Swing Shift *** (1984, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter) – Classic Movie Review 5353

Director Jonathan Demme’s interesting, amusing and fun but hesitant and halting 1984 romantic comedy is a mixed bag of goodies, with the rare treat of starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell together. Hawn stars as the 1940s housewife and married wartime plane-worker Kay Walsh, who is assigned to an armaments factory in California. When her US Naval seaman husband Jack (Ed Harris) is away abroad, Kay enjoys a fling with her hunky co-worker colleague, a musician named Lucky (Russell).

Despite a screenplay that just cannot quite pull it all together and direction that just does not quite take a grip, the intriguing premise, ideal atmosphere, good period re-creation and sparky performances still keep it swinging along quite nicely. It remains pleasant and enjoyable.

Goldie is fine as always, sprightly and engaging, but the best performance comes from Oscar-nominated Christine Lahti as heart-broken ex-singer Hazel, the heroine’s close friend. (Lahti inevitably lost to Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India in an unfair comparison). However, Hawn’s real-life partner Russell and her movie husband Ed Harris have a much less happy time than the two actresses.

Talking of a less happy time, producer Hawn apparently insisted that much of the movie was re-cut and re-shot, while the four screen-writers Bo Goldman, Nancy Dowd, Robert Towne and Ron Nyswaner had their names removed from the credits and were collectively credited as Rob Morton.

Alas there was a major difference of opinion: the stars saw the film as a lighthearted romcom, while Demme was after a more serious film. The director’s cut exists only on bootleg VHS.

It would have been Viggo Mortensen’s debut, but his scenes were cut.

Also actually in the cast are Fred Ward as Biscuits Toohey, Holly Hunter in an early role, film director Roger Corman, singer Belinda Carlisle, Sudie Bond, Patty Maloney, Lisa Pelikan, Laura Hawn, Susan Peretz, Joey Aresco, Morris Tex Briggs, Reid Cruickshanks, Danny Darst, Chris Lemmon, Stephen Tobolowsky, Susan Barnes, Beth Henley, Gene Borkan, Alana Stewart, Charles Napier, Doug Savant and Marvin Miller.

Hawn and Russell have largely gone their own ways in the movies but they both also star in Overboard (1987).

RIP Jonathan Demme (February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) who was acclaimed in the 1980s for Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986) and Married to the Mob (1988) and won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), later directing Philadelphia (1993).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 5353

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