“Is something wrong with your throat?” “Yeah, there’s a lump in it…!” It's easy to see why, considering forty hungry soldiers and sailors are outside this canteen hoping for corned beef and ketchup, before they even get a chance to meet girls like "Eileen" (Cheryl Walker), who are trying to make their last nights before deployment as enjoyable and memorable as possible. The movie feels more like a collection of brief appearances and stage acts from numerous performers who volunteered to boost the spirits of young people about to enter a conflict that might not have a happy ending. These stories are presented with energy by some rather youthful actors—"Dakota" (William Terry) being a prime example—who portray characters as wholesome, polite, and respectful, while Ed Wynn and Harpo Marx provide some laughs. George Raft does dishes; Johnny Weissmuller does the same without his shirt on; Merle Oberon handles hosting duties gracefully; Yehudi Menuhin performs a snippet of “The Flight of the Bumblebee”; Dame May Whitty and Judith Anderson have what seem like incredibly short appearances in their careers, and there's a playful musical number from Gracie Fields that openly mocks a decreasing number of Japanese pilots. It progresses at a decent pace, blending entertainment with emotion. That emotional aspect isn’t pushed too hard; it comes across as quite affecting, even delicately, through the performances of young people who seem less experienced than anyone from “Gables.” The film runs long, but you can play a 1940s version of "Where's Waldo?" trying to spot all those familiar faces that haven’t necessarily aged well. Katharine Hepburn brings it to a close with a heartfelt yet powerful reminder that difficult times are coming, but if everyone does their part, the days of the Axis powers are numbered.

Source on TMDB