stage and film actors. What makes this one unique are the Broadway stars that appear, some in their first and only movies. Among the most memorable are Ray Bolger’s song & dance, Gypsy Rose Lee performing a striptease, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne doing dishes and serving sandwiches, and Katharine Hepburn’s “keep your chin up” and “do your job” bit at the end.

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) – 2h, 7m – this Warner Bros. product is another example of the wartime movies produced that allowed soldiers overseas to see their favorite stars in locations where a movie projector could be set-up but a (e.g. Bob Hope) USO-tour could not. Entertaining fluff for the home-front as well, directed by David Butler and featuring a full slate of the studio’s stars and more. The razor thin story – scripted by Melvin Frank, James Kern, & Norman Panama – is about an undiscovered singing talent (played by Dennis Morgan) who’s hoping for a chance to sing at a “Cavalcade of Stars” charity event produced by Edward Everett Horton’s and S.Z. Sakall’s characters. The producers are “trapped” into letting ham Eddie Cantor (as himself) be their show’s chairman because they want Dinah Shore to sing in the show; Cantor also plays Joe Simpson, a bespeckled dramatic actor whose career is cursed because he looks so much like the highly recognizable comedian. As a friend of Morgan’s, Simpson and a wannabe (but awful) songwriter, played by Joan Leslie, try to help the singer get discovered. The film’s Oscar nominated song – “They’re Either Too Young or Old” – is performed by Bette Davis. Besides songs sung by Shore, some other highlights include a song & dance routine by Jack Carson and Alan Hale and a comedy gig performed by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias.

Hollywood Canteen (1944) – 2h, 4m – this one was not only written by Daves, but directed by him as well; it received Oscar nominations for the original song “Sweet Dreams Sweetheart”, its Score and Sound. The story, which revolves around the real titled nightclub that was a refuge for soldiers on leave during World War II, is about a soldier (played by Robert Hutton) who gets to meet and be kissed by his favorite starlit (Leslie again) at the establishment. Because he’s also the one millionth soldier to walk through its doors, he gets a dream date with the starlit of his choosing (guess who?). John Garfield and Bette Davis, who opened the actual canteen, are the host and hostess among the many other stars included, from Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, the Andrews Sisters and Roy Rogers with Trigger, to a Jack Benny-Joseph Szigeti violin duel.

For more about the real canteens and their stars, read this series of articles written on the subject.

Ziegfeld Follies (1946) – 1h, 50m – released after World War II (an appropriate bookend to the Goldwyn musical that began this article), this MGM production featured a plethora of its stars putting on a revue similar to those that the legendary showman (Flo Ziegfeld) used to do; it won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Musical Comedy award for that year. The most memorable bits involve the pairing of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, pool bound Esther Williams, Cyd Charisse, and pink clad Lucille Ball on a white horse.

Part 2 begins with the movie that was produced by the man who’s been credited with inventing the cameo performance, and the focus of the article will be the handful of comedy dramas that were released within a ten year period beginning a decade after World War II had ended.