It helps if you like American radio shows of the 30s and 40s - it helps even more if you KNOW American radio shows of the 30s and 40s. Fred Allen had one of the best, Allen's Alley, and uses a great Russian novel by Petrov as a jumping-off point to wheel on some of those stars of radio. Fans of the novel may well be annoyed at the cavalier way in which it is treated but fans of laughter will rejoice in the chance to see Allen working with Jack Benny - they had an ongoing and lucrative 'feud' on radio - hear a clip from Amos 'n' Andy, and generally revel in a plot which has everything from John Carradine as a crooked organ-playing lawyer to William Bendix as a comic gangster (or should that be gagster). It doesn't often surface but it did so this week on English TV providing a welcome opportunity to enjoy it.
Review of It's in the Bag!
