It's Time To Smile 1943 01 06 (96) Guest Tommy Dorsey

# It's Time To Smile – January 6, 1943

Picture yourself huddled around the radio on a frigid January evening in 1943, the war news weighing heavy on the nation's mind. But tonight, Eddie Cantor is here to chase those worries away, and he's brought along Tommy Dorsey—the legendary "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing"—to lift your spirits. What unfolds is pure magic: Cantor's rapid-fire wisecracks and infectious energy colliding with Dorsey's silky trombone, creating an evening of laughter and music that reminds America why it's fighting. You'll hear sketches that mine comedy from wartime life, dance numbers that shimmy with pre-recorded orchestration, and moments of genuine warmth as two entertainers at the height of their powers remind listeners that joy is still worth celebrating, even—or especially—in dark times.

The Eddie Cantor Show had become an American institution by 1943, a weekly anchor of comfort and entertainment that brought vaudeville's greatest showman directly into living rooms across the nation. Cantor, with his trademark banjo eyes and self-deprecating humor, had already conquered Broadway, movies, and radio, but it was his genuine warmth and unpretentious style that made him beloved. By this January broadcast, with the U.S. two years into World War II, Cantor understood his responsibility: to provide not escapism, but connection—to remind folks at home and families with sons overseas that American optimism and showmanship would endure.

If you cherish the golden age of radio entertainment, when variety meant something genuine and performers like Cantor could move seamlessly from comedy to pathos to pure spectacle, this episode is essential listening. Dial in and experience why millions made "It's Time To Smile" an unmissable weekly ritual.