Rachel Low magnanimously wrote of producer Joe Rock that "By 1937 he had been making films for fifteen years and had a reputation for the efficient production of quota films which were often of an unusually high standard". And 'Rhythm Racketeer' definitely turns out to be much better than it looks on paper.

Bandleader Harry Roy ably carries this slick, enjoyable version - complete with good trick photography and bizarre musical numbers - of the old comedy perennial (which later saw service in vehicles for Will Hay, Bob Hope and Norman Wisdom, among others) in which a mild-mannered nerd turns out to be a dead ringer for a desperado.

Johnny Schofield spends a remarkable amount of the film in drag; while Roy's strapping wife Princess Pearl would have had little difficulty carrying Roy himself under one arm!