Swing Shift

1984 "When America marched off to war the women marched into the factory. From then on...nothing was the same."
5.9| 1h40m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 13 April 1984 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

In 1941 America, Kay and her husband are happy enough until he enlists after Pearl Harbor. Against his wishes, his wife takes a job at the local aircraft plant where she meets Hazel, the singer from across the way the two soon become firm friends and with the other girls become increasingly expert workers. As the war drags on Kay finally dates her trumpet playing foreman and life gets complicated

Genre

Drama, Romance, War

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Director

Jonathan Demme

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Swing Shift Audience Reviews

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
maxnewyen Okay, so, IMDb is my go-to when considering a movie to watch. And while I'll ignore a low scoring movie on the basis of having a number of my actual friends telling me a movie is worth watching, more often then not, when if find a film my friends cannot comment on, I draw the IMDb rating line at 6.4.And then here comes Swing Shift... My fiancé and I have been home watching Goldie Shawn and Kurt Russell movies tonight. She recommended Overboard (imdb'ed at 6.8) we watched first and sure enough, very enjoyable. So I was up next to pick. In researching I stumbled across Swing Shift. Ill admit that seeing this film rated at 5.9/10 I was hesitant. However I had also read that this is the film where Goldie and Kurt fell in love, that being the case, against my better judgement, I put the 5.9 rating aside and we watched it anyway. This movie was great! I gave it a 9star. It by no means deserves its 5.9 rating. I'll leave my review at that, and let you all decide on your own.
jjnxn-1 Nice period feeling and an interesting premise that doesn't get a lot of attention, women's role in the workplace during WWII. They should have focused on that and left the weak love story out and would had a better film. The problem is that Goldie's and Russell's characters are not really people you can feel much empathy for, she's spoiled and selfish and he's really rather a jerk whereas the more interesting and relatable characters played by Ed Harris and Christine Lahti are kept too much in the background. Christine Lahti however steals every second she's on screen apparently pre-release tinkering cut some of her best work to throw the spotlight more Goldie's way, perhaps costing her a best supporting actress Oscar although she was nominated. You'll spot Holly Hunter early in her career as one of the factory girls. Not without its merits and attractions but less than it could have been.
disdressed12 i liked this romantic drama set during World War II.the gist of it is:the American men had to go and fight the war,and the women are needed to take their place working in the the factories,building equipment for the War Effort.for one woman,romance comes into her life as a result.one thing i found interesting(though not surprising)is how these woman were treated like second class citizens and how little respect they got for doing their hard work.it's indicative of the time,but it's also shameful,like many other things in history.Goldie Hawn heads the cast along with Kurt Russel.Ed Harris and Fred Ward also star.but i thought Christine Lahti put in a terrific performance and stole any scenes she was in.regardless,this is a great little drama.for me,Swing Shift is an 8/10
TxMike When you have 24-hour jobs in any industry, the 3 shifts are commonly called Day shift, Swing shift, and Graveyard shift. This movie deals mainly with the relationships of a cast of characters working the swing shift in a military airplane manufacturing plant on the west coast during World War Two. Since most of the able bodied men went off to war, the ladies were given the construction jobs. The movie has another item of interest, it was made about the time that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn began their long relationship which persists today, about 23 years later. Goldie Hawn is Kay Walsh, young housewife whose husband Jack (Ed Harris) goes into the Navy. With no skills at all, she begins working in the factory. She learns fast and does well, and after the bravely pushed a co-worker out of harm's way when an overhead engine was falling, she was promoted to 'leadman.'Kurt Russell is 'Lucky' Lockhart, a trumpet player who is 4F but also working the swing shift. Even though Lucky knows Kay is married, he persists in a romantic pursuit.Another swing shift member is played by Christine Lahti as Hazel, part time club singer. She, Lucky, and Kay work together and become fast friends. Her love interest also goes off to war, Fred Ward playing 'Biscuits' Touie. A young Holly Hunter is Jeannie , another member of the work crew. SPOILERS. Lonesome, Kay eventually gives in to Lucky's pursuit, and they develop a not so secret relationship. Husband Jack returns unannounced, is greeted by Kay, Lucky, and Hazel, and it is clear to Jack what was going on. Disappointed in Kay, he leaves again. Finally in 1945, when the war ended, Jack came back after Jack and Kay had called it quits. She apologized for her infidelity, they began to work things out. Probably realistic of how things were back then.