The Swinger

source: The Swinger

The Quick Pitch: In order to get her story published in a girly magazine, good girl Kelly Olsson (Ann-Margret) decides to turn herself into the swingingest swinger who ever swung. As a movie, The Swinger disappoints at just about every turn. It's not funny, it's outdated (a term I usually hate to use but it's definitely appropriate here), it's horribly predictable, and there really isn't much of plot. So, if it's that bad, why haven't I rated it any lower than a 4/10? Well, because as a vehicle to watch Ann-Margret, The Swinger is a wild success. The scenes featuring Ann-Margaret dancing, rolling around in paint, or trying on a variety of revealing, kitchy outfits - those are the highlights. I think my favorite bit had to be where Ann is walking through the house she shares with a variety of other people. There's some sort of choreographed dance practice going on. Ann flawlessly moves into place and out-dances everyone else without ever once looking up from the book she's reading. Her dancing and outfit are just amazing. Unfortunately, however, it all ends quickly and we're back to the tired, unfunny old movie. So, to sum it up, if you want to see a good movie, keep looking. But, if you want to see Ann-Margret in her prime, The Swinger just might be the thing for you. 4/10

This is a movie that you will love if you love Barbarella and Doris Day because that's what this a cross of. If you don't like either of them you wouldn't like this movie. It's a cross between an exploitation film and a classic 50's morality tale. It's such a hot mess that it's absolutely delightful. Ann-Margaret really is the star in every sense with a great sense of slapstick comedy and not to mention acting the innocent while where the sheer black stockings as pants. This is the most wholesome T&A show ever. The plot is crazy and silly and over the top and the cinematography reflects the same style.

The previous reviewer apparently thinks The Swinger is intended to be a social commentary on the 1960's. This is not that deep of a film. I would say that since the film was produced in 1966, it is reflective of the times. The fashion and music of the movie is indicative of what people were wearing and listening to in 1966. The Woodstock era and the follow on Easy Rider type films were several years away. In 1966, psychedelic was a term more associated with loud colored fashion, and also alluded to a promiscuous lifestyle, rather than LSD. This film is in touch with the lifestyle of the majority of young people in 1966. The Swinger was a daring film for 1966, as far as innuendo and scanty clothing are concerned. The nudity portrayed later in the decade and on into the 70's, was not present in American film yet. By today's standards for mainstream film, the clothing (or lack there of) of Ann-Margret is far more daring than what you would see a female star do today. This is a very sexy movie for the period, with Miss Margret performing two elongated song and dance numbers (one as a *) in which she gets down to bare essentials. This probably had a lot to do with the films box office, as it was probably a bit too risqué for middle America at the time. This film is shown often on AMC, but the version shown now is an edited one, in which a couple of the dance scenes have been cut short. I have not seen the unedited version for more than 30 years, and doubt that copies of it still exist.

It is fun and campy, the music shakes, the clothes are cool, and who can resist Ann-Margaret in her kittenish youth! It has a cute love triangle, and A-M's character is easy to root for. She is sweet and funny, the exact opposite of the evil, snotty British babe that the Mr. Colby. I mean, she calls her folks and takes her vitamins, for Pete's sake. Frankly, since Sir Hubert is kind of Hugh Hefner with irony, you'd think modern audiences would appreciate it. And since Tony Francioso just passed away, God rest his soul, I think they should be bringing all his performances out on DVD. A person who pans this movie has no sense of humor, and has been jaded by the sex mores of modern times. I wish they'd bring it out on DVD!

Attention all bad movie lovers this one's for you! Part bad photo shoot-part wildly politically incorrect girlie show. The kind of lame brained junk the studios thought would connect with the youth of the sixties, the only people you can imagine this would speak to are lovers of camp. Be prepared to be practically blinded by the overload of color, some scenes have so much neon yellow and red you'll need sunglasses. That this horror show was directed by George Sidney who in better times was responsible for Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate and other classics boggles the mind. Leering and sexist as well as stupid and absurd this is an outlandish artifact of it's time. It is truly bad from beginning to the very end complete with Batman fight graphics such as POOWWW!!!!!! and ZAP!!

