Topic: Swing Parade of 1946 (1946)

[metaldams]

https://threestooges.net/filmography/episode/226/MLC


      SWING PARADE OF 1946.  A film that has an interesting place in my Stooge fandom story.  As a kid I watched The Three Stooges on TV and lost touch as a teenager.  One day in my early twenties I decided to revisit The Three Stooges, which eventually led to me getting into other classic comedians.  So what did I do?  I bought a cheap five VHS tape Goodtimes box set and tape one was SWING PARADE OF 1946.  I put the tape in and was extremely disappointed, not much Three Stooges and too much light comedy and music.  It delayed my Stooge return for a few months until I put the third tape in, which had the public domain shorts.

      Unlike back then, I’m now a somewhat seasoned Three Stooges fan and I now know what to expect with a film like SWING PARADE OF 1946.  From a Stooge perspective, the gold standard I was aiming for was TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM.  That standard being The Stooges are not the stars but they’ll get a few memorable extended scenes, maybe take up a good fifteen minutes of the film.  Even by that lowered standard, SWING PARADE OF 1946 falls short.

      One major difference is TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM was filmed in the early forties when The Three Stooges were in their prime.  SWING PARADE OF 1946 was filmed late July through August of 1945.  In other words, post stroke, sick Curly era.  Yes, Curly’s voice isn’t as high and cheerful as it used to be, but having a longer shooting schedule compared to the shorts, there is nothing beyond the voice that would indicate Curly’s weakness.  No blown match gags, no awkwardly delivered lines - they probably had a chance for multiple takes and the time to mask that stuff.

      Now there simply isn’t as much Stooge comedy as there was in TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM.  Was it because the script was written this way or maybe changes had to be made because of Curly’s condition?  All speculation on my part, but they’re questions I have.  The best Stooge scene in this seventy five minute film starts fifty two minutes into it.  A watch is lost down the drain, so they have to find it.  They try to stuff Larry down the drain and at one point Moe thinks Larry is actually down there.  You guys know the gag.  It leads to a Moe and Curly phone conversation where Moe gouges Curly through the phone line.  Then we get a watery basement scene where they’re looking for the watch through the water pipes.  Curly has the pipes where water can come out through all directions
Iike in A PLUMBING WE WILL GO.  No brilliant Curly noises and pantomime like in the classic short, but a good excuse to see a flooded room by The Three Stooges.  All routines we know from others sources done better elsewhere, but good to watch anyway.

      The only other major routine is the boys as waiters trying to get the man to order the roast beef when he wants turkey.  Pleasant enough interpretation of another gag we’ve seen before.  Curly then is a pest to these customers as far as getting them a menu and I find it interesting Curly’s back is to the camera half the time.

      As far as original gags go, very early on, the boys are washing dishes and there’s this nice visual gag where they keep washing the same dish over and over. Moe in the middle washes the dish and passes it to Curly to put away.  Instead, Curly reaches around Moe and gives the dish to Larry, who hands it back to Moe to wash again.  A minor but fun gag I haven’t seen before.  It also should be mentioned the boys work with Edward Brophy here.  He plays sort of a Ted Healy role to the boys.  Interesting this far into their careers, when it’s feature time, a Healy type is used.

      So yes, as a Three Stooges film, minor and worth seeing once for the seasoned fan.  Light musical comedy, which is what this film is, is not my forte, so if any of you want to review this from that point of view, be my guest.  I found the romance, paper servicing routines, musical numbers and pretty chorus girls entertaining enough. That stuff is the real draw of a film like this.  The third billed Three Stooges are the icing on the cake.

[Dr. Mabuse]

"Swing Parade of 1946" is a low-budget Monogram curio with some intriguing talent on display. Behind the cameras are cult filmmaker Phil Karlson and writer-director Nicholas Ray (credited with "additional dialogue"). Joining the Three Stooges are Louis Jordan, Connee Boswell and Gale Storm. The standout numbers include Jordan's "Caldonia" and Boswell's "Stormy Weather." Moe, Larry and Curly (in his last feature) help enliven the dead spots. Hardly classic cinema, but a definite improvement over "Rockin' in the Rockies."

[metaldams]

Speaking of Louis Jordan, I enjoyed his numbers.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Curly and Louis Jordan on the set of "Swing Parade of 1946"

[Umbrella Sam]

I saw this film once many years ago, also on a public domain DVD, and didn’t think much of it. Watching it again many years later, there definitely are more things to it I like, but also still things that I don’t.

Starting with the Stooges. They’re good in their scenes. Yes, Curly’s illness is kind of noticeable here as far as his voice goes, but for what he could do at that point, he does do it well. The basement stuff isn’t A PLUMBING WE WILL GO, but even if Curly had been well, I wouldn’t have expected it to be; the movie is clearly focused on being a variety musical, and the Stooges are just the comic relief. That’s fine, but I feel like it pales very much to TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM as a result. Not that TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM is a perfect movie, far from it. But at least the Stooges are incorporated as part of the variety plot, and when their time comes, they do actually get a really fun musical number near the end. It feels like they have an arc that’s built up and completed; here, they’re just there to be the comic relief and not much more (and no, I don’t count the musical number at the end since they do almost nothing). But, hey, they’re still the Stooges, and they do well as the comic relief...that is to say, for what few comic scenes they have. I like the waiter scenes, especially when Moe is fighting with the customer about roast beef versus turkey and, though it doesn’t compare to PLUMBING, I like some of the basement stuff, particularly Moe and Curly on the phone and seeing Edward Brophy fall into the water. Brophy plays a Healy type role here, and he does it so much better than Healy. I’ve been reading the Buster Keaton biography by James Curtis and he points out that Brophy was selected for his role in THE CAMERAMAN because he was of a similar size to Keaton, someone who got easily irritated but also wouldn’t want to pick a fight. I think this is partly the reason he works so much better here than Healy; not that Brophy is necessarily Stooge-like, but they seem like the only types he possibly could boss around, and he takes advantage of that in such an over-the-top way that makes it funny. When I see Healy bossing Moe around, it just feels bland; when I see Brophy do it, I find it absolutely hilarious.

