On 20 Jun 1975, HR announced that Paramount Pictures production executive Richard Sylbert and Jerry Bick Productions planned to develop Swing Shift, an original screenplay by Nancy Dowd. The following year, the 15 Dec 1976 DV reported that Sylbert intended to step down from his position to produce the film independently at the studio, with Michael Eisner assuming his former post. According to the 4 May 1984 NYT, actress Julie Christie, director Mike Nichols, and producer David Susskind expressed interest in the project, which focused on the central characters of “Lucky Lockhart” and “Rosie,” who was later rewritten as “Hazel Zanussi.”
       Dowd, however, was reportedly displeased with the studio’s treatment of the script and spent the next several years attempting to move the property elsewhere. Despite Eisner’s promises that the project would not go into turnaround without Dowd’s permission, Swing Shift moved to United Artists (UA) in the late 1970s. A 19 Mar 1981 DV news item stated that Dowd filed a lawsuit against Bick, Eisner, and Paramount, requesting an injunction to halt the film’s production and at least $500,000 for violating their oral contract. UA claimed that dropping the project would cause “irreparable damage” to the studio, and Bo Goldman was hired to rewrite the screenplay.
       At this time, Jonathan Demme signed on to direct, with Goldie Hawn serving as both star and executive producer through The Hawn/Sylbert Movie Company, which she co-founded with costume designer Anthea Sylbert. According to a 22 May 1983 NYT article, Demme was attracted to the story because his grandmother had worked the swing shift an aircraft manufacturing plant in Long Island, NY. Demme’s grandfather played drums at a venue called Kelly’s Bright Spot, which became the inspiration for the bar where trumpeter Lucky Lockhart frequently performs in the film.
       A 17 Dec 1982 HR article attributed additional revisions to Ron Nyswaner, which the 4 May 1984 NYT claimed restructured the script so that Hawn’s character, “Kay Walsh,” was elevated to the leading role. While Demme estimated a budget of no more than $10 million, the figure eventually ballooned to $20 million, prompting UA to withdraw. In addition to the inflated cost, Bick and Demme cited disagreements over the subject matter: While the studio pushed for a lighter tone more reminiscent of Hawn’s 1980 hit, Private Benjamin (see entry), Demme doubted the willingness of the male-dominated entertainment industry to support a film about assertive women.
       As a result, Hawn appealed to Warner Bros., which financed Private Benjamin and her latest comedic vehicle, Best Friends (1982, see entry). With the budget reduced to $14 million, Warner Bros. signed a co-financing deal with Lantana Productions and set a tentative release date for Christmas 1983.
       According to a 24 Aug 1981 HR article, Demme had considered casting singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen as Lucky, while the 27 Feb 1989 issue of People magazine revealed that actress Mary Steenburgen was originally hired to play Hazel. When Steenburgen was forced to relinquish the role due to pregnancy, she recommended her friend, Christine Lahti, as her replacement.
       A 24 Feb 1983 HR item indicated that principal photography was scheduled to begin 28 Feb 1983. As reported by the 22 May 1983 NYT, two months of steady rain in Southern California nearly destroyed a set built on the Santa Monica Pier and delayed shooting of the film’s opening roller rink sequence until late Mar 1983. Production notes in AMPAS library files state that the Hughes Helicopters factory in Culver City doubled as the “MacBride Aircraft Company.” Interiors were shot at the abandoned Byron-Jackson Pump Company warehouse in the Los Angeles suburb of Vernon, which housed thirty vintage airplanes that had been shipped from a private contractor in Florida specially for the film. For scenes depicting Kay's domestic life, a bungalow-style apartment complex in San Pedro was duplicated to scale at The Burbank Studios. Additional locations included the USS Lang, a frigate docked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard; San Pedro's Fort MacArthur and Cabrillo Beach; the HON Industries manufacturing plant in Los Angeles; the Huntington-Sheraton Hotel in Pasadena; and the Masonic Temple in Long Beach. A 2 Jun 1983 DV item announced the completion of production.
       While Demme’s initial cut of the film focused the friendship between Kay and Hazel, a 27 Apr 1984 LAHEXam article suggested that Hawn felt she had been “upstaged” by her relatively unknown co-star, and ordered additional scenes from screenwriter Robert Towne in Dec 1983. According to the 3 Feb 1984 LAT, the new pages were intended to make Hawn’s character “more sympathetic” and emphasize her onscreen love triangle with Kurt Russell and Ed Harris. The changes brought the total cost to $15--$17 million and pushed the Feb 1984 release date to 13 Apr 1984.
       During re-shoots, Demme professed he was “profoundly disappointed” by the material, and felt that only two of the additional thirty minutes were suitable to include in the final cut. After testing Demme’s version of the film, Warner Bros. sided with Hawn, who was under contract with the studio for at least two more films. The director and editor Craig McKay walked away from the project and the studio completed editing. Bruce Langhorne’s swing-inspired score was replaced with music by composer Patrick Williams.
       While Demme and McKay retain onscreen credit, Demme chose to have the phrase, “A Jonathan Demme Film,” removed from the picture and all promotional materials. According to the 4 May 1984 NYT, Nancy Dowd was awarded sole screenplay credit after filing an arbitration with the Writers Guild of America (WGA). However, due to her displeasure with the theatrical cut, she requested to be credited under the pseudonym, “Rob Morton.”
       Swing Shift was a critical and commercial disappointment. The Jun 1984 Box listed an opening weekend gross of just $2.3 million from 710 theaters.
       Despite lackluster reviews, however, Christine Lahti received an Academy Award nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role.
       End credits state: “December 7, 1941 Broadcast by Eleanor Roosevelt Courtesy of NBC,” and, “With Special Thanks to: Hughes Helicopters, Inc.; U.S. Navy; U.S. Air Force; California Motion Picture Council; and the City of Los Angeles Motion Picture Coordination Office.”
       The film uses the following songs that are not included in onscreen music credits: “There’s A Brand New Picture In My Picture Frame,” by Dick Jurgens; “I’ll Be Seeing You,” by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal; and “Skylark,” by Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael.