''Cinderella Swings It'' is a 1943 American comedy-

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Christy Cabanne William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor. Biography Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He a ...

from a screenplay by

Michael L. Simmons Michael L. Simmons (1896–1980) was an American screenwriter and novelist. The 1933 film ''The Bowery'' was based on his novel ''Chuck Connors''.Kinnard & Crnkovich p.112 Filmography * ''First Aid'' (1931) * ''The Honor of the Press'' (1932) * ...

, based on short stories by

Clarence Budington Kelland Clarence Budington "Bud" Kelland (July 11, 1881 – February 18, 1964) was an American writer. Prolific and versatile, he was a prominent literary figure in his heyday, and he described himself as "the best second-rate writer in America". Kelland ...

about small-town philanthropist Scattergood Baines. Produced and Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on January 22, 1943, and stars

Guy Kibbee Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Kibbee was born in El Paso, Texas. His father was editor of the '' El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age ...

and

Gloria Warren Gloria Warren ( Weiman; April 7, 1926 – September 11, 2021) was an American actress, soprano singer, and philanthropist. Early years Warren was born Gloria Weiman on April 7, 1926, in Wilmington, Delaware. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herman W ...

. It was the last of the six films in the Scattergood Baines series and the only one without the word “Scattergood” in the title. Originally called ''Scattergood Swings It'', the picture was renamed because the franchise was declining in popularity.

Plot

Scattergood Baines is a local merchant in the New England town of Coldriver. To support the war effort, he donates a tract of land to the army and organizes the local civilian defense team. In addition, when a local bandleader, Tommy Stewart, is upset over not being able to enlist until he graduates, Scattergood suggests that Stewart and his female friend, Sally Benson, organize a local show to support the USO. Meanwhile, the local music teacher, Professor Vladimir Smitken, believes his niece, Betty Palmer, has a good enough classical voice to attempt to make it in New York City. Using all of his meager savings, he takes Betty to New York, where he has arranged for her to audition for a Broadway producer, Brock Harris. Harris is less than impressed with Betty's voice, and she and Smitken return to Coldriver, Smitken in a very bad financial state. To cheer Betty up, Scattergood, along with some support from Stewart, convinces her to appear in the show Stewart and Sally are putting together. Scattergood also convinces Betty that she should switch from singing classical music to more modern swing tunes. As Betty practices for the show, a romance blossoms between her and Stewart, which makes Sally jealous, as she looked on Stewart as her personal property. To hinder Betty's budding relationship, Sally constructs several roadblocks in an attempt to prevent her from being in the show. When Scattergood discovers Smitken's financial difficulties, he decides try to do something to help the professor out. He learns that the Broadway producer Harris is an avid fisherman. He travels to New York and convinces Harris to return to Coldriver with him, selling him on the area's excellent fishing. Once he has Harris in the area, he contrives excuse after excuse in order to keep him there, delaying him long enough so that he is still in town when Stewart's show is going on. Since he has several hours to kill before he has to board a train back to the city, Scattergood convinces Harris to attend the USO benefit show. Despite Sally's attempts to derail her, Betty appears in the show, and this time wows Harris with her performance of swing tunes. Harris immediately signs her for his next Broadway production after the show.

Cast

as Scattergood Baines *

as Betty Palmer *

Dick Hogan Dixon Howard "Dick" Hogan (November 27, 1917 – August 18, 1995) was an American actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his 12-year career he appeared in over three dozen films, in roles which varied from unnamed bellhops to featured and starring ...

as Tommy Stewart *

Leonid Kinskey Leonid Kinskey (1893/1894 – September 8, 1998) was a Russian-born American film and television actor, best known for his role as "Sascha" in the film ''Casablanca'' (1942). His last name was sometimes spelled Kinsky. Life and career Kinskey ...

as Professor Vladimir Smitken *

Helen Parrish Helen Virginia Parrish (March 12, 1923 – February 22, 1959) was an American stage and film actress. Career Parrish was born in Columbus, Georgia. She started in movies at the age of 4, getting her first part playing Babe Ruth's daughter in t ...

as Sally Benson * Billy Lenhart as Butch * Kenneth Brown as Buddy *

Dink Trout Francis "Dink" Trout (June 18, 1898 – March 26, 1950) was an American actor, voice artist and radio personality. Early years Trout was born in 1898 in Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois. Radio In 1927, Trout had his own musical ...

as Pliny Picket *

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the b ...

as Brock Harris *

Lee "Lasses" White Leroy Robert White (August 28, 1888 – December 16, 1949), better known as Lee "Lasses" White or Leroy (sometimes Le Roy or Lee Roy) "Lasses" White, was an American vaudeville pianist, songwriter and entertainer who became an actor of the stage, ...

as Ed Potts *

Fern Emmett Fern Emmett (March 22, 1896 – September 3, 1946) was an American film actress. She appeared in 212 films between 1930 and 1946. Emmett's film debut came with Universal in a two-reel production in 1914. Personal life Emmett was married to ...

as Clara Potts * Ed Waller as Lem *

Kay Linaker Mary Katherine Linaker (July 19, 1913 – April 18, 2008) was an American actress and screenwriter who appeared in many B movies during the 1930s and 1940s, most notably ''Kitty Foyle'' (1940) starring Ginger Rogers. Linaker used her married name ...

as Mme. Dolores * Grace Costello as Tap dancer *

Christine McIntyre Christine Cecilia McIntyre (April 16, 1911 – July 8, 1984) was an American actress and singer who appeared in various films in the 1930s and 1940s. She is mainly remembered as the beautiful blonde actress who appeared in many of The Three St ...

as Secretary (cast list as per

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

database)

Production

The sixth and final installment in the Scattergood Baines film series, it was the only one of the series which was a musical. In July 1942 it was announced that Guy Kibbee would star in the picture, at that time named ''Scattergood Swings It'', to be produced by Jerrold T. Brandt, who had produced the other five Scattergood films. Right after Kibbee was announced, Gloria Warren was given the female lead in the picture. In August, Christy Cabanne was assigned as the film's director. The score included the songs "The Flag's Still There, Mr. Key, " words and music by George Jessel and Ben Oakland, and "I Heard You Cry Last Night," words and music by Jerrie Kruger and Ted Grouya. Trade screenings of the film occurred on January 18 and 19, 1943. The film premiered on January 22, after which it was announced that it would be released nationwide in the United States on February 22. Shortly after its release, ''Cinderella Swings It'' was given a class A-1 rating by the

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictu ...

, making it unobjectionable for general audiences.

Reception

The Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

'' panned the film, calling it "unimaginative", and "loaded with hoakum". They did not like the script by Michael L. Simmons, and found Cabanne's direction dull. The one bright spot for them was the performance of Gloria Warren, and they felt that Kibbee handled his role capably.

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

gave ''Cinderella Swings It'' a poor rating, although they did say that the film was the best of the Scattergood series, and they enjoyed Warren's performance.

References

External links

* * {{Christy Cabanne 1943 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films directed by Christy Cabanne American sequel films American comedy-drama films 1943 comedy-drama films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1940s English-language films 1940s American films