Themes: Life on the Homefront, Women's Friendship, Infidelity
Main Cast: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
Review
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. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Holly Hunter - Jeannie; Patty Maloney - Laverne; Lisa Pelikan - Violet; Susan Peretz - Edith; Todd Allen - Col. Bobby Danzig; Joey Aresco - Johnny Bonnano; Susan Barnes - Skinny; Morris "Tex" Biggs - Clarence; Sudie Bond - Annie; Gene Borkan - MP at Embarkation Point; Belinda Carlisle - Jamboree Singer; Don Carrara - Drunk Soldier; Reid Cruickshanks - Spike; Dennis Fimple - Rupert George; Laura Hawn - Ethel; Eugene W. Jackson - Bartender; Penny Johnson - Genevieve; Chris Lemmon - Lt. O'Connor; Deena Marie - Piper Girl; Sandy McLeod - 2nd Interviewer; Marvin Miller - Rollo; Belita Moreno - Mabel Stoddard; Charles Napier - Moon Willens; Harry Northrup - New Year's Eve Marine; Roger Rook - Bellhop; Chino "Fats" Williams - Bouncer; Lisa Chadwick - Vocalist at Kelly's; Roger Corman - Mr. MacBride; Gary Goetzman - "Swing Shift" Bandleader; Beth Henley - Bible Pusher; Maggie Renzi - 1st Interviewer; Alana Stewart - Frankie Parker; Stephen Tobolowsky - Documentary Narrator/French de Mille; Alan Toy - Assistant Cribman; Oceana Marr - Ladies Room Inspector; Isabell Monk - Rita; George "Red" Schwartz - Cribman; Eddie Smith - Waiter at Kelly's; Marion Dougherty; Phillip Christon - Recruit at Egyptian
Credit
Charles B. Mulvehill - Associate Producer, Joe Tompkins - Costume Designer, Jonathan Demme - Director, Craig McKay - Editor, Arlene Sellers - Executive Producer, Alex Winitsky - Executive Producer, Patrick Williams - Composer (Music Score), Peter Allen - Songwriter, Will Jennings - Songwriter, Peter Jamison - Production Designer, Robert W. Welch III - Production Designer, Tak Fujimoto - Cinematographer, Jerry Bick - Producer, Jeff Haley - Set Designer, R. Chris Westlund - Set Designer, Rob Morton - Screenwriter, Tom Saviano - Musical Performer
Set during the Second World War, Hawn plays a woman who has been assigned to an armaments factory while her husband is overseas in military service. During the course of the film Hawn falls for the charms of another man played by Russell.
Production
Swing Shift has become a case study for a star/producer interfering. Hawn and Russell saw the film as a lighthearted vehicle while the director Demme attempted to create a more serious film.[citation needed] Hawn requested a recut and partially re-shooting in order to enhance her role. Demme's director's cut exists on bootleg VHS only. Both cuts run 100 minutes.
