Often told in the performers' own words, When the Stars Went to War is the story of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, and the other leading men who went into combat.

It is the story of Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Cagney, Greer Garson, and a host of others who raised millions for the war effort by selling bonds, and of such luminaries as Marlene Dietrich, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Jack Benny, who put themselves in considerable danger entertaining troops at the front.

And, of course, it is the story of the ones who stayed behind: those who tried to enlist and were turned down, those who were given cushy home-front jobs, those who passed the time having love affairs with the spouses or lovers of fellow actors who had gone to war - the hardworking and the guilt-ridden.

Perhaps the stars' most important contribution to the war effort was the films they made, films that kept up morale and inspired America's fighting men. As one young G.I. put it, "Somehow it's better to be fighting for Lana Turner than it is to be fighting the Great Reich ... because she is all our girls rolled into one."