Feather Your Nest

When Willie (George Formby), a clumsy gramaphone recording technician breaks the wax acetate of a diva recording star Rex Randall (played by BBC Dance Orchestra singer Val Rosing), he breaks into the studio with the help of his fiancee Mary (Polly Ward) to re-record the song 'Leaning on a Lamp-post', expected to be a hit for Randall. Willie is sacked from his job and throws his upcoming marriage to Mary in the air, especially as they have put a deposit down on a new house.

Of course, as in the film, 'Leaning on a Lamp-post' became one of Formby's biggest hits, even though it was written by Noel Gay rather than Formby's usual songwriters Harry Parr-Davis, Fred E. Cliffe or Harry Gifford, a song with fewer of the double-entendres of some of his better other songs. Although it plays on Formby's clumsy goofy character, it is a little less farcical than some of his later films for producer Basil Dean and ATP, with the situations actually having tension and comedy, as well as an interesting sub-plot on home ownership and Higher Purchase. Ward also makes for an attractive co-star.