There's some very funny moments in another Andrews Sisters programmer in which they are top-billed but basically supporting in the plot which surrounds the goings on of war-time factory workers who are also part of a big band. Peter Cookson is a rather square business man who once sold the pipes for organs and has now moved into creating pipes for shell bombs. He is out at a nightclub one day when Harriett Hilliard pulls him into her act, forcing him to "accidently" rip off all of her clothes which lives him totally humiliated while leaving her almost clothes-less. She ends up becoming his secretary (literally having to memorize a letter he's dictated to her because she can't do short-hand) and ultimately gets him as piano player in the band she's part of. Of course, romance erupts, and his business associates start off shocked but end up impressed by his surprising musical knowledge. And what do the Andrews Sisters do? Pop in every now and then for a musical number as a singing trio (breaking into "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" after which somebody remarks, "Every girl trio thinks that they are the Andrews Sisters") and help bring the couple together. It's all harmless fluff at under an hour, doing its share for the war effort, and coming off better than average, if not remarkable. A very funny scene involves a run-away tire which Cookson chases right into an auto shop, encountering a mechanic who thinks he's trying to steel his own tire. Cookson shows us how to play "Pop Goes the Weasle" on amply placed shell pipes, and there's also a very funny scene where the amble Marion Martin is aghast when she is pinched by a lobster hidden inside another man's jacket. This joke was also used in "George White's Scandals" (1945), but still remains pretty funny.
Review of Swingtime Johnny