As for the rest of the movie? I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t even realize Louis Jordan was in this. When I originally saw this, I didn’t know who he was. But, yes, his numbers here are great, especially “Caldonia” with those light up instruments and a super energetic performance. I also like the dance number between Gale Storm and Jack Boyle. Besides that, though, I’m not really a big fan of the musical numbers; especially near the end, the pacing of the musical numbers makes it drag. The main story is kind of bland, which is a shame since I liked Gale Storm in IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVENUE (which also features Brophy), although I do like the idea of the feud between Danny and his father being more caused by a misunderstanding; the whole point is Danny is trying to make something of himself and avoid living off his father, which his father fails to see. It’s a good idea, but Phil Regan is just so bland in the role that they don’t pull it off as well as they should. Mary Treen is pretty good in her supporting role as Marie, though.

I agree with Dr. Mabuse that this is definitely better than ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES. At the same time, though, SWING PARADE OF 1946 does get tedious at times with its musical numbers and boring romance. It’s not necessarily a bad film, but it screams “formulaic”. It’s still worth watching for the Stooges and Jordan, though.

[Umbrella Sam]

Just went back to reread my TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM review and realized I kind of contradicted myself there, saying the Stooges were better incorporated there than here. Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking at the time; I may have been thinking of the fact that they help Carol get the job in this film, which in a sense makes them more important to the romance, but otherwise don’t do much, whereas in TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM they have much more presence and stick out more.

[Shemp_Diesel]

I remember years ago, either on Amazon or IMBD's website, I gave this film a positive review & all I can say now is that I must have been in an extremely good mood when I did that. Either that, or the older I get, the more cantankerous I've become & my fuse for light-hearted romance piled on top of musical numbers is extremely short. 

One thing I'll say about this movie--just from a visual standpoint--this film does look better than some other turkeys that Monogram churned out. Having sat through a few of those Bela Lugosi potboilers, Swing Parade doesn't have the cheap look of those. That might be all the praise I can give this film.

No wait, now I remember why I sat through this film. Moe, Larry and Curly. If not for them, I wouldn't give Swing Parade a first look--nevermind a 2nd. And some of the advertising that you might see for this movie--some even on youtube, is very misleading; as far as the stooges being at their "wildest" and "wooliest,". Nevermind the point I didn't want to labor on--Curly not in his prime--but most of the material the boys have just seems forced, because of who they are & even Edward Brophy's relationship with the boys felt manufactured.

Basically, the only high points sitting through this junk was Moe pushing the roast beef on that one, unfortunate patron & Moose's watch getting lost down the drainpipe. If you threatened to put my nuts in a blender, I might say, make me sit through Gold Raiders again before watching this drivel....

2/10.... 

[metaldams]

Monogram by the mid forties had higher budgets than the glory days of Lugosi’s Monogram 9.  Actually, for a nice comparison, compare an East Side Kids film to a Bowery Boys film.  The latter, on a technical level, is superior and started being made around the same time as SWING PARADE OF 1946.

[metaldams]

Interesting conflicting takes on Brophy from Sam and Diesel.  Something I’ll have to watch for if I watch this again.

[Shemp_Diesel]

The only attempt at critical analysis I can come up with in regards to the Brophy/Stooges relationship is this: maybe when they were younger and still relatively "green" in the field of comedy the boys needed a Healy type character to boss them around and try to keep them in line.

But here in the late 40s when the act and the stooges had matured--and they had proven that Healy was more of a hindrance than a boon--forcing them into a subservient role against an "authority figure," just doesn't register as natural to me. Especially when you know that in the normal Stooge Columbia universe, that any sort of male authority type like a Vernon or Bud who dared to try and put the stooges in their place was going to get his comeuppance before the short ended.

Nothing against Brophy himself--I've seen him other roles that I enjoyed--but here, having him boss the Stooges around mostly stymies the attempts at typical Moe, Larry and Curly humor....  😒

[Umbrella Sam]

Here’s my thing, though. The way the Stooges are written into this, you need to strike a proper balance between the serious characters and the Stooges, otherwise you essentially have two different movies going on. It’s not like TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM where the Stooges are actually part of the variety show angle; here, they’re simply just the comic relief who occasionally help the romantic leads. Brophy provides the bridge between the serious and the comedy here. Brophy’s really the only actor in this movie that I could see being in a Stooge comedy; if Phil Regan had just been in charge of them, it wouldn’t have worked, even if his performance in the finished film hadn’t been so atrociously bland. He would have been either too nice to them or not convincing when he had to take charge. And while it’s not necessarily at the end, Brophy does take his fair share of comeuppance, like when they throw him out of the club instead of Danny’s father or when he falls in the water in the basement. I can see where Shemp_Diesel is coming from in how the Stooges are written into the story. But, taking into account the fact that they aren’t incorporated in the same way they are in TIME OUT FOR RHYTHM, I find Brophy one of the more entertaining aspects of this movie.