Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

lugonian SWING YOUR LADY (Warner Brothers, 1938), directed by Ray Enright, suggested from the play by Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson, is not really a college musical of dancing co-eds doing the jitterbug to swing music, but actually a one-of-a-kind hillbilly comedy starring non-other than the legendary Humphrey Bogart. Bogey, who had made his mark on stage and screen playing gangster Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest," followed by other notable roles of promise as 1937's THE BLACK LEGION and DEAD END, up until now had not established himself to the popular leading man he was to become after 1941. In spite of active support working opposite the studio's own resident tough guys as James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson in its major productions, along with some leading roles in others, Bogey here plays it straight, leaving whatever laughs take place for the supporting players. With SWING YOUR LADY and THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939) categorized as Bogey's worst films, regardless of their reputations, they are each on a watchable level. SWING YOUR LADY on the other hand, contains musical numbers with dance direction by Bobby Connelly and fine vocalization by a young brunette named Penny Singleton, formerly Dorothy McNulty, shortly before achieving fame as Chic Young's blonde comic strip character, Blondie, in a long series of successful films for Columbia (1938-1950). For now, SWING YOUR LADY, which looks more like a predate of the "Ma and Pa Kettle" comedies of the 1950s, is both Bogey and Singleton before their prime of life.The plot revolves around Ed Hatch (Humphrey Bogart), a fight promoter, along with his associates Popeye Bronson (Frank McHugh), "Shiner" Ward (Allen Jenkins) and their dim-witted Greek wrestler, Joe "Hercules" Skapapoulos (Nat Pendleton) driving through Mussel City, Missouri, from New York City. Just about out of money and ideas, they come to Plunkett City, Kentucky (population 749), where Ed hopes to find a man to wrestle Joe. Ed later encounters Sadie Horn (Louise Fazenda), a mountain woman whose husband had gone possum hunting 11 years ago and never returned, now supporting herself and three kids (Tommy and Sonny Bupp, Jean Howard) as a lady blacksmith. After witnessing Sadie lifting his car stuck in a morass of mud with one hand (taking a can of spinach had nothing to do with this), Ed stumbles upon an idea of Joe wrestling Sadie, which would draw crowds and money, but once he meets her, Joe falls to dumb love in spite of complications after-wards with her jealous suitor, Noah Webster (Daniel Boone Savage). With the help of his girlfriend, Cookie Shannon (Penny Singleton), Hatch schemes up on other ideas to get his wrestling match to take place, with middling results.SWING YOUR LADY, containing typical hillbilly humor and stereotypes ranging from a cross-eyed character to bearded types with "shootin' irons" and jugs of moonshine with triple X labels. Along the way, there's time out for musical interludes to such songs as "Dig Me a Grave in Missouri" (Sung by the Leon, Frank and Elviry Weaver); "The Old Apple Tree" (sung by the Weavers, reprise by Penny Singleton); "The Hillbilly From Tenth Avenue" (sung by Singleton); "The Old Apple Tree" (reprise); "Swing Your Lady" (sung by Penny Singleton wearing overalls); "Mountain Swingaroo" (sung by Singleton and Sammy White) and "Swing Your Lady" (reprise) written by M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl.With the cycle of Warners musicals in decline by 1938, SWING YOUR LADY offers little to redeem it but plenty of surprises to honor it. How many movies can one find Humphrey Bogart surrounded hillbillies instead of New York City thugs? How many hillbilly comedies can one find a future U.S. President (Ronald Reagan) appearing briefly as a sports reporter? Louise Fazenda, padded up a bit to appear broad-shouldered and strong-armed, is quite satisfactory as Sadie while Nat Pendleton, who, early in his career played convincing tough guys, to now be playing dumb clucks. McHugh and Jenkins offer nothing new in their familiar sidekick roles, while Penny Singleton, in her Warners debut, brings life to the story with her fast talking character and song and dance. Shortly after the release of SWING YOUR LADY, the Weavers would turn out a series of hillbilly comedies of their own over at Republic Studios before fading to obscurity. Had SWING YOUR LADY been remade in the 1940s, what great material this would have been for the comedy team of Bud Abbott (fight promoter), Lou Costello (wrestler) and Marjorie Main (Sadie) in the cast.While SWING YOUR LADY has never been distributed on home video, it's been broadcast over the years on the Ted Turner cable channels starting with Turner Network Television (1988-1992) and presently on Turner Classic Movies. With the film containing some swinging, either on the dance floor or the wrestling mat, it remains a real curio and delight for the "Ma and Pa Kettle" or "The Beverly Hillbillies" crowd. (**)

