Swingtime in the Movies (1938)

I love this movie so much

Just perfect...

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

. . . does NOT kill anyone OR lose any body parts! Such flicks are few and far between, as he had no qualms about pretending to shoot people or pretending to be maimed, unlike, say, Dustin Hoffman, who only carried a gun in LITTLE BIG MAN. It is amazing how much more military the film careers of propaganda movie stars such as Bogart or John Wayne are compared to those of actual war heroes such as the invisible rabbit HARVEY's friend Jimmy Stewart, who retired as an U.S. Air Force brigadier general after surviving dozens of bombing raids over Nazi Germany. Be that as it may, SWINGTIME IN THE MOVIES is one of the few innocuous Bogart films (even if his only contribution is appearing as himself in a Hollywood canteen for about two seconds!). The remaining cast of this short are pretty inconsequential to anyone born after 1990 (unless they are your great grandpops or something, and you're mentioned in their will). Pat O'Brien played President Reagan's coach in KNUTE ROCKNE, ALL-AMER!CAN, but Reagan has been deceased for quite some time, and he's just on an airport, NOT any folding money.

Swingtime in the Movies (1938) *** (out of 4) A "behind the scenes" short from Warner has a musical director (Fritz Feld) being disappointed in his leading lady who can't quite get her Southern accent down. He eventually finds a lady (Kathryn Kane) working in the cafeteria who is from Texas and is just right for the part. The "story" side of this film is mildly entertaining but the real reason to watch is for an early sequence inside the Warner cafeteria where some of their biggest stars are show. We get to see Pat O'Brien, George Brent, John Garfield, Prescilla and Rosemary Lane and a funny sequence with Humphrey Bogart keeping the "Dead End Kids" in line. It's worth noting that this short was also Garfield's only Technicolor film so that's reason enough alone to check it out. These stars are the main reason to see this film but there are plenty of other good moments and that includes the music numbers. The big production inside the cafeteria is certainly the best one but all of them are worth listening to. Kane herself makes for a nice leading lady and really delivers a fun performance making her character quite likable and memorable.

This almost half and hour two reel short subject could almost qualify as as a mini-musical with several numbers by songwriters M.K.Jerome and Jack Scholl. The film is a movie with a short as director Fritz Feld tries desperately to finish a western he's directing and replace his less than talented leading lady Helen Lynd who just can't quite master a mushmouth Southern accent.Feld finds his new leading lady in the Warner Brothers studio cafeteria among the servers in the person of Katherine Kane. The highlight of the short is the break for lunch in the cafeteria where the servers do a number and the camera pans to several of the Warner Brothers stars taking a break.As this film was done in color it rather than some of the feature for these stars might well be considered their respective color debuts.Fritz Feld and assistant Charley Foy provide a lot of laughs. It's a worthwhile short subject and worthy of the Academy Award nomination it got in that category.

Academy-award nominated Short Subject. It's about director Nivitch (Fritz Feld) trying to shoot a Western but having nothing but trouble. He needs a girl with a Southern accent...and finds one working as a waitress in the studio restaurant. You can write the rest yourself.This sounds pretty terrible but it's amusing. It's shot in Technicolor and has some pretty good songs and dances--the dances especially are designed to take advantage of the color. The acting is just OK--Kathryn Kane and Jerry Colonna are the leads. There are also some cameos from Warner Brothers stars in the restaurant. Among them, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Pat O'Brien--all in color and smiling for the cameras!Nothing great but fun. Worth seeing.