Tad Pole
. . . 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.
Neil Doyle
A Warner Bros. treat, filmed in bright Technicolor, SWINGTIME IN THE MOVIES is a breezy short subject the studio obviously used to demonstrate its skillful handling of color photography in the year that produced THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD ('38).FRITZ FELD is the irate director with a language problem--and obviously doing a take-off of Warner's director Michael Curtiz who used to fracture the English language ("Bring on the Empty Horses").JOHN CARROLL gets a chance to demonstrate his rich baritone voice with some forgettable song numbers and KATHRYN KANE is the waitress who is discovered in the studio commissary when director Feld wants to find a girl with a Southern accent for his latest western.A few Warner stars are seen in the commissary having lunch: HUMPHREY BOGART, PAT O'BRIEN and JOHN GARFIELD--in what may well be their debut in Technicolor.Lots of fun.
John (opsbooks)
I happened to spot this short on the 'extras' list for the Bogart 'They Drive by Night' DVD release, so figured that it was worth buying just for that! It's obvious this Vitaphone short is a promo for many of WB's great actors of the period, but don't expect Bogart to do more than just sit at his table in the cafeteria. For anyone interested in behind the scenes camera and sound setups of the late 1930s though, this short will prove of great interest.Forget about the story which has been down a hundred times - beautiful girls come to Hollywood, and most end up serving behind a counter in a store, or much worse. Maybe our female lead here is the lucky one; where else could she meet all the great stars of the period? She is offered her chance which enables the all very capable cast to perform some comedy skits. That was the difference in the Golden Age; even second and third string actors could come up with good performances.To finish it off, it's all in lovely color. Although the short may not have been totally restored, it looks as though it probably came off a close to original negative. Here's hoping more shorts of this nature can be included on future big name movie releases.
Randy_D
The plot of Swingtime in the Movies is mildly amusing and of the appropriate length. The real highlight is seeing some of the great actors of that time in cameo appearances.The Humphrey Bogart bit is a must-see for all Bogey fans!
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