Swing Fever (1943)

Instant Favorite.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely Fantastic

A Major Disappointment

Plot-heavy MGM musical, not likely to turn up on studio highlights. I suppose war demands account for many shortcomings, like the unlikely Kyser in the lead, shoestring production values from a big-budget studio, and a roster of undistinguished supporting players. Then too, musicals need lightweight stories to coordinate with overall mood. This one can't make up its mind. Too bad that outside of Maxwell, the performances are spotty. Kyser tries manfully but the seams show, nor does the lumpy screenplay help.Nonetheless, there are some highlights. The production number "I Planted A Rose" shows spunk, along with a classy Lena Horne, a lively Marilyn Maxwell, and hep-cat swingers doing their acrobatic thing. And for fans of 50's sci-fi, there's the lordly Morris Ankrum mugging it up, of all things. Still, the plot's too convoluted for a musical and overshadows many of the more lackluster numbers. All in all, the package remains little more than spotty wartime escape.

A lackluster plot surrounds some lukewarm musical entertainment in this mid-war production. The best parts of the film are the musical acts in the nightclub, but the producers do their best to sabotage them. As is typical, there are the obligatory salutes to the boys in uniform and a whole lot of hokum, everything from comic acts that are totally unfunny to juggling and faux magic tricks. The movie is called Swing Fever, so you might think the action is hot. It is for those few moments when the band or the swing dancers are allowed to go at it. but most of the "action" is like watching The Lawrence Welk Show, corn and all.Cameos are jammed in, as was the custom, but they are random and flat. Kay Kyser is his usual cornball self. And of course they include the usual nods to the wartime mythology of soldiers and sailors getting the beautiful canteen girl, who might be a star.Particularly painful are the "comic" stylings of the band member with bangs who recites "poetry" and otherwise annoys.The word swing in the title also refers to the boxing plot. A number of real boxers are in the film. We know what great actors they are.

Columbia, RKO,and Republic, among others, turned out escapist wartime musicals by the dozens, and their lack of availability is probably a blessing; this one, from MGM, has sleeker production values but is similarly impoverished of imagination. It's a mishmash involving boxing, swing, hypnosis, Marilyn Maxwell twitching cutely, the unwatchable Ish Kabibble, Nat Pendleton still playing a punch-drunk heavyweight over a decade after "Horse Feathers," and lots of pulchritude to please the boys overseas. (Even Ava Gardner has an unbilled bit.) Kay Kyser could swing it, all right, but he was no actor, and it's almost painful to watch him go through these contrived paces. There's one good number -- no, check that, there's one not-very-good number made bearable by Lena Horne and some good production design -- among lots of trivial swing, and lots of camera trickery in the production numbers, presumably to disguise the paucity of invention. Tommy Dorsey and Harry James show up briefly; they look like they visited the set on lunch hour from other, better movies.

It's a shame Kay Kyser's 5 picture deal w/ RKO ended with AROUND THE WORLD('43), because when MGM signed him for this one film, they dropped the ball big time. It's a poor story that barely features Kyser's great band, and has an overlong production number, MISSISSIPPI DREAMBOAT. I think this is the first onscreen appearance of Lena Horne, who sings a song then disappears, but i could be mistaken about that. Blonde and sexy Marilyn Maxwell plays Kyser's love interest, which seemed a bit far-fetched until Kyser's real life widow, Georgia Carroll, informed me Kay and Marilyn dated seriously in real life! THERE IS A CLASSIC VISUAL GAG where Kyser's rehearsing his band and identifies a couple of strangers playing along. Kyser (as Lowell Blackford) doesn't recognize them, but tells them they can't play his music very well. The camera pans over to TOMMY DORSEY and HARRY JAMES who leave the bandstand, complaining " No one can play this music. This guy'll never get anywhere. Besides, he looks too much like KAY KYSER!!" Best line in the film! In conclusion, SWING FEVER never reaches fever pitch, and the dummies at MGM never tried again w/ Kyser, who, by the way was a big big star at this time. Good posters, though!!