Duty, Honor, Applause: America's Entertainers in World War II [Hardcover]

Gary L. Bloomfield (Author), Arlen C. Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

A moving tribute to the greatest generation of entertainers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A touching and memorable account of America's athletes on the battlefield."
Publishers Weekly, on Duty, Honor, Victory

"This book could be sent to school with your kids and used for social studies classes."
--Sports Illustrated, on Duty, Honor, Victory

From the Back Cover

From Jack Benny and his screeching violin to Red Skelton and his cast of zany characters, Charlie Chaplin mimicking a raving lunatic, and Orson Welles ominously threatening a Martian invasion-these entertainers and hundreds more created memorable characters on the silver screen or dastardly fiends on the radio. It was a great era for fans. It was even greater to be an entertainer in the thirties. Unfortunately, it couldn't last.
December 7, 1941, was the hay maker that shoved America into war with the Axis-Powers. Literally overnight, just as thousands of its craftsmen and performers were enlisting for the duration, Hollywood geared up and cranked out a steady stream of war movies. Many were stinkers, but a handful were classics that rank right up there with the very best.
Many entertainers traveled to military camps across the country to perform for the troops and let them know how everyone back home missed them. The most difficult assignment was going to the hospitals and seeing young men, busted up and down-hearted. Yet hundreds of stars, such as Esther Williams, spent time with the boys, and dished out some TLC in just the right doses. Many future stars were wounded overseas, such as Neville Brand, Charles Durning, and Lee Marvin.
As soon as it was allowed, hundreds of entertainers headed overseas to play for the boys. Comedian Joe E. Brown was the first, Bob Hope was probably the best known, and Marlene Dietrich was the most daring. Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart may not have won any awards for their singing and dancing, but they learned that they could reprise their film roles and win the guys over. Of course, for starlets such as Frances Langford, Carole Landis, and Dorothy Lamour, all they had to do was flash a little leg or muss up a guy's hair and whisper in his ear!
Uncle Sam didn't make many exceptions, and thousands of entertainers were called up. Hollywood's heartthrobs such as Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable, Victor Mature and Mickey Rooney all served, some as combatants, others continuing as entertainers in uniform. After the war many servicemen took advantage of the GI Bill and gave acting a try. Walter Matthau, Sidney Poitier, and Charles Bronson were just a few of the many rising stars who came out of World War II, ready to grasp whatever life had to offer, with all the trimmings.
0They're all here, the entertainers of WWII, the performing members of The Greatest Generation in American history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592285503
• ISBN-13: 978-1592285501
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All the great classic stars are featured!, May 11, 2005

By 

MrsSchmidlapp (Hollywood, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duty, Honor, Applause: America's Entertainers in World War II (Hardcover)

This book is a wonderful tribute to the classic Hollywood stars who entertained the troops during World War 2. Their are some wonderful stories about classic actresses including Carole Landis, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Betty Hutton, and Lana Turner. This is a very large book and it's filled with rare photos. If you're a fan of the golden age of Hollywood this is a book you'll really enjoy!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even the celebrities of "The Greatest Generation" were great, December 31, 2005

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Duty, Honor, Applause: America's Entertainers in World War II (Hardcover)

In a long ago time, movie stars and other entertainment celebrities didn't consider themselves to be shrewd political geniuses. Instead they believed in their nation and offered their specialized skills to entertain and cheer the troops, help educate the public about the purpose of the war, promoted the sale of war bonds, the conservation of critical raw materials and, in general, behaved as patriotic citizens. More than a few gave up their privileged lifestyles to actually fight in behalf of their country, like Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart did. Can you imagine that today?

In this marvelous work, the authors recount the work of major league entertainers like Bob Hope through lower echelon technicians who helped in the war effort.

The names of the past are legion and probably mostly unknown to today's generation. Betty Grable, Jane Russell, William Wyler. Brave, unselfish men and women who served the nation in a wide variety of roles all throughout the world.

They kept their political views to themselves, didn't threaten to move to France (which would have been inconvenient during WWII) and didn't open their mouths to reveal themselves as incapable of deep political thought.

Richly illustrated, this book may stir the memories of those with memories of the period and, perhaps more importantly, may inform a younger generation that entertainers haven't always been people who hated their nation.

Jerry

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful memories, June 30, 2009

By 

Connie Terry (St. Louis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duty, Honor, Applause: America's Entertainers in World War II (Hardcover)

Even though I was only a baby during WWII, I grew up watching old movies of a lot of these old stars (most now gone). I especially loved the musicals with entertainers like Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Alice Fay, the Andrews Sisters, the big bands. I loved them and still do. I became a big fan of Bob Hope due mainly to the fact that he put entertaining the troops at Christmas as a priority - sometimes even if it meant being "under fire", and often he was. He never tired of entertaining the troops. The book has wonderful pictures - many I had never seen. As Bob would have put it, "thanks for the memories".