Ann-Margret alternates between come-hither pussycat and uptight do-gooder playing a would-be writer who attempts to pass herself off as sexually depraved in order to get a deal with a sleazy men's magazine. The problem with this picture is the very same predicament Annie faces: it's a square piece of goods palming itself off as naughty. The opening montage of sex-clubs is amusing, and A-M is energetic bouncing around on a trampoline, but the movie is talky, draggy, and seemingly produced on the cheap. Tony Franciosa doesn't work very well with Ann-Margret (he squirms too much, which isn't good for the romantic sub-plot). A few clever gimmicks--like the teaser ending, which caught me off guard--and Ann-Margret's shapely figure compensate, but "The Swinger" just doesn't swing. Perhaps a director with a sharper flair for visual slapstick and satire (like Frank Tashlin) may have brought out a more cartoony sensibility to these proceedings. George Sidney certainly tries, but he's too literal for the flighty material; while staging a mock-orgy, he has Ann-Margret writhing around on the floor slathered in paint...wouldn't straight sex be cleaner? ** from ****

60s sex kitten Ann-Margret teams up with legendary director George Sidney to craft the perfect 60s movie. The story of a good girl posing as a bad girl to get a bad boy who's secretly a good boy is perfectly executed. Forget the plot - bottom line, A-M sings, dances and seduces the heck out of perfect foil, Tony Franciosa. Watch for vintage 60s photo montages, Hollywood's version of hippies and beatniks, a Pygmalion rip-off, wholesome dancing kids sharing a house with a vice squad cop (Sgt. Hooker no less), chase scenes, snotty British characters, the ubiquitous climax at a befuddled police sergeant's desk, Andre Previn original music, A-M as a * and riding a motorcycle plus an hilarious staged orgy in which the star is covered in paint and offered up to a Neptune-like god. Now that's entertainment! Also note: whenever Ann-Margret breaks into dance in the film suddenly, out of nowhere, there's a fan blowing on her. Well, watching this classic 60s sex comedy will make a fan out of anyone who likes 60s movies, musicals, romantic comedies and the always brilliant Miss Ann-Margret. Swing away!!!

In this 1966 comedy about a 'good girl' trying to get published in a 'bad girl' magazine, Kelly Olsson (Ann Margret) plays a newbie writer with an obsession to get published. Figuring on the "sex sells" angle Kelly writes a sexually provocative story called 'The Swinger' for a popular girlie magazine. When she is turned down by the magazine's sexist editor because she is "too innocent to know about such things". Kelly sets out to prove him wrong by setting up an elaborate hoax to show him just how "debased" her life really is. Although before she even begins to try to pull the wool over the editors eyes, its hard to imagine she is so innocent. Dancing around in nothing more than a blouse and pantyhose for the first part of the movie tends to make her character harder to believe. None the less I loved the movie, although I love most campy 60's flicks! ...and Ann Marget is absolutely gorgeous! Viva Las Vegas is another favorite! I'm pretty sure she wears a lot of the same outfits in that one too!

I am a huge Ann-Margret fan, and I finally got to see this movie, not available on video, on AMC. The 'plot' concerns good girl journalist Kelly Olsson (A-M's real last name) who wants to be published in "Girl-lure" men's magazine, and she wants her story published, not her photo. She writes a lurid expose of a wild swinger girl and tells the horny editor the girl in the story is her, to try to get it printed. So, she has to spend the rest of the movie convincing the Girl-lure staff she is for real. Please note that this plot summary makes the movie's plot sound much more coherent than it actually is. Terrible continuity, the main actors are nothing special, very corny jokes, and there seems to be no discernable script. However, who cares? We've got an opening montage of Ann-Margret singing the title song and jumping on a trampoline wearing a black catsuit, turning on the sex appeal full force. We've got a house she lives in with a bunch of beatniks including the dance group billed in the opening credits as the"Swinger's Dozen" who spend their time doing choreographed dance routines in the living room, and when A-M passes through, she just has to join in and go-go dance. For the guys, we have A-M covered in paint and used as a human paintbrush (though not * as the Playboy pictorial would have you beleive-sorry guys, Playboy doctored the photos) by a bunch of beatniks wearing jungle loinclothes. We have Edith Head doing the absolutely to-die-for 60's costumes, some of which are showcased in those photo montages. We have A-M wearing a different outrageous 60's hair extension/style in almost every scene. We have a magazine headquarters obviously modeled on Playboy Enterprises where models walk around in bikinis and there is a framed photo on the wall of a groovy chick that actually rotates on a mechanical roller to show a different model every 5 seconds. And that's just for starters. George Sidney directed the movie and it shows. He was the director of Bye Bye Birdie, totally smitten with Ann-Margret, who saw her talent when she was still fairly unknown and used his own money to shoot a new beginning and ending for BBB showcasing A-M. He was completely in love with A-M, and so for all the guys out there who feel the same way about her, watch this movie and you'll be in heaven.