Product Details

• Actors: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward, Ed Harris
• Directors: Jonathan Demme
• Writers: Bo Goldman, Nancy Dowd, Ron Nyswaner
• Producers: Alex Winitsky, Arlene Sellers, Charles Mulvehill, Jerry Bick
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: German
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 14, 1998
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000F13B
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,824 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell got together on Swing Shift--and if that's the main reason people know about this movie, it only has itself to blame. The film has a marvelous subject (women's changing status on the home front during World War II), a hugely attractive cast, and a sympathetic director, Jonathan Demme, whose previous film, Melvin and Howard, had been a splendid piece of Americana. Yet despite this, it feels disjointed. Goldie goes to work at a factory when her husband (Ed Harris) goes off to war; Russell works there too, and they find each other, well, riveting. With the movie wavering between romance and feminist consciousness-raising, the field is open for Oscar®-nominated Christine Lahti, who sparkles as Goldie's lanky, wisecracking best friend. Demme's original version of the movie was obscured by reshoots, which might explain the missed opportunity; this could have been a classic. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Unspoken Issue, October 16, 2004

By 

Deborah Earle (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Swing Shift [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Swing Shift" has proven to be a marvelous nostalgia trip for those who remember the '40s, and for those self-proclaimed nostalgia buffs like myself who enjoy the music of the era.
Goldie Hawn has a childlike innocence as a housewife to Ed Harris in a working class neighborhood in 1941 California. Jack and Kay Walsh deal with Jack's having to work on Saturdays, a rather vampy neighbor at whom they make derogatory remarks when they see her going to work, and enjoy time at the roller rink.
While they are at the roller rink, the attack on Pearl Harbor is announced and their world changes. Jack enlists in the Navy and Kay decides to work as riveter, who helps to build airplanes at a local munitions plant.
She develops an antagonistic relationship with her neighbor, Hazel(Christine Lahti), the singer-turned riveter, whom she and her husband used to taunt, and an even closer relationship with a plant worker named Lucky (Kurt Russell)who repeatedly invites her out to hear him play his trumpet at club leading to gossip and speculation about their relationship among their co-workers.
During the course of the film, we see the reluctance of the women's male co-workers to accept them as equals in the workplace, and one of the male instructors gets a little too familiar with Hazel while instructing her on how to drill.
The unspoken problem in all this is the women's inability to defend themselves against sexual harrassment in the workplace at that time. In modern times, Lucky never would have been able to make the kind of advances that he made towards her in this film, at least not without Kay filing a complaint. This film suggests that such situations may have been common back then, largely because of this fact.It leads a viewer to wonder how many affairs between the female swingshifters and their male counterparts took place at that time, regardless of the marital status of either of them.
But we share the triumphs as well as the tragedies of the swing shifters; Holly Hunter, as Jeanne Sherman, receives her husband's death notice while at work, but later gives the audience a lesson in how life can go on afterwards.
Jack discovers his wife's affair when he comes home on furlough, and is heartbroken. As Kay tries to figure out how best to resolve the situation, Hazel and Lucky begin a dallience of their own after Hazel's relationship with her former boss appears to be over.
After the inevitable fight between the two women, they avoid each other at work. Lucky gets his big break as a musician, and leaves the plant, which makes it easier for Hazel and Kay to eventually make peace with each other.
I found this film--a counterpart to that other portrayal of life in World War II California, "Racing With the Moon", which was released the same year--to be a fine tribute the the women who helped win World War II--to their endurance of heartache and sacrifice, demeaning treatment, the realism of the marginalized treatment of the African American women at the plant, and the support that women in general can give each other in times of crisis. When Kay is promoted after saving a co-worker's life, we see how the men begin to respect their female co-workers for their intelligence. Interestingly, these themes were later echoed in the 1992 film, "A League of Their Own".
Sadly, these women had to give up their jobs once the men returned home from the war. But those who see this film should come to appreciate the way the women of this era paved the way for equality in the workplace.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romantic and Touching, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Swing Shift [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a wonderful WW11 story about a woman(Hawn) whos husband(Harris)signs up to be sent overseas. While her husband is away, Hawn befriends her neighbor(Lahti) and they both get swing shift jobs building planes for the war. While working, Hawn meets Russell(who is 4F) and they begin an elicit affair that blooms until Harris returns unexpectedly. Lahti gives an emotional stand out performance and Hawn and Russells offscrean romance brings believable life to their onscreen affair.This is a wonderful movie about seperation, deception, friendship and forgivness. A must see for everyone!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Sensitive, Nostalgic Tale of the Home Front, September 13, 2009

By 

richievee (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Swing Shift (DVD)

I was not expecting much more than typical Hollywood schlock from this one, but director Jonathan Demme delivers much more than that. Produced in 1984, SWING SHIFT tells the story of a young woman (Goldie Hawn), who begins working in an airplane factory soon after her husband (Ed Harris) joins the U.S. Navy in December of 1941. She is tempted to indulge in an illicit affair with her foreman at the factory (Kurt Russell), while knowing full well that this would be wrong and inexcusable behavior. I won't reveal the plot for you, in case you have a chance to see this interesting film, but the acting is believable, the dialogue sounds natural, and the period detail is convincing. These characters seem like real people. I enjoyed it very much and found funny girl Goldie Hawn to be a talented and likeable dramatic actress. So, too, is Christine Lahti, who plays the role of her best friend. The whole film is nostalgic, evoking the Los Angeles of WWII very well indeed, and the editing keeps the story line moving. The critiques for SWING SHIFT were decidedly mixed, but I can recommend it with enthusiasm. Worth seeing.