Allen Jenkins who is the MC near the end of the film was the voice for cartoon character Officer Dibble on the cartoon series Top Cat about 20 years later.
A modern source lists Billy Gilbert in the cast, but he was not seen in the movie.
A similar movie called Hollywood Canteen would follow this film a year after it was released. Hollywood Canteen was similar in concept but not a sequel to this film.
According to the book 'The Films of World War II' by Joe Morella, Edward Z. Epstein & John Griggs, this movie " . . . was a superstar-studded tribute to the American Theater Wing, which had founded and operated the Stage Door Canteen for the purpose of entertaining servicemen in New York City. The canteen received a percentage of the film's profits so 'Stage Door Canteen' was in reality a big benefit . . . a lot of money was raised for the actual Stage Door Canteen." Moreover, in a review, Bosley Crowther at the time wrote in 'The New York Times' that "90 per cent of the profits from this film are to go to the support and advancement of the American Theatre Wing."
Film debut of Sunset Carson (billed as "Michael Harrison").
First film of Ruth Roman.
Most of the cameo appearances in this movie were filmed at the RKO Radio Pictures studio at Culver City in California but a few such as Benny Goodman's were filmed in New York City, the home of the real Stage Door Canteen which was located on 44th Street.
Producer Sol Lesser paid the Stage Door Canteen $50,000 for the use of its name; they and Allied Charities received the net profits from the film. Because it was too difficult to film at the actual Stage Door Canteen on 44th Street in New York City, it was duplicated at both filming locations (Fox News NY Studios and RKO-Pathé Studios, Culver City).
The documentary "Showbiz Goes to War" says of this movie: "In 1943, Hollywood glorified New York's Stage Door Canteen in a movie of the same name and the public responded to its wartime sentiments by making it a big box-office attraction because the story was sympathetic to the romantic problems of the hostesses who fell in love with soldiers scheduled to go overseas. Audiences could identify with the theme of wartime separation because they were living it themselves . . . Stage Door Canteen was pure propaganda but it pointed out the loneliness of men and women during the Second World war when Saturday night was the loneliest night of the week."
The film's storyline of a G.I.'s romance with a Canteen girl named Irene was inspired by the song, "I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen", written by Irving Berlin, and recorded in 1942 by singer Kenny Baker (who appears in this film). The opening lyrics of the song are, "I left my heart at the Stage Door Canteen / I left it there with a girl named Irene."
The real Stage Door Canteen on 44th Street was unable to be used for the filming as it was still an operating nightclub during World War II. As such, for this movie, it was re-created in the RKO Radio Pictures studio at Culver City in California which wasn't actually in New York.
The Screen Actors Guild prohibited free appearances by actors before this film was made, to prevent actors' generosity from being exploited.
There are two main versions of this movie. One that runs at about 132 minutes and a shorter TV version which runs around the 93 minute mark, the latter of which is the more omnipresent version available.
This movie features the only ever on-screen appearance of the famed actress Katharine Cornell.
This movie is in the public domain in many regions and as such has been widely available on video-cassette and DVD in copies of varying quality.
With the song "I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen", Irving Berlin paid homage to the Stage Door Canteen in the movie, This Is the Army.