Harry Babbitt Movies

In most of his movie vehicles, bandleader Kay Kyser played a bandleader named Kay Kyser. In Swing Fever, however, Kyser is cast as aspiring songwriter Lowell Blackford. Though he isn't too successful at peddling his songs, Blackford does have one unique talent: The ability to hypnotize boxer Killer Kennedy (Nat Pendleton) into winning fights. Blackford is coerced into using his "whammy" on Kennedy by Ginger Gray (Marilyn Maxwell). On the night of the championship bout, Blackford finds out he's being used, but goes through with his hypnosis to save Ginger from gangsters. The whole thing ends rather incongruously with a patriotic floor show, a specialty of MGM films of the period. Several guest performers lift Swing Fever out of the ordinary, including Lena Horne and the Merrill Abbott Dancers. Also appearing is an uncredited Ava Gardner as a sarcastic receptionist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Produced by silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, My Favorite Spy is a vehicle for bespectacled bandleader Kay Kyser, who resembles Lloyd more than somewhat. Just before embarking on his honeymoon with new bride Terry (Ellen Drew), Kyser is drafted into the Army. Proving to be a monumentally inefficient soldier, our hero is nonetheless pressed into service by US intelligence officer Major Allen (Moroni Olsen). It seems that Nazi agents have been passing secrets in the nightclub where Kyser's band performs, and Allen wants Kay to act as a counter-espionage agent. To maintain his cover, Kay is discharged from the army in disgrace, and is ordered to noisily make himself a "security risk", so that Nazi chieftan Robinson (Robert Armstrong) will invite Kay to join his spy operation. Trouble is, Kyser must keep his espionage activities secret from everyone-even his wife Terry, who is growing ever more impatient over Kay's unexplained absences from her boudoir. Making matters worse, Kyser is teamed with glamorous blonde secret agent Connie (Jane Wyman), whom Terry understandably suspects of being Kay's clandestine sweetheart. A multitude of slapstick situations follow, culminating in a wild chase through an abandoned theater, with Kay Kyser making like Harold Lloyd to rescue his wife from the Nazis. As directed by Tay Garnett, Kyser's ongoing marital woes seem more pathetic than funny; in addition, his Secret Service cohorts come off as the most sadistic bunch of "good guys" in screen history, bursting with laughter every time Kay's wife throws him out of their apartment. Even so, My Favorite Spy has a few genuine laughs, especially in the final reels. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This film contains the one and only cinematic group appearance by Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Bela Lugosi. Essentially a vehicle for bandleader Kay Kyser and his orchestra, the film finds Kyser hired to perform at the 21st birthday party of heiress Janis Bellacrest (Helen Parrish), the sweetheart of Kay's business manager Chuck Deems (Dennis O'Keefe). The party is held at Janis' family mansion, a spooky old joint dominated by astrology-happy Aunt Margo (Alma Kruger). Among the guests stranded in the mansion by inclement weather are mysterious mystic Prince Sallano (Bela Lugosi), family attorney Judge Mainwaring (Boris Karloff) and Professor Fenninger (Peter Lorre). Though advertised as a "mystery", the film throws the whodunit angle out the window at midway point by revealing that Saliano, Mainwaring and Fenninger are in cahoots, planning to kill Janis to get their hands on her inheritance. These sinister goings-on do not impede Kyser's ability to stage several musical numbers, including "The Bad Humor Man", which, according to studio publicity, was supposed to have been performed by Karloff, Lorre and Lugosi. Once the plot is resolved, Kyser utilizes several of Saliano's props-including the then-new "Sonovox" machine and an electronic zapping device-on his radio program, that leads to a closing gag. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi