Swing it magistern!

Here's something that bobbed up from nowhere - a Swing musical made in Sweden in 1940 and anticipating the Donald O'Connor-Jane Powell school films from the 'states.

Once again the stuffy principal doesn't understand her cool new music teacher and the so talented teen age girl that he encourages and who forms a crush on him, despite his interest in the lady gym teacher making those girls in baggy shorts do ill coordinated routines.

The piece has some naive energy, despite going on too long and being short on imagination. Miss Nilson's clean cut appeal is understandable. One of the film's strengths is that the leads are so ordinary. The handling is better than competent but the it disappoints in not offering any real look at WW2 Sweden.

The DVD is excellent quality and has good English titles.

This delicious Swedish musical from 1940 is a college comedy in the US Monogram style with a classroom full of music teens who are delighted to find their new teacher also loves swing music. It mainly stars lovely Swedish teen singer Alice Babs Nilsson who was the Gale Storm or Deanna Durbin of her time. The vintage Swedish musicals and some thrillers of their times are clearly influenced by US movies, but with this film I think there was a reversal of interest, given the film's snappy music and gang-show-musical fun: see the PRC musical of 1943 called JIVE JUNCTION which stars Dickie Moore as it is the same story albeit with different tunes and in an American school.

The main song here called "SWING IT MAGISTERN: Swing It" is a great tune and turns up again in the gorgeous 1958 musical JAZZGOSSEN. Just as Garbo proved in the 20s and with INTERMEZZO of 1936 remade as INTERMEZZO of 1939 by Selznick, there was many eyes on the delights of Swedish films... and especially mine lately.

A sequel to SWING IT MAGISTERN was made in 1943, it is called VORAT GANG (Our Gang) and has more songs and is a bigger production. These Swedish musicals are just terrific. And Alice Babs is divine. Both out now on DVD too!