SWING HIGH, SWING LOW

 

SWING HIGH, SWING LOW is the third of four films made by Paramount that starred Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray. Today the movie, which fell into public domain, is only available in a mediocre-looking version that doesn't give credit to the talent and effort of those who worked on it. Turner Classic Movies showed the film recently, and their presentation had a bit better visual quality than the public domain version, but the dialogue was still hard to make out at times. 

SWING HIGH, SWING LOW was based on a Broadway play called BURLESQUE, and the main story had already been adapted to film in 1929. The property would be made again as WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME, starring Betty Grable. All the versions deal with the tribulations of a performing man-and-wife team who break up. 

Carole Lomabrd plays Maggie King, a not-very-successful singer who gets stranded in Panama after the boat she is working on stops at the Canal Zone. While there she meets Skid Johnson (Fred MacMurray), who has just left the military. Maggie and Skid are both broke, and they wind up staying with Skid's friend Harry (Charles Butterworth). Skid plays the trumpet, and Harry plays the piano, and they and Maggie get jobs at a local cafe. Maggie and Skid develop an act together, and get noticed--but it's Skid who gets an offer to go and play in New York City. Not wanting to hold Skid back, Maggie lets him go on his own. While in the big city, Skid enjoys the high life, forgetting all about Maggie back in Panama. Maggie borrows money to go to New York and track Skid down, but a misunderstanding causes her to want a divorce. Because of this Skid literally hits the skids, but in classic Hollywood fashion, Maggie shows up at the end to save the day. 

SWING HIGH, SWING LOW is a comedy/drama/musical. and the elements don't mesh very well. The movie starts off with Maggie and Skid developing their relationship while trying to earn a living in Panama. From my point of view this was the best part of the film. It gave Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray a chance to show off their easy rapport with each other, and they both got plenty of snappy dialogue. Once Skid gets the chance to go to New York, the story becomes very predictable. You just know that Skid is going to get a swelled head, and that poor Maggie is going to be left in Panama to worry about their relationship. You also know that Skid is going to get his comeuppance (which happens over about a couple minutes). 

This means that once again we see another Carole Lombard movie where the actress gives his heart, soul, and loyalty to a man that doesn't deserve it. Fred MacMurray is more appealing than most of Lombard's leading men of the 1930s, but Skid lacks focus and commitment, and various characters even tell Maggie she shouldn't fall for the guy. (It would have been nice, if, just once in a Lombard movie, she tells one of her below-average beaus "The hell with you, I'm outta here" and just walked away for good--but this was 1930s Hollywood, after all.) 

Director Mitchell Leisen (who worked with Lombard and MacMurray in their first pairing, HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE) and cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff (an expert technician who Lomabrd insisted be assigned to her features) went out of their way to try and make SWING HIGH, SWING LOW special. There's plenty of expressionist camera work and unique shot angles. Lomabrd is given several exquisite closeups (one can only imagine how beautiful Carole would look in a pristine print of this film), and she also gets to wear an impressive Travis Banton-designed wardrobe, despite the fact that the character of Maggie supposedly doesn't have much money. The movie also has a number of showy montage sequences depicting Skid's rise and fall in New York. There's also the musical aspects of the story. While Fred MacMurray's trumpet playing was dubbed, Lombard actually got a chance to sing a few times, although she didn't want to. Carole does more reciting than singing, but she comes off well. Dorothy Lamour, who plays an old flame of Skid's, gets a few numbers of her own. Of course Lamour becomes a rival of Carole's on-screen, but according to various Lombard biographies the star went out of her way to help the young up-and-comer. 

The supporting cast has the aforementioned Charles Butterworth, along with Jean Dixon, who almost stole MY MAN GODFREY, and just about does the same thing here. Anthony Quinn and Franklin Pangborn have small roles. 

When it comes to the Lombard--MacMurray pairings, I believe that SWING HIGH, SWING LOW isn't as good as HANDS ACROSS THE TABLE or THE PRINCESS COMES ACROSS, but it is better than the silly TRUE CONFESSION. A restored print of this film, with much-improved picture and sound, would do wonders for it, but it still wouldn't do much for the plot. According to multiple sources, SWING HIGH, SWING LOW did make a lot of money for Paramount in 1937, proving the popularity of Carole Lombard.