MacFarlane, Thomas (2007). The Beatles' Abbey Road Medley: Extended Forms in Popular Music. Lanham, MA: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1-4617-3659-2. Pratt, Vic. "Turned Out Nice Again (1941)". Screenonline. British Film Institute . Retrieved 27 May 2014. Pratt, Vic. "Come On George! (1939)". Screenonline. British Film Institute . Retrieved 27 May 2014.

An amateur racing driver unexpectedly wins the Isle of Man's Tourist Trophy and the heart of a charm-school actress. Richards considers that Formby "had been able to embody simultaneously Lancashire, the working classes, the people, and the nation"; [1] Geoff King, in his examination of film comedy, also sees Formby as an icon, and writes that "[Gracie] Fields and Formby gained the status of national as well as regional figures, without sacrificing their distinctive regional personality traits". [205] While the national aspect was important for success outside the north, "the Lancashire accent remained to enhance his homely comic appeal". [206] The media historian Brian McFarlane writes that, on film, Formby portrayed "essentially gormless incompetents, aspiring to various kinds of professional success... and even more improbably to a middle-class girlfriend, usually in the clutches of some caddish type with a moustache. Invariably he scored on both counts". [52] The screenplay was developed by Tom Geraghty and Fred Thompson from a story written by Walter Greenwood, who had enjoyed literary success with Love on the Dole published the year before the film's release.Formby's screen persona influenced Norman Wisdom in the 1950s and Charlie Drake in the following decade, although both these performers used pathos, which Formby avoided. [209] [215]

Formby's biographer, Jeffrey Richards, considers that the actor "had been able to embody simultaneously Lancashire, the working classes, the people, and the nation". [1] Formby was considered Britain's first properly home-grown screen comedian. He was an influence on future comedians—particularly Charlie Drake and Norman Wisdom—and, culturally, on entertainers such as the Beatles, who referred to him in their music. Since his death Formby has been the subject of five biographies, two television specials and two works of public sculpture. Bell Bottom George (1944)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009 . Retrieved 10 March 2014.

By the Shortest of Heads (1915)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009 . Retrieved 10 March 2014. Halliwell's Film Guide comments, "one of the last good Formby comedies, with everything percolating as it should". [1] Although Formby had already made two moderately successful films ( Boots! Boots! and Off the Dole), No Limit was the film that put him on the road to stardom. Much Too Shy is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, Kathleen Harrison, Hilda Bayley and Eileen Bennett. [1] The cast includes radio star Jimmy Clitheroe (as George's brother), later " Carry On'" star Charles Hawtrey, Peter Gawthorne and Joss Ambler.

In the summer of 1942 Formby was involved in a controversy with the Lord's Day Observance Society, who had filed law suits against the BBC for playing secular music on Sunday. The society began a campaign against the entertainment industry, claiming all theatrical activity on a Sunday was unethical, and cited a 1667 law which made it illegal. With 60 leading entertainers already avoiding Sunday working, Dean informed Formby that his stance would be crucial in avoiding a spread of the problem. Formby issued a statement, "I'll hang up my uke on Sundays only when our lads stop fighting and getting killed on Sundays... as far as the Lord's Day Observance Society are concerned, they can mind their own bloody business. And in any case, what have they done for the war effort except get on everyone's nerves?" The following day it was announced that the pressure from the society was to be lifted. [105] McFarlane, Brian. "Formby, George (1904–1961)". Screenonline. British Film Institute . Retrieved 28 May 2014. George Perry wrote in "Forever Ealing", "the notion of unsuspected German spies in respectable positions was to recur in more serious Ealing films such as The Foreman Went to France and Went the Day Well? These comedy films were judged as very good for public morale at the time while delivering an important message." [5]Trouble Brewing (1939)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009 . Retrieved 10 March 2014. Let George Do It (1949)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009 . Retrieved 10 March 2014. A bungling recruit begins his R.A.F. training and gets mistaken for a regularly enlisted airman, much to the annoyance of his strict sergeant major. Kershaw, Baz (2007). Theatre Ecology: Environments and Performance Events. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87716-9. The saboteurs include fellow police officers who plan to shoot Formby in a remote area but he escapes in a motorised toy car. A crazy chase ensues ending in Formby going round and round a wall of death before foiling the plot.