"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."
