Swing Kids

In 1939 Hamburg, a group of teenagers are devoted to American swing music, which the Nazi regime has banned as a foreign and subversive influence. Among them are Peter Müller and his friend Thomas Berger, who secretly listen to records and adopt English and American fashions and hairstyles as a mark of defiance. When Peter is forced to join the Hitler Youth as punishment for an offence, Thomas follows him, and the two friends begin to drift apart as Thomas is drawn toward the ideals of the regime. Their circle also includes Arvid, a gifted guitarist whose circumstances make him especially vulnerable as the Nazis tighten their control over the country.

Thomas Carter directed the film, the first in the list of his features, from a screenplay by Jonathan Marc Feldman. Robert Sean Leonard plays Peter, Christian Bale plays Thomas, and Frank Whaley plays Arvid, with Barbara Hershey as Frau Müller, Tushka Bergen as Evey and David Tom as Willi Müller, among a credited cast of thirty-eight. The production was handled by Mark Gordon and John Bard Manulis with several companies, and it took about six million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.8 from roughly 18,000 votes, and on TMDB a rating of 6.7 from about 256 votes. A film critics' rating of 5.1 from eighteen reviews places it below both audience scores.