Swing Hostess

Martha Tilton has been auditioning for a position as a band singer for what seems like forever. Finally, she and her friend Iris Adrian take a job as operators in a juke-box center, where customers call in for a particular song at their location. Meanwhile, a test record a friend made for her gets mixed up with one done by Betty Brodel, who's being drooled over by record producer Harry Holman. Because it's actually Miss Tilton's voice -- she had been a vocalist for Benny Goodman, with a hit recording of "And the Angels Sing" -- Miss Brodel gets a contract and a chance to sing for Charles Collins' band.

It's a plot that's not remarkable in broad, and it's been done many times, well and poorly. This one has several advantages, including songs by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, a couple of years before they hit it big. There are also some nice moments of gag comedy, and it's a pleasure to watch the professional musicians gawp in horrified astonishment at Miss Brodel's voice.

It also has a nice example of inadvertent documentary, showing how centralized jukebox systems worked.

The names in this are not ones to conjure with. Behind the camera was Jack Greenhaigh, a talented cinematographer who never got out of the Bs and frequently used his considerable talents lensing ludicrous films like ROBOT MONSTER and HITLER -- BEAST OF BERLIN. Sam Newfield, a mainstay of the usually dire PRC, directed, and shows that with a good script and eager talent, he can turn out a happy, modest movie.

Judy (Martha Tilton) auditions as a singer for a band but her audition isn't properly heard by the man that counts and she gets rejected. She then goes to make a record but once again fortune goes against her as her voice is mistaken for that of Phoebe (Betty Brodel) who wins a singing contract as a result. Will Judy realize her dream to become a singer.............?

The film is light and entertaining and Martha Tilton has a great voice. She sings 4 good songs and 1 turkey called "The Highway Polka". The latter song is painful to watch mainly due to Bobo's (Cliff Nazarro) cheesy smiling face and very predictable honking of his car horn. He also speaks in a stupid way. The other irritating character is the landlord Blodgett (Emmett Lynn) who is one of those comedy characters that just isn't ever funny. The rest of the cast are OK and the film has some funny moments, eg, Brodel's bad singing and the reactions of the piano player. It's the singing of Martha Tilton that makes this film something to watch again.

This opus glaringly displays the lack of talent that 'poverty row' studios had to contend with compared to the major players. You won't find much here in the way of decent Set design, make-up, clever editing or good photography. Martha Tilton has a nice voice but doesn't project any personality, although this may be the fault of the poor direction. The only performance really worth watching is that of the gorgeous Iris Adrian and even she is just a little too strident in the role. Earle Bruce brings some macho charisma to his role but incredibly this appears to be the only film he ever made. Although it's not a total write-off it certainly makes you realise that a major studio could have brought so many incidental extras to the filming that they could turn even the flimsiest material into something worth watching.

"Swing Hostess" is one of the better of the poverty row comedy musicals made during the first couple of decades of sound pictures. The plot is familiar - a singer (or actor) is looking for a chance to break into the music field (or stage, or cinema). The star is Martha Tilton, who plays Judy Alvin. Tilton was a leading singer of the day who sang with various big name swing bands. Of the 21 films in which she appeared, this is her only role of substance. So, for music aficionados it's the best chance to see and hear the lady with the lilting voice sing and act. And, she's quite good.

The plot has good humor when Judy and her boarding house acquaintance, Phoebe (played by Betty Brodel), make recordings for singing auditions at the United Jukebox and Recording Co. Phoebe's voice is flat, but this snooty, tall gal with a Southern drawl thinks she can sing. When the two recordings get mixed up and Phoebe shows up for a nightclub grand opening to sing with Benny Jackson's swing band, the comedy comes to a head.

Movie buffs will strain to find any actors of renown in this film. It just doesn't have any. But, among this cast are several of the professional actors who appear in many hundreds of movies - filling out the bit parts and minor roles. And they're all quite good at their profession. An example is Harry Holman, who plays Mr. Fralick, the head of the recording company. He may be the most recognized, with 137 film credits. Iris Adrian, who plays Judy's friend, Marge O'Day, was in 167 films. Emmett Lynn (Bobo) was in 156 films. Paul Porcasi (Spumoni) was in 147, Terry Frost (Hank) was in 241, and Philip Van Zandt, who plays Merlini, the magician, was in 248 films.

Interestingly, the two actors of the bigger roles of Phoebe and Benny Jackson, didn't have long careers in films. Phoebe's Betty Brodel was in just eight films and Charles Collins, who plays the band leader, was in just 15 films. But they and all the rest do very well and contribute to the comedy in this film.

Sigmund Neufeld productions made 126 B-level movies from 1940 to 1948 when it was bought out by J. Arthur Rank and merged into his new Eagle-Lion International. Eagle-Lion was a British-American enterprise that began in 1946 and went out of business in 1951.

An interesting historical aspect of this film is its plot that includes a good portrayal of the Juke Box automat. That was a system that was used in some of the larger cities, as in Los Angeles in this film. Instead of having physical jukebox machines in bars, cafes and drugstores, patrons could insert coins in a smaller wall-mounted fixture that would have a huge printed list of songs. They would insert coins and tell a person on the other end of a live phone line the number of the record they want to hear. That person, in a central record location, would pick the record off a large movable rack with rows and rows of records, and then play it for the customer. This system lasted but a short time until the real juke boxes took over.

The funniest lines occur in the popular eatery that the would-be star entertainers frequent. Marge O'Day, "What's good?" Waitress, "T-bone steak, pork chops, hamburger, friend chicken and rabbit." Marge, "T-bone steak. T-bone steak." Waitress, "I just said that's good, but we don't have any. Uh, maybe you better have a salami sandwich." Marge, "Oh, well. That's what we had in mind."

Plot- a talented songstress tries to break into the business, but is hampered by mishaps and a connaiving rival.

Okay, I'm a sucker for low-budget quickies, hoping for the occasional over-achiever. Happily, this is one of them. The flick's really more a comedy with a complex plot than a musical. But the pacing's snappy, the acting's colorful, and Tilton's such a sweetheart. Sure, it's the sassy Adrian and the scheming Brodel who get the acting and screentime, still, songstress Tilton's lovely voice carried me away. I just wish she had more numbers uncrowded by the screenplay. On the other hand, I'd never seen the feisty Brodel before. Too bad she didn't opt for a longer career since her talent for villianry is darkly clear. At the same time, I was hoping for some swing dancing with the flaring skirts so popular at the time, but maybe the budget didn't allow it. Anyway, the pacing never drags, while the sticky plot's happily softened by a supporting cast of humorous oldsters. So give it a look-see, especially for the "liltin' Martha Tilton".