Sweet and Low-Down
Director:
Archie Mayo
Year: 1944
Rating: 6.0
Benny Goodman the King of Swing was one of the good guys of jazz, He was
the first band leader to integrate by hiring Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton
and Charlie Christian into his band. He did it all - big band, trios, quartets
and even classical music. His concert at Carnegie Hall in 1937 is considered
a landmark in bringing public recognition to jazz. But he was notorious for
being very tough and demanding on his band. Which makes this film a real
soft sell to make him into a sweetheart. He comes off as a near Saint in
this one.
But you mainly come to this for the music and there is a lot of it squeezed
into this 76 minute film. It has a plot which isn't bad for these sorts of
films but it is the music. In most of these films with big name band leaders
they are not much more than cameos but Goodman has a large role in this one
as himself. The main lead though was James Cardwell who had just impressed
in his debut, The Fighting Sullivans. Fox had hopes that he would be the
next John Garfield, a tough working class actor with an attitude. But it
never clicked - his film after this was a Charlie Chan film and then a Whistler
film. Soon he was falling into the uncredited bucket. He killed himself in
1954 at 32 years old. Sad because he is solid in this as a guy from the lower
class with a big chip on his shoulder and a hair-trigger temper.
They surround him with some lovely talent - Lynn Bari and Linda Darnell.
That is a lot of sleekness and great bone structure in one place. Through
circumstances, Goodman and his manager played by Jackie Oakie hear Cardwell
playing the trombone in his room. He is from a lower working class family
with a mom and two young siblings. Goodman likes what he hears and hires
him on the spot. They go on tour and Lynn Bari is the singer in the band
(dubbed by Lorraine Elliot). Barrie gulps up young handsome members
of the band and eventually spits them out. Cardwell is fresh meat and an
easy target. He also gets the come-ons from good girl Linda Darnell. Lucky
guy but it goes to his head and he decides to form his own band. How does
that go? Sadly, like his film career. Cardwell's trombone playing was dubbed
by Bill Harris, one of the best in the Swing Years.
