During the 40's and 50's, Britain produced a series of delightfully goofy comedies. Some, such as Passport to Pimlico (1949), Whiskey Galore (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Man in the White Suit (1951), Genevieve (1953), The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), and The Green Man (1956), are well known. But others just as good, such as Let George Do It! (1940) and Stop Press Girl (1949), have been overlooked.
This latter deals with an unwitting young woman who somehow stops all machinery she is around. The idea is novel and the pacing never drags. Though, as the woman, Sally Ann Howes' performance is nothing special, Gordon Jackson, one of the most likeable actors ever to appear on screen, does a fine job as her ardent suitor. So do James Robertson Justice--who pepped up every picture he was in--and Joyce Barbour as Howes' uncle and aunt. (While they know about her power, neither has informed her of it.) And as reporter Jackson's rival, and frustrated want-to-be sweetheart, Sonia Holm is convincingly catty. Finally, that redoubtable English pair, Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, perhaps best remembered from The Lady Vanishes (1938), show up in five enjoyable cameos as different sets of mechanical types: train operators, bus operators, watchmakers, cinema projectionists, and pilots.
