how to play swf files in quicktime

QuickTime has not natively supported Flash files in quite a while. You can try Perian and see if that allows the file to play, though it doesn't mention SWF as a supported format.

Regards.

Perian is definitely not the route. Frrom http://perian.org :
File formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW

SWF is a special container made by Adobe Director and can be played back with streaming software, such as a Web page that has the Adobe Shockwave plugin. Open an SWF file in Safari or other browser after installing the latest Shockwave Player, free from Adobe. Some other software that is designed for streaming playback can play SWF media, but not a typical video player like QuickTime Player.

The contents of an SWF container might include an FLV video file or bitmap images either alone or with other data. Shockwave Player has 3D graphics and interaction options (can capture video, sound, mouse movements etc. from your system by default and send them to a remote server if you don't turn off these permissions).

http://www.actionscript.org/resources/articles/728/1/Anatomy-of-a-SWF-File/Page1 .html

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_man ager02.html#118539

or in a nutshell, Shockwave Flash is not the same as Flash Video. QuickTime with Perian codecs installed can play Flash Video (FLV extension), but not Shockwave Flash (SWF extension).