With the help of the singer and dancer Dixie Leonhard US-Entertainer Eddie Sparks wants to bring some fun to the soldiers during World War II. Becoming a perfect team they tour from North Africa to the Pacific to act for "the boys". Later they continue their work but when the author Silver gets involved into McCarthy's campaign and is being fired by Eddie, Dixie turns away from him, too.

A musical about three sailors who have a 24-hour shore leave to enjoy New York. Chip tries but can't resist the advances of a lady cab driver; Ozzie gladly fills the role of a lovely anthropologist's "prehistoric man," and after much desperate searching, Gaby finds the model who isn't quite the glamorous celebrity he envisioned but nevertheless will do.

Contributors: Leonard Bernstein (Composer); Betty Comden (Author of screenplay, Author); Stanley Donen (Director); Arthur Freed (Producer); Betty Garrett (Actor); Adolph Green (Author of screenplay, Author); Gene Kelly (Actor, Director); Ann Miller (Actor); Jules Munshin (Actor); Frank Sinatra (Actor); Vera-Ellen (Actor).

The Hiltons are an average family living in a Midwestern town. The father of the household has waived his 3A status and enlisted to go overseas. His wife must now act as father and mother to their two daughters and keep their father's memory alive.

Contributors: Claudette Colbert (Actor); John Cromwell (Director); Jennifer Jones (Actor); David O. Selznick (Producer); Max Steiner (Composer); Shirley Temple (Actor); Margaret Buell Wilder (Author).

Rollicking wartime story of a romance between a soldier headed off to WWII and a hostess at New York City's fabled canteen.

And Kate Hepburn too...

Silent as a painting, the movie shows us day-dreamer Hermie and his friends Oscy and Benjie spending the summer of '42 on an US island with their parents - rather unaffected by WWII. While Oscy's main worries are the when and how of getting laid, Hermie honestly falls in love with the older Dorothy, who's married to an army pilot. When her husband returns to the front, Hermie shyly approaches her

In 1941 America Kay and her husband are happy enough until he enlists after Pearl Harbor. Against his wishes, his wife takes a job at the local aircraft plant where she meets Hazel, the singer from across the way to whom they hadn't previously been all that nice. The two soon become firm friends and, with the other girls, become increasingly expert workers able to ride the jibes of the male workforce. As the war drags on Kay finally goes on a date with her trumpet playing foreman and life inevitably starts to get complicated.

Nachbar, Jack. DOING THE THINKING FOR ALL OF US: Casablanca AND THE HOME FRONT. Journal of Popular Film and Television; Wntr2000, Vol. 27 Issue 4

Casablanca represented not only the political feelings of early 1940s America, but also many aspects of life at home in the United States. Part of the reason the movie was so well received among the hundreds of war movies of the time was its direct connection to wartime audiences. Besides the bombardment of advertisements calling for American’s to sacrifice and join the war movement, everyday personal life was also reflected in the film. The parallels to American society include the heavy smoking and drinking culture portrayed by a smoking Rick sitting at his bar; Rick’s Café Americain was a prototypical nightclub which was in extreme popularity at the time. Rationing at home led to a large black market like the one represented by Mr. Ferrari in Casablanca. American audiences had an easy time believing the life portrayed in the film, as it greatly reflected how they felt at home. In a time of renewed financial prosperity in the United States, Americans had the money to buy luxury goods and services but could not find them being produced. These imposed government restraints were caricatured in Rick and other characters in the film. Almost all of the characters had money, but the money was almost worthless because there was nothing to buy. People were stuck in Casablanca as Americans at home were stuck when they had used up there rations.

The film does still play at heart to the need for American’s to endure self-sacrifice and to be an important part of the war. Rick had forgotten that need until, Ilsa reminded him of how he was in Paris: a political idealist and activist. As Ilsa brings back the need to join the cause and fight the good war, Casablanca speaks to the American public about the importance of joining the war effort. Like Lazlo does to Rick, the film says to all of America, “Welcome back to the fight.”