Sylbert told Vanity Fair that the problem with Demme's version was that he cut away from Hawn "at very crucial moments" in the film, making Hawn look like "this blonde extra." There was also gossip that Lahti was stealing the film, and that Hawn wanted to de-emphasize Lahti's performance. Hawn's version of the story is that she and her producing partner Anthea Sylbert were "just trying to get the movie to work" by recutting it. According to Vineberg, there were bootleg VHS copies of Demme's cut of Swing Shift, and he and others who have seen it claim it's far superior to the recut version that was released. Demme has called it the worst experience of his career, and says there was a "tremendous struggle for control with Goldie Hawn and the studio." In spite of Demme's objections, new scenes were written and shot, and the film was re-edited after Demme moved on to other projects. Hawn later said she was initially enthusiastic about working with a "really great young director." But in a 1990 article by Steve Vineberg in Sight and Sound magazine, and in interviews Demme has given over the years, the director claimed that after Hawn and Russell fell in love, Hawn was unhappy that the focus was in the film on the friendship between Kay and Hazel rather than on the romance between Kay and Lucky. (Russell and Hawn became romantically involved during the production of Swing Shift, beginning their decades-long partnership.) Among the excellent supporting cast was another future star - Holly Hunter, in her second feature film role, as one of the tight-knit group of women at the factory.ĭemme, who had begun his career with a series of low-budget exploitation movies for producer Roger Corman and had received critical acclaim for 1980's Melvin and Howard, was one of the hottest young directors in Hollywood when he signed to direct Swing Shift. Kay also meets Lucky, a musician and foreman at the factory, who pursues her. When Jack goes to war, Kay goes to work, meeting a group of women in similar circumstances, and becoming close friends with Hazel (Christine Lahti). Hawn plays Kay, who is a homemaker happily married to Jack (Ed Harris). Swing Shift is about women who find friendship and empowerment while working at an aircraft factory during World War II. Even though she does not have a producer credit on Swing Shift, her production company was involved, and Hawn not only displayed star power on the screen, but reportedly also used her power behind the scenes when she was dissatisfied with director Jonathan Demme's version. By 1980, she had enough clout to earn an Executive Producer title for the first time on one of her films, Private Benjamin. But the daffy, ditsy blonde that she often played was just her onscreen persona, and the real Hawn was smart and determined to be involved in shaping the films in which she starred. By the time Goldie Hawn starred in 1984's Swing Shift, she had been a major star for more than a decade, rising from television stardom on the comedy show "Laugh-In" in the 1960s to big-screen stardom in the 1970s.
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