The Swinger

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1966 American film by George Sidney

title: "The Swinger" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1966-films", "1966-comedy-films", "1960s-english-language-films", "1960s-sex-comedy-films", "1966-american-films", "american-sex-comedy-films", "films-about-writers", "films-directed-by-george-sidney", "films-scored-by-marty-paich", "films-shot-in-los-angeles", "paramount-pictures-films", "ann-margret-albums", "english-language-sex-comedy-films"] description: "1966 American film by George Sidney" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swinger" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1966 American film by George Sidney ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	The Swinger
image	The Swinger film poster.png
caption	Theatrical release poster
director	George Sidney
producer	George Sidney
writer	Lawrence Roman
starring	Ann-Margret
music	Marty Paich
cinematography	Joseph F. Biroc
editing	Frank Santillo
studio	Paramount Pictures
distributor	Paramount Pictures
released
runtime	81 minutes
country	United States
language	English
gross	$700,000 (est. US/Canada rentals)
::

Plot

Kelly Olsson is an aspiring writer, but Girl-Lure magazine keeps rejecting her racy submissions. Kelly decides to show the magazine boys what they are missing. She creates a fake identity for herself, pretending that a story about a young woman's wild ways is actually about herself.

Girl-Lures lecherous editor, Sir Hubert, and his suave editor, Ric Colby, like the concept but aren't sure they trust the facts. Kelly tries to fool them by staging an orgy in her apartment building, asking friendly tenants to go along with her scheme. Sgt. Hooker of the vice squad does not feel she is fooling, however, and places Kelly under arrest.

Ric comes to her rescue. But when her hoax is revealed, he decides to get revenge by insisting that Kelly pose for a provocative layout for the magazine to prove she is as wild as she claims. By the time his car and her motorcycle meet head-on in the end, they're in love.

Cast

Ann-Margret as Kelly Olsson
Anthony Franciosa as Ric Colby
Robert Coote as Sir Hubert Charles
Yvonne Romain as Karen Charles
Horace McMahon as Detective Sergeant Hooker
Nydia Westman as Aunt Cora
Milton Frome as Mr. Olsson
Mary LaRoche as Mrs. Olsson
Corinne Cole as Sir Hubert's Secretary

Production

George Sidney had previously made Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas with Ann Margret. Sidney says the script for Viva Las Vegas had been written in eleven days in order to meet a commitment and The Swinger was similar. "We did the script in ten days," he said. "The studio had a commitment and needed to fulfil it... We devised a script that would give Ann-Margret an opportunity to show her facets. And boom, boom - off we went."

Filming started 13 December 1965 and finished by March 1966 after which Ann-Margret went to Vietnam to entertain the troops.Ann-Margret in 'Swinger' Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 24 Nov 1965: c7.

Sidney called the film "a wild, outrageous 'in', what's-happening-in-the-world-today kind of picture."TO MAKE MONEY IN MOVIES, LET GEORGE DO IT Alpert, Don. Los Angeles Times 20 Mar 1966: b10.

Reception

Filmink called it "s a hopelessly confused comedy" which "feels like it was written by someone while drunk and Tony Franciosa is yet another male lead not worthy of the star" arguing "this film, a vehicle geared entirely around Ann-Margret’s talents, came close to killing her Hollywood career more than any other by virtue of its sheer incompetence."

Soundtrack

Jazz
pop | length = | label = RCA Victor | producer = Al Schmitt, Neely Plumb | prev_title = Beauty and the Beard | prev_year = 1964 | next_title = The Cowboy and the Lady | next_year = 1969

The five songs performed by Ann-Margret in the film in addition to the instrumental "Swinger's Holiday" were all included in her 1966 album, Songs from The Swinger (And Other Swingin' Songs) released by RCA Victor. Six additional were recorded for the release. The album also contains a re-recording of "I Wanna Be Loved" which had appeared on Ann-Margret's 1963 album, Bachelors' Paradise.

The title track was written by André Previn and Dory Previn and sung by Ann-Margret over the opening and closing credits of the film. Quincy Jones was also credited as an arranger on the album.

In their review of the album, Cashbox noted that the singer "sings songs from the flick 'The Swinger' and other pop goodies...the artist creates a solid sound on this album which could very well be a noise maker."

In 2023, Ann-Margret noted in an interview with Forbes that the track "More" was one of her and her husband Roger Smith's favourites that she had ever recorded.

Track listing

References

(January 4, 1967). "Big Rental Pictures of 1966".
[http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/the-swinger-v112489 Allrovi]
Davis, Ronald L.. (2005). "Just making movies". University Press of Mississippi.
Vagg, Stephen. (September 6, 2021). "Surviving Cold Streaks: Ann-Margret".
(Clarence Bernard Henry) ''Quincy Jones:A Research and Information Guide'', Taylor & Francis, 2014, pp. 78.
"Album Reviews: Pop Best Bets".
Whitford, Emma. "54 Great Colleges Here And Abroad Still Seeking Students For Fall Admission".
(1966). "Ann-Margret – Songs From The Swinger And Other Swingin' Songs | Releases | Discogs".

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