American Swing (2008)

Chronicles the rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat.

Directors:

Jon Hart, Mathew Kaufman

Writer:

Jon Hart (based on an article by)

Stars:

Bryce Britton, Irwin Corey, William Davidson

Cast

Credited cast:
Bryce Britton	...	Herself
Irwin Corey	...	Himself (as Professor Irwin Corey)
William Davidson	...	Himself
Dan Dorfman	...	Himself
Donna Ferrato	...	Herself
Joe Franklin	...	Himself
Jamie Gillis	...	Himself
Al Goldstein	...	Himself
Dian Hanson	...	Herself
Buck Henry	...	Himself
Ron Jeremy	...	Himself
Ed Koch	...	Himself
Steve Kraus	...	Himself
Larry Levenson	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fred J. Lincoln	...	Himself (as Fred Lincoln)

Storyline

The parallel stories of Plato's Retreat, a Manhattan sex club for straight couples that operated from 1977 until the mid 1980s, and of Larry Levenson, the club's impresario. In present-day interviews, Larry's family talks about him, while writers, reporters, and clients talk about the club. Mixed with these interviews are still photographs and archival footage of the club, Larry's appearances on talk shows, and newspaper articles. By the late 70s, the club was in full swing, with talk of Plato's Retreats in other cities. By the end of the decade, tax problems had Larry in trouble with the IRS and changing mores gave the club a different vibe. Then AIDS became an epidemic.

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Plot Keywords:

interview | rise and fall | photograph | new york city | aids | 

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Taglines:

The rise and fall of 1970s New York City nightclub Plato's Retreat

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 October 2009 (Japan)

Also Known As:

A swingkirály

Filming Locations:

Plato's Retreat - 509 West 34th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,174, 29 March 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$28,562, 12 April 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

HDNet Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Las Vegas Gambit (1972)

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Soundtracks

Cavern
Performed by Liquid Liquid
Written by S. Principato / R. Mcguire / J. Hartley / D. Young
Published by Domino Publishing Company
Courtesy of Liquid Liquid

User Reviews

raw but intriguing look at sexual liberation

Anyone who ventures into "American Swing" expecting to see a documentary on Benny Goodman is in for one hell of a rude awakening - and that's putting it mildly. For the "swing," in this case, actually refers to the "wife-swapping" phenomenon that swept through middle-class suburbia in the 1970s. And no figure did more to popularize that trend than Larry Levenson - the "King of Swing" as he came to be called - whose "live sex club," Plato's Retreat, located in Manhattan's Upper West Side, served as the epicenter for so much of the action.

Let it be stated right up front that this eye-opening documentary is not for the prudish or the easily offended, for its footage is graphic and its language raw, often akin in its look to crude 1970's porn. It takes us straight into the heart of a scene that became famous for its flagrant nudity, its unbridled group sex, and - if the eyewitness accounts are to be believed - its really bad food (apparently, the smorgasbord that kept bringing the people in was of quite a different kind!). Directed by Matthew Kaufman and Jon Hart, the film features interviews with many of the now-aging club regulars who happily regale us with tales of their personal escapades there. A number of celebrities who frequented the club, as well as certain reporters and broadcasters who covered the beat at the time are also interviewed.

"American Swing" is most interesting as a social document, showing how the "free love" ethos espoused by the hippies in the 1960's expanded into the mainstream a decade later. Suddenly, ordinary businessmen and housewives, truck drivers and longshoremen could partake in the life of the sexually liberated. In his own mind, Levenson sincerely believed that he was serving a salutary purpose with his club, providing couples who didn't want to be stuck in a monogamous relationship with a more honest alternative to "cheating."

It is not the intention of Kaufman and Hart to judge the people who took part in what Plato's Retreat had to offer, but neither is it their intention to shy away from some of the less savory consequences that eventually overtook many of them: principally, the diminution of romance, rampant drug abuse, and the spread of disease. In fact, it was the sudden appearance of AIDS in the early 1980s that brought the decade-long love-train to a screeching halt. That, along with Levenson's own troubles with the IRS (including time spent in prison for tax evasion) and possible dealings with the mob, is what eventually brought an end to the place - and to the era of licentiousness that helped to spawn it.

So, was Levenson a trailblazing sexual revolutionary who made it possible for otherwise ordinary middle-class people to live out their wildest fantasies? Or was he an emotionally stunted individual who cast away the mores of society in a bid to fulfill his own kinky desires and make a kingdom and a name for himself in the process? To their credit, Kaufman and Hart provide no easy answer to those questions, neither for the prigs in the audience nor for the libertines.

All same for the movie itself - for even though Levenson's life ends sadly, "American Swing" does not play out like the typical cautionary tale. For, in the end, we are left to reach our own conclusions as to whether Plato's Retreat was in reality a hedonistic paradise or merely a moral cesspool - or, indeed perhaps, a little of both.

The only thing you can really do is check out "American Swing" and make that determination for yourself.