There are not a lot of jukebox shorts that are cringe-worthy, but I have to admit that this is one of them. Still, the backstory is interesting, and we will let judge for yourself.In January 1944, former stuntman Fred Walker formed Standard Pictures Corporation to produce low-cost jukebox shorts. These films were intended for Panoram operators who were looking for a less-expensive alternative to the weekly Soundies reel. Only local, Los Angeles-based talent would be used for the films, some of which were apparently filmed and recorded simultaneously. Walker told Billboard, “Talent will consist of that which is in Hollywood only, with special attention being given to artist ‘on the way up.’” I read that as “talent that could be obtained at a very low cost.” After distribution to the jukebox trade, the films would be sold to libraries, offered on a “roadshow basis,” and marketed to home-movie collectors.Most of the performers who appeared in Standard Pictures shorts are little-known today. Cocktail-lounge pianist Larry Luke was entertaining in the Zanzibar Room at the Florentine Gardens. Future Soundie performer June Barton was singing with bandleader Bernie Parks. Paul Parks and his Playmates and tenor Lewis Bolyard were booked in either Hollywood or the San Fernando Valley.The one exception in terms of fame/notoriety is Rose Murphy, she of the diminutive voice and “chi-chi” lyrics. Murphy was a fine jazz pianist, very popular on the cocktail-lounge circuit, who was usually able to maintain enough self-control to play in a swinging and inventive manner. While some might disagree, that is not the case in her performance of Vincent Youmans’s standard “Time on My Hands.” The piano solo is fine, very representative of her fulsome, two-fisted approach to the music, but the vocal contribution is … well, cringe-worthy.“Time on My Hands” was filmed at the Valley Lodge on Ventura Blvd. in North Hollywood sometime in early 1944. No review of the short can be found in the trades, for which we can be thankful, I suppose.