For the Boys

For the Boys is a 1991 American musical comedy-drama film that traces the life of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer, to entertain American troops.
The film was adapted by Marshall Brickman, Neal Jimenez and Lindy Laub from a story by Jimenez and Laub. It was directed by Mark Rydell and the original music score was composed by Dave Grusin. It stars Bette Midler, James Caan, George Segal, Patrick O'Neal, Arye Gross and Norman Fell. A then-unknown Vince Vaughn made his film debut as a cheering soldier in a crowd.
As in The Rose, Midler's first starring role and also a large budget quasi-biopic, the film is fiction. However, actress and singer Martha Raye believed that Midler's character was based on many widely known facts about her life and career with the USO and pursued legal action based on that assumption. After a protracted legal engagement, Raye ultimately lost the case. The Caan character was generally believed to be based on Bob Hope.
For her performance, Midler won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The soundtrack features covers of many classic songs, including "Come Rain or Come Shine", "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Frank Loesser, "P.S. I Love You", "I Remember You" and the Beatles' "In My Life". Five of the 13 songs have lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The soundtrack's first single, "Every Road Leads Back to You," was an original written by Diane Warren.
Despite a mixed critical reception and box office failure, the film was adapted for the musical stage in 2011 by Aaron Thielen and Terry James and debuted at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois.
== Cast ==
* Bette Midler as Dixie Leonard
* James Caan as Eddie Sparks
* George Segal as Art Silver
* Patrick O'Neal as Shephard
* Christopher Rydell as Danny Leonard
* Brandon Call as teenage Danny Leonard
* Jameson Rodgers as young Danny Leonard
* Arye Gross as Jeff Brooks, the young man who comes to escort Dixie
* Norman Fell as Sam Schiff
* Rosemary Murphy as Luanna Trott, a journalist
* Bud Yorkin as Phil
* Dori Brenner as Loretta, Dixie's friend on the road
* Jack Sheldon as Wally Fields
* Karen Martin as Victoria Lee, the dancer
* Shannon Wilcox as Margaret Sparks, Eddie's wife
* Michael Greene as Maj. Gen. Scott
* Melissa Manchester as Corrine
* Steven Kampmann as Stan Newman
U.S. Marines and Sailors from the greater San Diego area including Camp Pendleton, California, were used as extras extras in some scenes but Operation Desert Shield started and many of them had to be shipped to the Middle East.
The Van Nuys Air National Guard Station next to the Van Nuys airport was the location for several weeks of shooting the 898th Lomborg England scenes. Those were long and cold days on the set in WWII authentic gear. Many of the scenes were re-shot a little later on the Fox Lot.
Category:1991 films