Bogie!
Swingtime in the Movies is a 1938 short film (20 minutes) directed by Crane Wilbur.
Down on the Warner Brothers lot Nitvich the director is struggling with his latest production, a Western called The Texas Tornado. He has to fire his actress, who not only can't do the required southern accent but also speaks with a lisp. On a lunch break, Nitvitch and his assistant Sammy head over to the Warner Brothers cafeteria. There they run into lovely Joan Mason, an aspiring actress working as a waitress in the cafe, who as it happens has a southern accent.
The highlight of the film is the scene in the Warner Brothers cafeteria featuring cameos from several stars of the day.
Tropes:
- Alcohol Hic: In-Universe Joan does this when asked to demonstrate a "soused" accent. (Nitvitch the Funny Foreigner keeps confusing "souse" for "south".)
- The Cameo: Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield, Priscilla and Rosemary Lane, Pat O'Brien, the Dead End Kids (called the "Crime School Kids" for some reason), George Brent, and Marie Wilson, are all seen in the studio cafeteria.
- Chorus Girls: A big number in The Texas Tornado has Joan sing a song, accompanied by two lines of leg-kicking chorus girls.
- Crowd Song: The waitresses in the studio cafe sing a song about being waitresses.
- Film Within a Film: The Texas Tornado is suffering from a
Troubled Production. - Funny Foreigner: Nitvich is high-strung and speaks with a thick accent and confuses his words, saying "loafers" instead of "lovers" and "souse" instead of "south", the latter leading his actresses to act drunk when he asks them to do the accent.
- High-Class Glass: Nitvich's use of this contrasts humorously with his hysterical accents.
- "I Am" Song: Joan's character in the film-within-a-film sings a song where she boasts "I am the queen of the border cantina, the toast of the Texas frontier."
- Low Clearance: As a dolly rig passes under a tree, Nitvich and his chair are caught on a branch, leaving him dangling.
- The Musical: Five songs crammed into a 20-minute movie.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The German accent, the widow's peak, the monocle—Nitvich the director sure does look a lot like Fritz Lang.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: In-Universe, Joan does such a scene for her screen test for The Texas Tornado. Her co-star is apparently a singing cowboy.
- Speech Impediment: Nitvich's actress has a lisp. She actually makes Nitvich start speaking with a lisp as well, to his horror.
