Laugh It Off

Lassie from Lancashire Peggy Browne gets into uniform as a colonel's daughter working as his secretary for this very early contribution to the war effort directed on a shoestring with far more grace than it deserves by John Baxter on behalf of British International Pictures. Tommy Trinder rolls his eyes as an entertainer as usual called 'Tommy' who enlists to do his bit, and has the usual hilarious adventures with a truculent sergeant major, peeling potatoes, falling into a water trough and so on; while his sweetheart played by glamourous blonde Jean Colin is supposedly transformed into a frump simply by putting on spectacles.

At the patriotic finale presided over by Geraldo and his Orchestra in Regency dress (the enormous audience enthusiastically applauding obviously library footage) the chic Vesta Tilley outfit in which Miss Colin performs reminds us that at this stage in the war the makers still had the last one in mind; and Trinder momentarily breaches the fourth wall by looking straight into the camera in closeup and inviting the audience to join in. Wally Patch meanwhile reveals a pleasant singing voice (assuming that's his voice) serenading matronly cafe proprietor Ida Barr backed by a chorus line including a young John Laurie (already in uniform when the Home Guard hadn't even been formed yet).