Symphony of Swing (1939)

Artie Shaw and his orchestra perform popular songs with guest stars.

Director:

Joseph Henabery

Stars:

Artie Shaw, Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, Helen Forrest

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Artie Shaw	...	Himself
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra	...	Themselves
Helen Forrest	...	Herself - Singer
Tony Pastor	...	Himself - Singer / Saxophonist

Storyline

Artie Shaw and his big band do four numbers, a lyric "Alone Together," "Jeepers Creepers" with vocals by Tony Pastor, "Deep Purple" sung by Helen Forrest, and a swinging "Lady Be Good." Shaw leads the band and gets in a few licks on his clarinet. The cinematography and editing include arty angled shots of the band and, for "Lady Be Good," double exposure of the band superimposed on a dance floor of young people.

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Plot Keywords:

band | jeepers creepers | deep purple | dance floor | clarinet | 

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Genres:

Short | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 December 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra in Symphony of Swing

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vitaphone Reel B235.

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Soundtracks

Alone Together
(uncredited)
Music by Cole Porter
Performed by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra with Artie Shaw on clarinet

User Reviews

Worth seeing for the swing version of "Lady Be Good"

This is one of the later Vitaphone shorts--known as a "Melody Master". These later musical shorts generally were more straight forward and had simpler sets and no real story to tie it all together--just a famous band of the day doing their stuff.

In this film, we have Artie Shaw and his band playing a swing songs. The best of these, by far, was the band's great rendition of "Lady Be Good". While I've heard this song quite a few times, Shaw and his band really did a great job by speeding up the song and giving a nice swing rhythm to the piece. You can't help but want to move when you hear it--and the music would be excellent for jitterbugging...though I think there are only about 15 people alive today who can jitterbug! I know I can't, as it takes the athleticism of a track star to do it well! And, although the young adults do pretty good, in the late 30s and early 40s, there were some dancers who would have truly amazed you with their huge leaps and tosses.

By the way, this has nothing directly to do with the film, but when I watched Artie Shaw, I just couldn't understand his allure to women. He was married eight times (wow)--including marriages to Ava Gardner and Lana Turner.