Hollywood Victory Caravan

This 20 minute post-war short was included on "Road to Utopia" DVD with Hope/Crosby. Apparently made AFTER the end of the second world war (some of the lyrics are "the bonds we bought before bought the bomb that won the war" ), this shortie was one of the "buy the war-bonds" propaganda films shown in theaters around the US. It DOES have a wagon-load of big shots - Hope/Crosby do a comedy bit with a little bit of story line, Betty Hutton does a dance number with a dance troupe, along with appearances by others like William Demarest, Barbara Stanwycke, and tons of others. Its a little slice of entertainment history, but unfortunately, the sound quality on some of the numbers is just TERRIBLE. Carmen Cavallaro does "I've got Rhythm" on the piano, but the recording quality is quite bad. Humphrey Bogart gets up to say he's not going to give a speech, then gives a speech on why its important to buy bonds to bring the soldiers home. Also the "Matumba" number by Olga San Juan has more static and distortion than melody. Those problems aside, its fun to see a little chunk of history. Turner Classic Movies frequently shows these short films in between the major films, but you never know when they are going to be shown, so its very hit or miss.