Swing Parade of 1946

If you think too much this movie isn't going to please. But, if you want to escape that whole trap you may find some varied entertainment here. Think of this loosely as a damsel in distress story set up for numerous musical numbers that are quite good with some great comic relief.

Gail Storm is Carol Lawrence who is down on her luck. You instantly like Carol because Gail is so "girl next door" innocent but alluringly beautiful. And beauty can sing too, making her a fit for this musical comedy. While the story is anything but interesting, it is a just serviceable hanger for the much better music and comedy. In fact this movie should be a solid 6.5 for it's entertainment value. A fun watch and a fair colorized version to boot showing a little of the music and glamor of a great period (post WW II) in which there was class and great expectations.

Astonishing mish mash from Monogram ...is that tautology? BUT this pic is an excuse for Monogram to show off a huge new nightclub set they decided to build. Interspersed with quite funny 3 Stooges-on-loan-scenes and demented dance and comedy numbers, it all ends up in an avalanche of borrowed costumes, amateur 17 year olds in tuxedos and a barrage of swing noise. Louis Jordan is , as usual wild and rude, and Gale Storm is lovely, and Phil Regan is as usual competent.... BUT the Embassy Club as opened in this effervescent calamity must have seemed the utopia of white trash kitsch....and that is for the viewer, not the characters. So awful it is wonderful, with characters not seen in reels 1/2/3 who suddenly appear in a HUGE musical number as major input, THE SWING PARADE OF 1946 is wonderfully awful. I loved every mad misguided minute of it all, and so should you.

This is a pretty good movie, it's relatively short and it's got the Stooges, however they're more side characters in this film, but great side characters they were. The plot is also simple, a man opens up a nightclub, but his rich father objects and wants to shut it down so his son will take over the family business. He doesn't want to deliver the paper that will shut down the nightclub himself, so he offers a woman who had just visited the club looking for a job singing (she's just been evicted from her apartment) $50 to deliver it. She gets there and now she is offered a job, so she doesn't even mention the paper. The father sees her name in a newspaper so he heads off to the club himself. The Stooges make an appearance every now and then, and when they do, they steal the show. This movie wouldn't have been all that great without them, but they're in it, so check it out.

the stooges take a small departure from their usual high powered rough house antics and the change will not detract 99% of Stooges fans...I looked that up!

good screenplay, smoothly directed...with great musical spots, talking about Louis Jordan and Gail Storm.

something about a struggling club run by a rich man's kid...Dad wants the whole enterprise to fail to teach his Son a lesson. but the very cute Gail swings in (she's the recently hired bearer of bad news) and the kid is gaga.

the stooges are the enforcers > they will cause as many impediments as possible to block the foreclosure, as they can...with an emphasis on keeping Gail (six years shy of "My Little Margie") in the "spotlight".

And a few other co-stars, obviously. I'm not that well versed in "Poverty Row" entertainment, like some of the major studios. When it comes to Monogram or PRC, or a few of those other outfits, it's either hit or miss. The presence of the "Stooges" may be the obvious draw for this one--they definitely provide most of the humor; although Ed Brophy in a Healy type role is great himself. A lot of attractive women running around too--if you're into that sort of thing.

The story--what there is of it--is easy enough to understand. Process servers, a father who doesn't want his son in the entertainment business, some jilted landlords, and a pretty good looking movie in spite of it's budget limitations. Usually these B or C grade turkeys look just like that--but, if you didn't know any better--this would look like the same sort of movie Columbia or Universal could have cranked out.