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ARTS
The Michigan Daily Sunday, May 6, 1984 Page 10
'Shft'punches the wrong clock
T11_ he were attempting to teach a group of
B Epre-schoolers how to tie their shoes.
"Now, ladies this is a riveting-gun and
it's used to push these things, they're
i not tacks, they're rivets; into metal." It
OLDIE HAWN trades her rifle in is a good example of the kind of
or a o riveting-gun, leaving her ' chauvenism women of the day had to
creen husband to deal with the put up with and, eventually, putt a stop
military this time, in the depressing , W to.
ew movie, Swing Shift. I question how many younger viewers
As I sat and watched this film I will be able to identify with the point
bought how much more appropriate it Swing Shift - however lightly - makes.
would have been for Goldie to have Having grown-up in a time when
iorked the graveyard shift. Swing working women is not only acceptable,
uggests an upbeat comedy and but even expected, I didn't enjoy it as
lthough a lot of "swinging" goes on much as would someone my mother's
ith the main characters having af- age.
airs and all, the plot is far from It makes a very important statement,
musing. which was never made in newsreels. It
The story begins in pre-Pearl Harbor suggests change. It says, "Hey, those
alifornia. In a small, but comfortable newsreels which gave the impression of
ottage, live Kay (Goldie Hawn) and the men going off to war and the
ack (Ed Harris) Walsh. He works and Housewife Kay (Goldie Hawn) must deal with the trials and tribulations of women, their wives, staying home and
he ... well, he works. the work world, along with her co-workers Lucky (Kurt Russell) and Hazel staying faithful to them for all that
Enter the U.S. into World War II. (Christine Lahti) in 'Swing Shift,' a WWII love story. time, were wrong. The country did
ack Walsh decides to enlist. He says, change and so did the people, including
I have to, baby. I have to go." And he (A cozy set-up for a depressing love- With Kay's affair with Lucky, Hazel's the women. They became stronger and
oes. This, may I add, is a great move triangle, "Just Lucky and me and relationship with her ex-boss more independent and they grew. Af-
y the makers of Swing (writing Harris Hazel makes three," huh, Goldie?) boyfriend, Biscuits (Fred Ward), and fairs occured, both abroad and at home,
ut) as the audience is given a tem- The major problem with Swing Shift Kay's friendship with Hazel, what and they're just a "fact of war." It's an
orary "discharge" from his (besides its being about 40 years too should have been the focus seems important theme and it should have
motionless, Mr. Rogers-style acting. late to be of any importance to the almost secondary to these sub-plot been emphasized, instead of just
Can you say boring?" largely teenage audience), is that it relationships. touched upon.
The excitement starts when Kay, tried to incorporate too much in its cat- Swing Shift does have its moments, In short, Swing Shift does a little too
gainst Jack's wishes, gets a job at the ch-all plot. though. One clever scene comes when much "swinging" and not enough
cal aircraft plant. She makes friends If the main theme is that of women the women trainees are being briefed "shift"-ing in on its main point.
ith fellow workers Lucky Lockhart getting out into the work world and on the complexities of a riveting gun. Forty years too late and little bit too
Kurt Russel), a "4-F," talented trum- holding their own in the homefront ef- The male instructor talks to them as if light, Swing Shift just doesn't swing.
I
peter who wants to be more than just
friends, and Hazel Zanussi (University
graduate Christine Lahti), an ex-
dancehall singer from down the block.
fort of the war, then more attention
should be given toward making this
theme stronger. Instead, it is all but lost
in the over-abundance of side-stories.
Ark sings out for folk
Dance
Theatre
Studio
711 N. University
(near State St.)
Ann Arbor
Classes in ballet,
rnodern, jazz, tap-.
By Joseph Kraus
O NE OF THE beautiful features of
the folk music culture is that folk
musicians are a society amongst them-
selves. They talk up one another's
talents, they often appear together in
festivals, and perhaps most importan-
tly, they share each other's songs.
Folk musicians have always shared
songs, because songs can often grow by
being passed from one singer to
another. Traditional folk songs were
written precisely in that
way-thousands of anonymous singers
took the original, wherever it came
from, and changed it little by little into
"The Saints (Come Marching In)" or
"The House of the Rising Sun" that we
know today.
With the demands of recorded music
for fresh songs, folk musicans began to
search for these traditional songs.
Musicians like Pete Seeger and Harry
Belafonte would go everywhere from
the hills of North Carolina to the island
of Jamaica to find music.
However, it certainly isn't practical
for most members of the folk com-
munity to go traipising across the coun-
try all the time. So, in response to that
need and also to accommodate the
wealth of new songs that began to be
written during the folk revival, folk
song magazines were born.
Sing Out! is one of, if not the best, folk
magazines in the country. It consisten-
tly features new songs by many of the
dynamic performers of today, as well
as reprints of older songs that have
stood the test of time for decades. In
addition, it regularly runs feature
stories of various folk musicians and
their contributions and on the different
instruments that fall under the "folk
canopy."
More than just acting as entertain-
ment for its readers, though, Sing Out!
serves to bind together the entire folk
community, performers as well as
readers, by serving as its journal and
calendar.
Sadly, though, as is the case with
many worthy institutions in these
troubled economic times, Sing Out!
needs money.
Luckily for them as well as for us,
there are a group of very talented
musicians who are out to help them get
it. Michael Cooney, Utah Phillips, Sam
Hinton, Bernardo Palumbo, Sparky
Rucker and Bob Norman, collectively
known as the Sing Out! editorial board,
are appearing together at the Ark in a
fundraiser for the magazine.
The fundraiser promises to be quite
an event. Each of these performers is of
the caliber to appear alone at the Ark,
but they're all appearing together.
What we have here is something of a
miniature folk festival.
Tickets for the Sing Out! fundraiser
are $7.50 for each of the 7:30 and 10
p.m. shows, or $12 for the entire
evening.
Don't miss an evening of good music
for a good cause. If you're a regular
Ark-goer, you won't want to miss this
one, and if you've never been to the Ark
but have been meaning to go, then this
should be a great introduction to what
makes the Ark, Sing Out! and folk
music such great entertainment.
New classes begin May 7
For current class schedule
and more
information: 995-4242
1-5 weekdays