"The Three Stooges" made their mark in '46 too. You smile. You question if a Three Stooges effort should be mentioned in the same breath as "The Best Years of Our Lives." Come on, don't generalize.
The Stooges were prominently billed with the movie "Swing Parade of 1946." As you watch, however, you see the movie is not primarily a vehicle for the Stooges. Would it be accurate to say they were woven in for comic relief? I think so. They are complementary. Their humor seemed restrained in comparison to their "anything for a laugh" shorts.
Perhaps the moviemakers simply wanted this tone, and it worked. But secondarily, "Curly" had begun his struggles with health issues, thus his comedic flexibility was growing limited. It's hard to detect this when watching the movie. "Curly" does his part in the script. But the more restrained tone was written in. You feel no discomfort watching Curly in "Swing Parade." The charming trio endears while they step to the side often for the serious entertainment. And there's plenty of that.
Some interesting and disparate talent were brought together. I was fascinated to watch the trailblazing African-American musician, Louis Jordan. I was awestruck seeing him perform genuine precursor music to rock 'n' roll. The seeds are clearly there. Jordan is not as well remembered as he should be. He became known as "The King of the Jukebox" and he was in top form throughout the 1940s. He was best known toward the end of the "swing" era. He was a multi-instrumentalist. He had a flair for comedy. He's No. 5 in the list of most successful African-American recording artists.
Ah, those nightclubs of yore
"Swing Parade of 1946" really presents the nightclub scene for young adults of the swing period. Remember Barbara Stanwyck performing (OK, lip synching) "Drum Boogie" in the classic nightclub? The band was Gene Krupa's. Movies of the time gave us many such scenes. Bands did their thing onstage while the formally dressed young adults sat at tables. Young adults drove popular culture. Teenagers seemed invisible. Boy, would that ever change!
"Hollywood Canteen" was another movie presenting the '40s entertainment norm. Dig Jimmy Dorsey! Shouldn't we feel nostalgia? Should we pine for such entertainment over rock 'n' roll? It's all subjective naturally. Entertainment is fluid and unpredictable.
"Swing Parade of 1946" was billed as musical comedy. The Three Stooges are waiters/dishwashers and they befriend an aspiring singer played by Gale Storm. The singer falls for a nightclub owner, played by Phil Regan, whose wealthy father is trying to shut it down. The Stooges, soft-hearted at the core, are enablers of the romance. (I think it was Robert Osborne who said "there was a lot more to the Three Stooges than violence.")
If you're looking for classic Three Stooges in "Swing Parade," there's the scene where they do plumbing! Need I say more? This scene and a couple others are reprised from previous Stooges productions.
The movie was filmed over summer of 1945. Europe was in rubble. America was on the cusp of the creation of our great "middle class" that came out of the war, as the G.I. Bill was such a great equalizer. Too bad we had to endure the conflict in order to get that. What if the U.S. hadn't been forced to enter the war? Why can't war be fought with rubber bullets? Could we have escaped the Great Depression without the war? Is it really fact that the war did the job?
In 1946 there were families all across the U.S. still feeling fresh grief over losing their young men. Just remember the hellish "island hopping," Tarawa et. al.
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| Louis Jordan is featured |
You can blame the Germans or Japanese but it was really a breakdown of all humanity? Too many male leaders?
Uniquely resilient: the Stooges
The staying power of the Three Stooges through the years was amazing. This they achieved while having to change the "third Stooge." "Curly" is generally considered the most popular Stooge. The summer of 1945 saw him in descent from his prime. He had suffered a series of minor strokes. You can see he wasn't in his prime for the Columbia shorts of that period. He lost weight by the time of "Swing Parade." His classic falsetto voice had faded.
You can tell that the scriptwriters tried accommodating Curly. This they did very well. Indeed, it's hard to detect that Curly is limited. The Stooges only had supporting roles, less strenuous than in the all-out slapstick.
Silly as the Stooges always seemed, I have always felt there was a science behind it, a science that fit in with the "golden years" Hollywood studio system. Here's how I see it: "Base" humor, in other words humor with no layered meanings, was perfect to set up the "feature presentation" movie. The feature would seem even more classy after digesting the Stooges. Perfect.
BTW the studio system seemed glamorous from the outside but it was hard on so much of the talent. We hear more and more stories now.
Filling out the bill
Gale Storm had a film career from 1940 to 1952. She went on to television in the '50s, best-known from the "My Little Margie" series. She also had "The Gale Storm Show." Six of her songs were top 10 hits. Her most successful song was a cover of "I Hear You Knockin," #2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1955.
Connee Boswell is featured in "Swing Parade of 1946." She's remembered as a premier jazz vocalist. She had an influence on Ella Fitzgerald. She was a co-star on NBC Radio's Kraft Music Hall, 1940-41. She sang in a number of Hollywood films. She did her singing from a wheelchair. There's no agreement on how she ended up handicapped: polio or a fall? Although she made no efforts to conceal her condition, the public was generally not aware.
Cruel: the Army did not permit Boswell to perform for the troops overseas, as she wanted, because of a concern that morale could be affected: a singer performing from a wheelchair. A pox on those who so judged. FDR did try concealing his condition. Boswell was active in awareness-boosting for people with disabilities. She was a favorite duet partner for Bing Crosby. She had a solo hit song in 1942: "Moonlight Mood."
Will Osborne was in "Swing Parade of 1946." He was a bandleader and crooner. The crooning style gained favor after the stock market crash of 1929. The tempo of life became more restrained. He appears with his orchestra in "Swing Parade." In his career he led the orchestra for "The Abbott and Costello Show." His band's theme song was "The Gentleman Waits."
"Swing Parade of 1946" has a relaxed feel that you wouldn't associate with the Three Stooges, but all of America insisted on relaxing in the year 1946, n'est-ce pas? I find it a very soothing movie to watch. Great music, comic relief. It's worth a second or third watch.
My podcast for Dec. 6
It's the year of the pandemic, 2020, and we hope there will only be one such year. It's hard to predict now. Christmas is a time to accentuate the positive, not to talk about "the election being stolen," right? Inspired by my neighbors, I have Christmas lights up along with some interior decorations like figurines. We are in Advent. I invite you to click on permalink to visit my "Morris Mojo" podcast, and thanks.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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