Swingtime Johnny (1944)

That was an excellent one.

Thanks for the memories!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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.

Are you a fan of the Andrews Sisters? Because that would be the only excuse to watch "Swingtime Johnny", and from a studio that made some pretty good musicals in the 30's and 40's. This one is a misfire, with an incoherent storyline about a group of gals (the Andrews' plus Harriet Hilliard) and guys (a swing band) who work in a munitions factory but mostly concentrate on music. The Andrews Sisters are, of course, very energetic and eager to please (like the Ritz Bros., you watch the one in the middle). The rest of the cast probably signed on because they needed the work.The musical numbers are passable but the comedy is very lame and seems forced and suffers from bad timing. The whole production needed a better director to pull the story together and to afford better continuity, but maybe fans of the Sisters won't mind - they can just wait for the songs.Memo to website users; please get serious. The rating for this picture is inflated. Rate movies like 'Shrek 3', and leave the grunt work to us bottom feeders.