Four Jills in a Jeep

by Carole Landis

"This book tells you the adventures of four popular Hollywood stars who carried the glamour and gaiety of theater to the boys fighting overseas."

In 1942, actress Carole Landis, dancer Mitzi Mayfair, comedienne Martha Raye, and actress Kay Francis visited England and Africa with the USO to entertain American and British troops fighting in World War II. Here, Carole offers her firsthand account of the hardships, the danger, and the soldiers she met on this tour -- including the soldier who would become her husband.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, World War II, American History

179 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

Reviews

[Abbie ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started Four Jills in a Jeep thinking Carole and Kay had an affair. I ended it thinking that all four of the girls had affairs.

This was so interesting and I just wish the film had been more accurate, because honestly the amount of times that these girls could’ve died, and the amount of pain and injury that they suffered!!
I knew that, being a Hollywood-during-wwII obsessor I was automatically going to enjoy this, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much. I was very fond of the writing style because Carole managed to not only make this incredibly informative, but also so funny!! They didn’t take much of anything seriously.

‘In Horta, gasoline cost about four dollars a gallon; alcohol, a dollar fifty. Our cab ran on alcohol. We thought our driver did, too. […] He was very much put out that we doubted his alcoholic taxi.’

[Pamela Rowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well worth the read. It was written in the 1940's, but it gave a great background on what it was like to perform for the service men and women during World War II.

[Howard Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute joy!

[James P. Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book, maybe a little sanitized but what do you expect for the times.

[Samantha Glasser]

Four Jills in a Jeep is the story of the USO troupe Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair, Martha Raye and Kay Francis traveled with to England and Africa to entertain the troops. This story was adapted to the screen in 1944 with Landis playing herself. They could have written a movie based solely on her love affair with Captain Tommy Wallace and the difficulties they had in getting married, but instead the film is based on the entertainment troupe.

There are lots of amusing stories in this lightheartedly written memoir. In England they were asked what time they wanted to be knocked up in the morning. At one shop, Landis was shocked to find the compact she admired was $2500 until she found out that was in Portugese money, and it amounted to $20 American.

This book was published in 1944, only four years before Landis killed herself at age 29.