Swing Your Lady

Yes, of COURSE this is a hokey movie, but that's what makes it so funny. Louise Fazenda steals the show. Bogey is uncomfortable in his role, to be sure, but who cares? It's entertaining and wasn't meant to be anything other than that. In my opinion, it is NOT a Bogey movie - it's Louise Fazenda all the way! The music is entertaining as well and, as usual, Frank McHugh and Allen Jenkins do their part well. My favorite scene?.....Bogey asking Fazenda if she wants to "wrassle" (not meaning to wrestle him). She throws him to the ground in one fell swoop and says, "Now, say 'Hootie Owl'." I think it loses in translation...but I laughed out loud.

Six stars. And that's rounded up. Why? Because Bogart could play anything and make it work (as long as a New York accent is okay). Even a crappy part like Ed Hatch in a crappy movie like this. And because, for all the absurdity of her character, Louise Fazenda also turned in a good performance. Everything else was strictly B-movie stuff. Including a 77 minute run-time that devoted at least 15 of those minutes to four over the top musical production numbers that were designed to make fun of the country hicks. In fact another real problem is that the tone of the film wobbles drunkenly between sneering at the yokels and code-approved "love conquers all" stuff. I won't go into the plot. Suffice to say it is a rural screw-ball comedy that is as ridiculous as the production can make it. But one final word of praise: When Penny Singleton showed up, I HATED her part. She comes in as another witless, annoying harridan. But then she got to do her song-and-dance stuff. And, as absurdly over-the-top as the material was, she was absolutely the real deal as a song-and-dance girl.

Bogart is my favorite actor. That's why I dug this one up. And it was probably a relief for him to get to play something other than a gangster in 1937. He also got to be the nominal star of the film. Pretty rare, at that point in his career. By my count, this was his 24th film. I've seen 18 of those, and Bogie was in the star in four of them. So I'm guessing he jumped at the chance for a starring role, even in a crappy B-movie comedy. If you're a HUGE Bogart fan, you should watch this. Otherwise, take a pass. 31 July 2024.

Wrestling manager Humphrey Bogart is stranded with his wrestler, Nat Pendleton, and the rest of the entourage, Frank McHugh and Allen Jenkins in some Hooterville like town in the Ozarks. The boys are down and out and Bogey wants to scare up a match for some traveling money.

He meets up with Amazonian blacksmith Louise Fazenda and arranges a match, but Pendleton and Fazenda fall in love and that plan goes awry. Not to worry because Fazenda has some gargantuan guy who's been a-courtin' her and he's out of joint. So the match is Pendleton and Daniel Boone Savage.

Bogart said it to all who'd listen that he thought this was his worst feature film. I can certainly see why he thought so. He really looks so uncomfortable even in a set supposed to resemble hillbilly heaven.

My guess is that the Warner Brothers were trying to get to a different audience. They were known as the urban studio in the Thirties and concentrated on a product geared to that audience. Other than Dick Foran B westerns a whole market was being untapped.

I'm sure this must have been offered to Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney before Bogey. He wasn't a big star then so this kind of material could be fluffed off on him.

So we've got Sam Spade in Hooterville along with a lot of hillbilly music and even a brief role by the 40th President of the United States as a reporter.

For die hard Bogey fans only.

Ed Hatch (Humphrey Bogart) manages dim-witted wrestler Joe Skopapoulos. He discovers local strong hick Sadie Horn and comes up with an unusual match. Joe falls for her and refuses to fight. Ed uses all his underhanded lies to gin up another fight.

This is not necessarily for Bogie fans unless you're a completist. It's a musical comedy about rural wrestling with a strong woman. I don't find it that funny although I like most of the characters. Bogie is fine but it's not enough. I like the idea of wrestling Sadie but the movie turns away from that. I don't think it's as bad as advertised but that's not high praise.

I will just start by saying this was a funny and cute movie.

It stars Humphery Bogart as a Wrestling promoter who was come to the Ozarks with his wrestler Joe. Joe,a loveable dim-wit, has been entered into an exhibition match with the local Amazon,and black smith. Miss Sadie Horn, to whom Ed (Bogart) has instructed him not to meet untill the day of the match.

All things change when one evening Joe is out running and stumbles over Miss Horn working. He falls hopelessly in love with her and she is quite smitten by him. Much to the dis-may of her Beau,Noah.

The comedy insues,with this very odd triangle, and witty dialogue. a must see by all classic movie viewers.

My favorite line from this movie is:

(Joe is holding a horseshoe that Sadie gave him for luck)

Joe: (rubbing the horseshoe and looking very sad)

Man: what is he doing?

Ed: I don't know...maybe he saving up for a horse.