By Lookout Staff

November 8, 2013 -- For a long spell during World War II, servicemen and women from towns across America got a chance to dance with some of the biggest Hollywood stars.

The venue -- the legendary Hollywood Canteen co-founded by legendary movie star Bette Davis – will be the subject of a “visual remembrance” presented at the Santa Monica Public Library this month by authors Lisa Mitchell and Bruce Torrence.

The presentation will recall the nightly scene at the old refurbished barn that from 1942 to 1945 hosted more than three million servicemen and women on their way to fight in the Pacific.

“Under its western-style roof, young men in uniform away from their families for the first time and about to ship out – some never to return – could actually dance with Betty Grable!,” Mitchell and Torrence wrote in their book “The Hollywood Canteen: Where the Greatest Generation Danced With the Most Beautiful Girls in the World.”

They also could “laugh at Bob Hope” and “be handed a sandwich by Rita Hayworth.”

Among the approximately 300 celebrities who donated their services to the Hollywood Canteen were Louis Armstrong, Lucille Ball, Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman, Walt Disney and, of course, Bette Davis.

“There are few accomplishments in my life that I am sincerely proud of,” Davis wrote in her autobiography “This ‘n’ That.” “The Hollywood Canteen is one of them.”

Mitchell and Torrence will “take us on a nostalgic look back at the crown jewel of World War II Hollywood,” library officials said.

In fact, it could be argued, the authors say, that the Hollywood Canteen helped to win the biggest war in history.

“One of the greatest contributors to the war effort was Hollywood’s entertainment industry; no other single group gave so much of its time, talent, energy, and enthusiasm” Mitchell and Torrence wrote.

“As the boys went off to face unseen dangers in unknown lands, they knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how much they were appreciated.”

The presentation will take place Saturday, November 23 at 3 p.m. in the Main Library’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard.
This program is free and open to all. Seating is first come, first served.

The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible.For special disabled services, call Library Administration at (310) 458-8606 at least one week prior to event. The Main Library is served by Big Blue Bus routes 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Ride your bike. Bicycle parking racks are available at the library.

For more information on Santa Monica Public Library programs, visit smpl.org or contact the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600.