MR. G. STRINGS ALONG

A major share of the mantle of Thorne Smith envelops this madcap yarn of Marvey L. Grafton, of Two Forks, Cold River, N. Ca. who made money and was happy manufacturing tin jumping frogs in his own home. Anxious for war contracts, he accepts the government's offer to convert him; his property is razed, a housing unit erected-but no factory or plant is forthcoming. He goes to Washington to protest his inactivity, and winds up with a monumental binge. He brings home sexy Christine, moves into the new development, and acquires the reputation of having an underground war plant, manned by imported labor. His home town shuns him; he is harried with government correspondence about his underproduction; and Christine and alcohol make the situation worse. A revivalist preacher, looking for sin, Home Front girls, and a mad expert in dynamiting add color to the picture, while the discovery of the machinery for making the tin frogs gives them a use for the old tin cans. One of his tin frogs has made history in China by keeping the locusts away, and the Big Wheels turn to find the source of supply, so that Lend-Lease can send more to China. And so he is reconverted to the old set-up -- and marries Christine...Sex, alcohol, government red tape, war muddles, in an unblushing force of broad and racy humor.