La Fièvre du swing

At the end of the 40s Kay Kyser left show business rather abruptly and never came back, almost Garbo like. He was wildly popular in the 40s and Swing Fever is an example of his homespun appeal.

Kyser who has ambitions to be a classical composer gets involved with a group of musicians who know nothing but current swing. He's a square from Delaware as they said back in the day, but he's soon in the groove.

He also has what they call back in the piney woods where he comes from an 'evil eye', one hypnotic stare and you're in a trance.

Fight manager William Gargan hopes to use Kyser's gift to get his palooka of a fighter Nat Pendleton a few wins for a change. And Marilyn Maxwell wants to sing with the band.

She and regular Kyser male vocalist Harry Babbitt do a few numbers and Lena Horne sings in this film as well.

Swing Fever is a pleasant piece of World War 2 era fluff.

Plot-heavy MGM musical, not likely to turn up on studio highlights. I suppose war demands account for many shortcomings, like the unlikely Kyser in the lead, shoestring production values from a big-budget studio, and a roster of undistinguished supporting players. Then too, musicals need lightweight stories to coordinate with overall mood. This one can't make up its mind. Too bad that outside of Maxwell, the performances are spotty. Kyser tries manfully but the seams show, nor does the lumpy screenplay help.

Nonetheless, there are some highlights. The production number "I Planted A Rose" shows spunk, along with a classy Lena Horne, a lively Marilyn Maxwell, and hep-cat swingers doing their acrobatic thing. And for fans of 50's sci-fi, there's the lordly Morris Ankrum mugging it up, of all things. Still, the plot's too convoluted for a musical and overshadows many of the more lackluster numbers. All in all, the package remains little more than spotty wartime escape.

It's a shame Kay Kyser's 5 picture deal w/ RKO ended with AROUND THE WORLD('43), because when MGM signed him for this one film, they dropped the ball big time. It's a poor story that barely features Kyser's great band, and has an overlong production number, MISSISSIPPI DREAMBOAT. I think this is the first onscreen appearance of Lena Horne, who sings a song then disappears, but i could be mistaken about that. Blonde and sexy Marilyn Maxwell plays Kyser's love interest, which seemed a bit far-fetched until Kyser's real life widow, Georgia Carroll, informed me Kay and Marilyn dated seriously in real life! THERE IS A CLASSIC VISUAL GAG where Kyser's rehearsing his band and identifies a couple of strangers playing along. Kyser (as Lowell Blackford) doesn't recognize them, but tells them they can't play his music very well. The camera pans over to TOMMY DORSEY and HARRY JAMES who leave the bandstand, complaining " No one can play this music. This guy'll never get anywhere. Besides, he looks too much like KAY KYSER!!" Best line in the film! In conclusion, SWING FEVER never reaches fever pitch, and the dummies at MGM never tried again w/ Kyser, who, by the way was a big big star at this time. Good posters, though!!

From the contrarian viewpoint, this is the only Kay Kyser film I've seen yet that I've found watchable. Kyser plays a character other than his usual "Kay Kyser, goofy band leader" -- not a complete change, but just different enough to make him tolerable. And, while it's Kyser's band, someone else has apparently arranged the music so it actually swings and has some oomph for a change.

The script is as thin as usual for this sort of musical, but passable. Marilyn Maxwell's part doesn't require much acting, but she's a treat when she's on screen. And her singing, which is excellent, is a hoot for the vintage musicals connoisseur to watch - one song she does Mae West, later she puts on a bit of Ginger Rogers.

Lena Horne's "You're So Indifferent" is a pleasure - in a minimalist bluesy mode, unlike so much of what she did at MGM.

I love the "big band" musicals of the 1940s. Plots are meaningless. I watch for the musical numbers and thus one doesn't disappoint. From the opening number, I Never Knew, the expanded band plays great. Only with an MGM budget would you find Kyser with 5 trumpets, 5 trombones and six saxophones. The chart, presumably by George Dunning, is excellent. The band in that scene is directed by Harry Babbit is tight and swingin'.

The Lena Horne performance in a nightclub is nice, but not a great tune.

"I Planted a Rose", sung by Harry Babbitt in a production number is as good as many typical movie tunes of the era.

"One Girl and Two Boys" is a fine production number with some excellent jitterbug dancing and lots of soldiers, sailors and marines.

These big band era musicals of the WW2 era were made mostly to rntertain the war weary troops and the folks back home. They should viewed and judged with that in mind.

Kyser and his band were big business in the era and they lifted the morale of everyone. They deserve respect for that.