Word: isn
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Janie ought to be more fun than it is. It has some amusing lines, some lively moments. It brings a timely touch of khaki to the timeless absurdities of youth. But it isn't buoyant or spontaneous enough; all its breeze seems to come from an electric fan. It has that terrible noisiness which is the bane of too-innocent merriment. Refreshing is the still, small voice of Janie's baby sister Elsbeth (Clare Foley), who at seven is a past mistress of espionage and blackmail. Elsbeth is funny. The rest is formula...
Their commander, tough, spidery Major General Alvan Gillem, knows that half that art is teamwork. Says he: "There isn't a tank man alive who could operate a tank by himself, and there isn't a tank crew that could keep a tank operating without the help of the last little man with the last little monkey wrench. They all know that...
...tunes are turned out according to formula. On the rhythmic numbers you get more variety, but usually the interesting parts are cribbed from Ellington. Compare "American Patrol" as interpreted by Miller and by Muggsy Spanier. It's one of Miller's better records beyond a doubt, but its pretentiousness isn't worth peanuts alongside of Spanier's more modest efforts...
Since neither the facts nor the conclusions are secret, the immediate question arises, why isn't it done...
...taxes. For example, if a railroad should buy in $100,000 worth of its bonds for $60,000, the Government would make it report a $40,000 profit, on which next year's excess profits tax would be $36,000. At this rate the railroad treasurers figure it isn't much...