Swing Shift

Director: Jonathan Demme Jonathan Demme

Overview

Director Jonathan Demme made one of his more conventional movies with Swing Shift, an examination of life on the American home front during WWII. Goldie Hawn, who also served as the film's producer, stars as Kay, a woman who takes a job on the line at a plant producing war planes after her husband goes off to fight in Europe. One of her coworkers is her best friend Hazel, played by Christine Lahti, whose performance earned an Oscar nomination and a New York Film Critics award. Kay falls in love with another coworker, Lucky (Kurt Russell), who couldn't enlist because of a weak heart. Kay's husband Jack (Ed Harris) comes home on leave and finds out that his wife has betrayed him. Lucky then decides to pursue Hazel, driving a wedge between the two best friends. ~ Michael Betzold

Product Details

Release Date:	12/02/2014
UPC:	0888574092146
Original Release:	1984
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	18,871

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Goldie Hawn	Kay Walsh,Ethel
Kurt Russell	Mike 'Lucky' Lockhart
Ed Harris	Jack Walsh
Christine Lahti	Hazel
Fred Ward	Biscuits Toohey
Sudie Bond	Annie
Holly Hunter	Jeannie Sherman
Patty Maloney	Laverne
Lisa Pelikan	Violet Mulligan
Susan Peretz	Edith Castle
Joey Aresco	Johnny Bonnano
Morris 'Tex' Biggs	Clarence
Reid Cruickshanks	Spike
Daniel Dean Darst	Deacon
Dennis Fimple	Rupert George
Chris Lemmon	Lt. O'Connor
Charles Napier	Moon Willens
Stephen Tobolowsky	Documentary Narrator/French de Mille
Marvin Miller	Rollo
Susan Barnes	Skinny
Beth Henley	Bible Pusher
Gene Borkan	MP at Embarkation Point
Alana Stewart	Frankie Parker
Phillip Christon	Recruit at Egyptian
Penny Johnson	Genevieve
Isabell Monk	Rita
George Schwartz	Cribman
Alan Toy	Assistant Cribman
Oceana Marr	Ladies Room Inspector
Richard K. Way	Factory Soldier
Harold Jackson	Piano Player at Sorrentino's,Bartender
Don Carrara	Drunk Sailor
Todd Allen	Cpl. Bobby Danzig
Gary Goetzman	`Swing Shift' Bandleader
Belinda Carlisle	Jamboree Singer
Lissette LeCorn	Peggy at Age 3
Jessica Gaynes	Peggy at Age 7
Deena Marie	Paper Girl
Roger Rook	Bellhop
Joseph Hutton	Seaman Amtzis
Harry Northrup	New Year's Eve Marine
David B. Carlton	New Year's Eve Marine
Lisa Chadwick	Vocalist at Kelly's
Eddie Smith	Waiter at Kelly's
Chino Williams	Bouncer,Bouncer,Composer
Belita Moreno	Mabel Stoddard
Roger Corman	Mr. MacBride
Marion Dougherty	Actor
Maggie Renzi	1st Interviewer
Sandy McLeod	2nd Interviewer

Technical Credits

Nancy Dowd

Rob Morton

Jonathan Demme	Director
Jerry Bick	Producer
Arlene Sellers	Executive Producer
Alex Winitsky	Executive Producer
Nancy Dowd	Screenwriter
Rob Morton	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Swing Shift is perhaps more noteworthy for its offscreen dramas (including rumored dissension between star Goldie Hawn and director Jonathan Demme, not to mention the start of the long term relationship between Hawn and Kurt Russell) than for anything onscreen. While not without charm, there's a tentativeness and a lack of focus to Swing Shift that negates its impact, leaving the viewer feeling somehow cheated -- as if he had been promised a nice full meal but instead was delivered a tasty but rather insubstantial snack. Much of the problem lays with the screenplay; it wants to tell two separate stories, one dealing with women entering the workforce during World War II and the changes that wrought, and one detailing a simple, basic love story. Unfortunately, the two strands never weave together in the appropriate way, possibly because at least five different writers were brought in to patch the screenplay together. Swing Shift eventually emerges as a thin study of several characters, but those characters are not given enough depth to carry the film, despite fine performances by the cast. Christine Lahti is especially good, giving a finely-nuanced and carefully detailed performance that gathers in impact, but Hawn, Russell and Ed Harris are all solid. Demme's work is okay, but it lacks punch and spirit; he would be back in top form for his next film, Stop Making Sense.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler