Knights of Swing (2023)

It's 1947 in post-war Southern California and big-band swing music is all the rage. Best friends, Gifford Williams and Nolan Edwards dream of expanding their combo, The Jammin' Pajama Men, into a big swing band at their school, Castle High. They convince one of their teachers, Herb Miller, to lead them, recruit a few more talented guys and gals, and form the band, The Knights of Swing. Gifford and Nolan's dream is that The Knights of Swing will become so good by the end of the school year they'll win the California Battle of the Bands. When the 3B's, a girls' vocal trio, begin singing with them, they're well on their way. But they begin encountering obstacles and racially motivated road blocks when a parent, Melba Barlutski, for her own seemingly irrational reasons, tries to sabotage them. However, Lou Arthur, principal of the Castle and a former jazz pianist, loves the band and all that it does for the kids, and puts his job on the line, sometimes using his Arthurian powers as 'King Arthur' to keep Mrs. Barlutski from realizing her nefarious objectives. She is relentless though, driven by her own personal demons, and enlists other parents who create new problems every time Gifford and Nolan and the band solve an old one. But Gifford and Nolan and The Knights of Swing are relentless, too. They refuse to give up and, against overwhelming odds, ultimately qualify to compete in the California Battle of the Bands. Living their dream is now within reach but their hopes are rocked by something they never saw coming. Their dream, what they've worked for all year, now seems crushed. Beyond reach. Hopeless. But is it?