Neil Doyle Like every actor who's had a career spanning several decades, HUMPHREY BOGART had his share of poor films along with the great ones. This feeble attempt at comedy is typical of the Warner Bros. brand of humor in the '30s and '40s, slammed home without any subtlety or grace.My main interest in this film was due to seeing the bloopers from "Breakdowns of 1938" featured on THE ADV. OF ROBIN HOOD CD. Let's put it this way--the bloopers were funnier than most of the material in this comedy which manages to be mildly amusing.HUMPHREY BOGART is saddled with the lead, supported by Warner's favorite contract supporting players--NAT PENDLETON as a dumb wrestler, FRANK McHUGH as his manager and ALLEN JENKINS as the standup comic who makes with all the usual dry wisecracks on the sidelines.PENNY SINGLETON is Bogart's fast talking, dumb girlfriend who sounds a lot like the "Blondie" character she would play shortly thereafter. LOUISE FAZENDA has a comic role as a lady blacksmith with a rural accent. In a rather amusing scene she wrestles Bogey to the ground and tells him to say, "Hootie Owl." It looks as though the Warner backlot was used with leftovers from their westerns to simulate the small town look. The hillbilly musical numbers are nothing to shout about and much the same comment can be made about the film itself.Louise Fazenda and Penny Singleton (who gets a chance to sing) seem to be enjoying themselves, but the overall results are decidedly mixed.No wonder Bogey achieved stardom in a different genre. One of his better lines: "Which one of us is daffy?" You have to be daffy yourself to really enjoy this one.Trivia note: A very young RONALD REAGAN has a bit part and gets no billing at all on the opening credits. Lucky for him.

leforte This film is just wonderful entertainment. All good actors from yesteryear. Bogart like you never seen him. Then there is the future President of the United States when he was young and could not possibly know what kind of a future was in store for him. Some of my favorite actors that are gone but not forgotten. Just good old fashion corny light hearted entertainment. The acting is very good. The dancing and singing are lots of fun. The storyline is just pure smiles. That is really true. You just watch this film with a smile on your face the entire time. They could never make a film like this today. It is a real family entertainment picture. The only embarrassment that a person could feel while watching this film is enjoying it so thoroughly. It's great.

classicsoncall "Swing Your Lady" may not offer Humphrey Bogart his strangest role (for that, try 1939's "The Return of Doctor X"), but it sure is his goofiest. Bogey is wrestling promoter Ed Hatch, heading up an entourage that includes his protégé Joe Skopapoulos (Nat Pendleton), trainers Popeye Bronson (Frank McHugh) and Shiner Ward (Allen Jenkins), and patient fiancée Cookie Shannon (Penny Singleton). The wrestling circuit brings the team to the Ozark Mountains, where Ed attempts to find a suitable opponent for his boy so he can build his reputation on a climb to the world championship. When Ed's car gets stuck in a ditch, female blacksmith Sadie Horn (Louise Fazenda) singlehandedly gets him free, and a match made in heaven is born. Only trouble is, when Joe sets his eyes on Sadie, it's love at first sight and the match is over before it's begun.Not to worry though, Sadie's suitor for the past ten years (Sadie's husband went 'possum hunting eleven years ago and never came back), is hillbilly Noah (Daniel Boone Savage), and he's not about to give up Sadie without a fight. The match is signed, and Plunkett City is about to get a show.Ronald Reagan makes an unlikely appearance in the film as a newspaper sports reporter, which he actually was early in his career. It's a minor part with only a bit of screen time. The wrestling match itself between Joe and Noah goes for quite a while, and is fairly well staged. With the incentive to headline a card at Madison Square Garden for the winner, Ed encourages his boy to win after a series of head stomps and an airplane spin. But Joe turns the tables when he decides to stay behind and marry his blacksmith sweetheart Sadie."Swing Your Lady" defies genre classification, although musical comedy comes close. There are four or five tunes sprinkled throughout the film, all done in a hoe down hillbilly style including a square dance number. For his part, Bogey does a credible job, given the offbeat nature of his role. But he's a lot more comfortable in a comedy role as the convict Joseph in one of his last film appearances - "We're No Angels".