Swing Hostess

"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."

Made at PRC pictures in 1944 this very funny musical is a near cousin to SINGIN THE RAIN. It delivers a good swing musical soundtrack set in the record industry with a Lina Lamont sound-a-like bad girl called Phoebe Forbes getting inappropriate bitchy stardom over good girl Martha Tilton (who just died Dec 8, 2006) and her hilarious wise-cracking room mate Iris Adrian. The whole film is a case and chase of mistaken musical identity with horrible tuneless Phoebe deluding herself that she has singing talent and allowing Martha's music to be heard as hers. If you watch this film then have a look at Betty Hutton in THE PERILS OF PAULINE made in 1947, you can put the jigsaw puzzle of both films together and get a rough cut of SINGING IN THE RAIN made in '52. One fascinating scene in SWING HOSTESS involves a fantastic deco style jukebox where instead of button pressing, the client phones a switchboard/DJ girl who has a library of records at her fingertips in a room somewhere and she plays the selection. They can talk (in this case shout and be insolent) to each other thru a microphone and speaker in the jukebox. What an invention! What an installation. PRC spent some real money on this film and it is well produced with some excellent sets and decor...so unusual for them. I would suggest this film did very well for them and proved once again that there is so many hilarious musical gems to be found in 'poverty row'. The showbiz boarding house they all live in if crammed with idiotic vaudeville types who can't stop running about and performing tricks and stunts on each other. The whole film is pitched at a silly level which only adds to the fun.

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.

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".

Sig Neufeld made a ton of cheapo movies during the 1930s-50s. Some (such as some of his Tim McCoy westerns) were pretty good but some were pretty bad....and all were made quickly above all else. In the case of "Swing Hostess" he not only made the film but released it through PRC...one of the cheapest and worst outfits of their day. So, it's not particularly surprising that "Swing Hostess" isn't particularly good.

When the film begins, Judy (Martha Tilton) is a poor aspiring band singer. She's out of work and cannot seem to get anywhere when she tries out for various producers. However, her break seems assured when she makes a lovely recording at a local studio...but it's lost when the record is accidentally mixed up and a no-talent gets credit for the single. Can they manage to straighten all this out and Judy get a chance to sing for the Benny Jackson band?

This film, not surprisingly, has a lot of singing. After all, Martha Tilton was a famous big band singer and so she croons repeatedly....and it's rather pleasant. However, despite decent music, the film also suffers from sloppy writing and some obnoxious characters. Overall, a passable time-passer but not exactly a film you should rush to see. And, actually, for PRC this is all very glowing praise!