Good News
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Movie Reviews of Good News
Movie Review: Good News
Summary: 5 Stars
Great cast. I love any movie with June Allyson I wish there were more of her movies on DVD I would buy them all. June Allyson is such a great talent. As there is not enough of her movies on DVD I pleased to have a few in my Classic collection of DVD's. But there is always room for more June Allyson movies great to watch.Movie Review: Good News DVD June Allyson Peter Lawford
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my mom as a Christmas present because it is here favorite movie. She has watched it over and over since then and it has brought back memories of her youth and made her very happy. I'm so glad that old movies like this are available on DVD. The joy they can bring to someone's life is immeasurable.Movie Review: My favorite musical!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this musical, and definitely recommend it for any musical lovers!! "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and "Ladies' Man" are two of my favorite songs from this movie.Movie Review: They sure are blue...
Summary: 4 Stars
With the recent passing of the lovely and classy June Allyson, we lose yet another bonafide star from the golden age of cinema. June Allyson exuded down-to-earth charm and a certain girl-next-door accessibility. She was perenially typecast as the "nice girl." No, she wasn't classicaly beautiful, being widely considered more cute than anything. But I've always preferred her to more aloof, cool beauties such as Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr. June's distinct scratchy voice, which was warm and endearingly unique, had me captivated from the get-go. My favorite movies starring June are Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Music for Millions (1944), The Three Musketeers (1948), Little Women (1949), and, of course, Good News (1947).
Set in the college campus of Tait University in 1927, Good News mainly tells the tale of college football hero Tommy Marlowe (British Peter Lawford), a collegiate Romeo of long standing. But, to his chagrin, he doesn't get anywhere with newly arrived co-ed Pat McClellan (Patricia Marshall), who espouses French culture and spouts dubious French verbalisms. He gets library assistant Connie Lane (June Allyson) to tutor him in French. In the course of things (and because Allyson and Lawford are the two leads), Connie and Tommy are soon making moon eyes at each other. But the jeopardy in the film surfaces when Pat decides she's interested in Tommy after all.
Good News, an MGM release, is a lively film peopled with young, energetic folk. The effervescent musical numbers are uniformly performed with giddy exuberance and robust athleticism. Nearly every song is a show stopper: from the opening "Good News"; the fun French learning song, a rapid, tongue-twisting French duet excursion by Lawford and Allyson; speedily followed by the wistful standard "The Best Things in Life Are Free," as winsomely warbled by June; the excellently choreographed "Pass the Peace Pipe"; to the culminating cardiovascular-friendly "The Varsity Drag." Joan McCracken as Connie's roommate Babe Doolittle is a flat out delight, stealing loadfuls of scenes. All of her enthusiastic musical renderings ("Good News," "Pass the Peace Pipe") are highlights. Look for a Velvet Fog cameo reprising "The Best Things in Life Are Free."
While it's mostly about the songs, the plot is not without its appeal. For example, the scene of Connie and Cora the cook doing a reading from a script concocted for Pat's eavesdropping pleasure is a hoot.
The underwhelming special features is anchored by the deleted number "An Easier Way" sung by June Allyson.
The acting is up to standards, with Allyson and Lawford emoting admirably. Patricia Marshall is appropriately hateful as the haughty, scheming Pat. And to reiterate, Joan McCracken is an unrestrained delight. Good job by everyone - Good News, indeed.
Movie Review: Charming & Colorful Musical Fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Musicals with a college setting have always been a popular ticket, with shows like ON YOUR TOES, PIGSKIN PARADE, and BEST FOOT FORWARD classics of their kind on both stage and screen. But the grandaddy of them all is GOOD NEWS, which proved a smash hit on the stage, opening in 1927 and playing over five hundred fifty performances--an unheard of run for that time. In 1930 the show went Hollywood, and in about 1940 was slated for a remake with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, but when the cameras finally rolled on the project it was 1947 and the stars were Peter Lawford and June Allyson.
The story is flyweight stuff. Tommy (Lawford) is the big man on campus, the college football star and lady killer; Connie (Allyson) is the extremely practical, pretty but unglamorous girl who falls for him in a big way. Unfortunately, Tommy has eyes for another, and it isn't until the college is on the verge of loosing the big game that he sees the era of his ways. Lawson can't sing worth a damn, but Allyson certainly can, and when it comes to dance they equal each other in energy and precision--but the real noise in GOOD NEWS is Joan McCracken as Babe. In a perfect world, McCracken's performance would have been an early step in a long and remarkable career, but McCracken developed a number of health issues that prevented her from working. GOOD NEWS is one of her few films, but it stands in testimony to what might have been: her performance of the title song and of "Pass That Peace Pipe" (written specifically for this film) are knock-outs all the way. Mel Torme also makes an early film appearance, performing ensembles and a reprise of "The Best Things In Life Are Free."
Although set in the 1920s, the show looks and sounds suspiciously 1940-something, relying more on costumes, choreography, and musical arrangements more contemporary than historical--but what the heck, its all in good fun, and as usual on an MGM "A" production the whole thing looks spectacular. Director Charles Walters, whose other credits include EASTER PARADE, THE BARCLAYS OF BROADWAY, and SUMMER STOCK to name but a few, keeps the pace tight. The DVD offers an interesting feature: two songs from the original 1930 film version as performed by Penny Singleton (then known as Dorothy McNulty), "Good News" and "Varsity Drag." Her performing style in these is very much late 1920s-early 1930s, so it gives viewers a chance to see what the original style was like. GOOD NEWS isn't really among the truly great MGM musicals, but it is a fun show all the same, and musical fans will adore it. Recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer