Good News (1947)

6/10

The musical is pretty good, the transfers I've seen need a touch up

AlsExGal8 October 2020

The musical itself is everything you expect from an MGM musical of the late 1940's - rather light on story and heavy on visual style and good music. I've had the advantage of seeing the original movie musical from 1930, at least what's left of it, which is actually the entire film minus the Technicolor finale. That original has the disadvantage of not having the technical advantages in sound recording and camera mobility. However, the original 1930 movie does have the character of Babe being played by the pixie-like Bessie Love of "Broadway Melody of 1929", and she is every inch the mischievious flapper that Joan McCracken just is not. In fact, the coeds in the 1947 film seem very much like they're from 1947, they're just dressed up in the fashions and driving the cars of the 1920's.

In this film, Connie (June Allyson) is tutoring Tommy (Peter Lawford) in French just as in the 1930 version - except there the subject was astronomy. However, there are two big differences here. In the 1947 film, Lawford's motivation for studying French is to win the affection of a beautiful new student. Also, Tommy knows exactly who Connie is, and their attraction builds slowly. In the 1930 film, the first time Tommy sees Connie she isn't exactly wildly attractive, but she is the best student in the subject at the college. Also, Tommy is already enrolled in French, he is just in danger of failing it and not being able to play in the big game. Also notice in this later film the presence of a very young Mel Torme who seems to be standing in for Cliff Edwards from the 1930 version, complete with ukelele.

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7/10

Good News-Ode to Non-Academics ***

edwagreen7 March 2013

Warning: Spoilers

Campus fanfare in the l920s with Peter Lawford, the captain of the football team, a campus heart-throb, needing to pass his French exam so that he can play in the football game. Of course, June Allyson is called in to tutor him, the same girl he broke a prom date with so that he could escort the new girl on campus, a snob-seeking status girl, only interested in money.

I just love these so called college musicals where academics is never really the focus, but rather good old fashion fun.

What makes this film a delight is the singing and dancing. While Lawford's voice could have been better, he does fairly well nonetheless. Allyson, who was 30 at the time the movie was made, looks like a college co-ed all the way.

Mel Torme has his moments as a college student as well.

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8/10

The good news is...this is a delightful musical

TheLittleSongbird7 September 2016

There are definitely better musicals than 'Good News' made before, during and since. That doesn't matter, because although it has imperfections it is still a delight in so many ways.

Starting with 'Good News' problems, it is agreed that the scene with Connie Gilchrist is overwritten and overacted (in fact, some of the humour is tiresomely flat) and that the football scene is overlong and drags. It is also a shame that Mel Torme, by far the best singer in the cast, has very little to do, a singer of his calibre deserves better than that.

On the other hand, 'Good News' is very lavishly produced. It is true that the costumes and hair-styles are more 1940s than 1920s, but they do look lovely, and numbers like "Pass that Peace Pipe" and "Varsity Drag" are filmed beautifully. The music is wonderful, especially "Pass that Peace Pipe", "Varsity Drag", the title number, "Imagine" and the most famous song "The Best Things in Life are Free". "The French Lesson" is very funny as well. The choreography similarly dazzles, especially in "Pass that Peace Pipe" and "Varsity Drag", which are two of the energetic musical numbers of the 40s.

Charles Walters directs excellently, hard to believe that this was his directorial debut. The script is mostly very amusing and fills the heart with warmth, the film crackles with energy and while the story is fluffy and predictable admittedly it is also light-hearted, heart-warming and charming with solid pacing, also not being as contrived or corny as some musicals' stories were.

June Allyson has a role that fits her to the bone and it shows off her personality and strengths so well. She sings "Imagine" touchingly wistfully. Am not usually a fan of Peter Lawford, but while his singing is only adequate if even that he does give some charm to a rather caddish character and his dancing looks more comfortable than in other musicals he participated in. He and Allyson sparkle together, especially in "The French Lesson", even if they are too old to pass for college students. Joan McCracken is crackling fun that it beggars belief that her career wasn't bigger.

In conclusion, has flaws but 'Good News' is a delight on the most part. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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Don't Get Yourself in a Sweat !

drednm3 May 2005

Great MGM color musical from 1947 that boasts terrific performances from June Allyson and Peter Lawford as the stars and Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald, Patricia Marshall, Connie Gilchrist, Donald McBride, Mel Torme, Tom Dugan, Clint Sundberg, and Jane Green in support.

"Pass That Peacepipe" is one of the best production numbers I've ever seen, and McCracken and McDonald are super in it. It seems to have only 3 cuts in it and it's an amazing production numbers full of color and energy.

Allyson and Lawford have so much fun in the "Varsity Drag" number on a huge stage that it's infectious (but watch for the female dancer in pink who falls). Good songs throughout from the 20s stage show like the title song as well as "Lucky in Love," "The Best Things in Life Are Free," "Lady's Man," "Good News," "The French Lesson," and the sad song "Just Imagine" Allyson sings. Lively, colorful, and totally fun, this is an grossly underrated musical from MGM's golden years.

The 40s riff on 20s songs works thanks to Kay Thompson, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Great fun from the opening sequence til the end. Joan McCracken, by the way, was married to Bob Fosse.

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7/10

Sis Boom Bah, Win It For Dear Old Tait

bkoganbing26 August 2011

Good News was the best musical from the Roaring Twenties from the premier songwriting team of DeSylva,Brown&Henderson. It ran on Broadway for 557 performances in the 1927-29 season and gave the team a number of song hits identified with them like the title song, Just Imagine, Lucky In Love, and The Best Things In Life Are Free. All of those songs made it as well as one of the great dance numbers of the Roaring Twenties, The Varsity Drag.

The musicals of that era had the lightweight nonsensical plots which also was taken from the Broadway show. Big man on campus, Peter Lawford, has to get a passing grade in French to stay eligible for the football squad. He gets mousy student librarian June Allyson assigned as a tutor and the inevitable happens as it does in these films. After that Lawford has to choose between mercenary coed Patricia Marshall and Allyson. It's a struggle, but you guess who he winds up with.

This film is strictly about the music and dance numbers and it offers a rare opportunity to see Joan McCracken singing and dancing which she mostly did on the Broadway stage. She introduces a song especially written for the film Pass That Peace Pipe which was a big hit in 1947 and won for Good News its only Academy Award nomination. Pass That Peace Pipe lost to Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah for Best Song. But the number is one of the best dance numbers ever to come from an Arthur Freed produced MGM musical. Joan McCracken died way too young as oddly enough her dancing partner Ray McDonald.

Good News presents an idealized version of the Roaring Twenties and is the quintessential college musical which flooded Hollywood mostly in the years before World War II. It holds up well as entertainment and the songs are still fabulous.

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7/10

The best things in life are Comden and Green

marcslope26 June 2020

A rare instance of an MGM musical that doesn't wilt between musical numbers, and that's because Betty Comden and Adolph Green, making their screenwriting debuts, did a fabulous job. They livened up a 1920s stage musical, tightening the plot, writing in a bunch of amusing supporting characters, and even making an overage June Allyson and a miscast Peter Lawford look good. It's an Arthur Freed production in gleaming Technicolor, the songs leap naturally out of the narrative, and plenty of cast members who mostly came from the stage-Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald, Patricia Marshall (who married Larry Gelbart and lived happily ever after)-get to shine. MGM's usual bad habit of setting a story in one period (1927) and costuming and styling the cast in another (1947) is at its worst, and charming and well directed as Ms. Allyson is, you have to admit she's too old for the part, not much of a singer, and not much of an actor. Clinton Sundberg, beginning a long stay at MGM, is a help, and Connie Gilchrist always was an asset. The songs and dances are lively and well choreographed by Robert Alton, but here's a musical where the strength lies in the script.

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9/10

Musical numbers in Good News

Sterling-36 January 2011

This movie and other MGM musicals in particular should be viewed by anyone who thinks they want to produce a film musical today. Watch the Pass That Piece Pipe number and the Varsity drag. Pretend you are the camera and take note of the long uninterrupted takes and the fluid motion of the dancing in concert with the camera. Then look at the musical numbers from Chicago . . . where all they did was cheat and all the action was produced in the cutting room . . the skill is gone. It is a lost art, along with dancing which has been replaced by callesthenics.

Also, if you look closely to the left of the screen in the early part of The Varsity Drag, you will see one of the dancers hold her head and drop to the floor. She does not reappear in the remainder of the shot. June and Peter are the perfect couple and he is totally light on his feet unlike Richard Gere who was so lauded for being a non-dancer who was now "dancing" . . . ha! Now Peter was actually a non-dancer who was dancing and doing a good job of it without cheating, just as Frank Sinatra did in Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

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7/10

A Second-Tier MGM Musical

dglink26 July 2014

Director Charles Walters was no Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen, and June Allyson and Peter Lawford were no Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. Thus, 1947's "Good News" is just a solid second-tier musical among the Arthur Freed productions at MGM. The MGM back-lot stands in for Tait College, an upper-crust haven for nattily-dressed collegiates with little besides romance on their minds. A silly plot, which links a couple of good songs ("Lucky in Love," "The Best Things in Life are Free") with a few dull ones, ends with a rousing finale, "The Varsity Drag." That energetic production number is so lively and infectious, all the nonsense that precedes is forgiven.

And there is a lot of nonsense to forgive. Peter Lawford, egotistical football jock Tommy Marlowe, is an insensitive cad; except for his good looks, he is unworthy of a second glance from the likes of June Allyson's Connie Lane. Connie works in the library, studies hard, and, for some reason, fails to catch the eye of the male students. Instead of pursuing Connie, the shallow dim-witted Tommy is quickly smitten by gold-digging Patricia Marshall, a new coed, whose faux French includes the film's best line: "Quelle fromage." The musical numbers feature three performers who never quite made the big leagues on film, the afore-mentioned Marshall, Joan McCracken, and Mel Torme. Their failure was not for lack of effort; the three give it the old college try here, but Marshall has an unsympathetic role, McCracken is overly kinetic, and Torme lacks a face to match his voice. Although Lawford lacks a voice to match his face, evidently Hollywood values looks over other talents. However, as he proved in other MGM musicals like "Easter Parade," Lawford could carry a tune and, certainly in "The Varsity Drag" number, could dance quite well. While Allyson has only a passable voice, her innocence and sweetness get her a pass for anything she may lack musically, although she too does quite well in the big finale.

"Good News" is simplistic romantic fun with a few good songs and a terrific production number. Although only 93 minutes in length, the film does drag a bit at times; "Pass that Peace Pipe" seems endless; the football game goes on and on; and McCracken's use of family millions to divert Marshall from man to man is a tiresome gag. "Good News" is worth a view, and the "Varsity Drag" number is worth revisiting, but Tait College should have taught screen writing and lured higher caliber students.

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10/10

A knockout!

jeffhaller12531 March 2013

I know of no other movie musical that feels so much like I am watching a Broadway show. Just one great number right after another and they all have something to do with the story or characters. And just think of all the history behind those actors. June? Well, there never was a role she was better suited for and she gives it an enthusiasm no one else could have. Peter? Miscast? Yup, but this isn't Shakespeare and he is so sweet. McCracken? What a shame there is so little of this talent on screen. I remember first seeing this movie when I was a teenager. 40 years later it is better. Now I can appreciate the broad comedy and it is amazing to see how tender it can be. Why they didn't extend the design into 1920s hairstyles for the women I can't understand,but the movie looks great. The DVD I just saw must have been remastered; the colors were brilliant. For some of us this is MGM's best. Certainly its most honest and least pretentious. What a peek into a world that is gone and will never come back. Such innocence.

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6/10

Doesn't transfer well to the new millennium

RNMorton15 April 2022

This is the sort of 40s-50s stuff that turned me off as a child of the sixties. It's like Grease, except Grease was a spoof of this. Overacted to the hilt. I respect anyone who watched this as a child and still remembers it fondly., but for a new viewer it's way over the top.

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4/10

Lightweight and, at best, watchable.

planktonrules4 June 2013

Despite winning an Oscar for one of its songs, "Good News" appears to be a strictly second-tier sort of musical with little to distinguish it. The plot is paper-thin, the singing a bit suspect and the film very light and forgettable.

The film is set at Tait College in 1927 (though, oddly, the women's hair and many of the dresses are strictly 1940s). The plot hinges on whether the school's star quarterback (Peter Lawford) will pursue a snobbish new student (Patricia Marshall) or recognize how wonderful the assistant librarian (June Allyson) is. The plot doesn't get any deeper than that!

Like all musicals, the film is chock full of singing as well as dance numbers. However, I was amazed at the mediocrity (at best) of most of the singing. Apart from Mel Tormé (who had a great voice), the singers are either adequate (such as Allyson) or pretty awful (Lawford--who NEVER should have been allowed to sing in a musical). The songs, while bouncy, are pretty much fluff--which works perfectly with the plot, which is also pure fluff. Overall, the film isn't unpleasant but it also isn't very good or memorable. Strictly a second-tier sort of film from MGM.

By the way, I thought it awfully funny that when Allyson was supposedly teaching Lawford French, she would say words in French and invariably, Lawford's pronunciation (of words he'd never supposedly heard before) was as good or better!

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9/10

Good News is one of the most underrated MGM musicals

tavm9 August 2007

Good News is one of the most underrated MGM musicals from the '40s I've ever seen from that era. While leads June Allyson and Peter Lawford are no Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (who ironically, were the original considered leads for this movie version years ago), they sing and dance entertainingly enough for one to not notice after a while. Another underrated talent showcased here is one Joan McCracken who shines in the opening number and the later made-for-film specialty "Pass That Peace Pipe", which was eventually nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. And dig the "Velvet Fog" Mel Torme in his younger days crooning here! Excellent debut for director Charles Walters and screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green makes this one of the most spectacular musical comedies I've seen yet! P.S. Among the extras on the DVD are two numbers from the 1930 film version of Good News, the title number and "The Varsity Drag", both performed energetically and athletically by a young woman named Dorothy McNulty, later to be known as Penny Singleton from the Blondie movies. All of the above are well worth checking out!

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6/10

Oh what fun

ronfernandezsf30 January 2021

Oh what fun to see this inane but entertaining musical. Some great songs and dances make up for a dud of a story line. What a talented student body. EVERYBODY sings and dances and no one goes to class. There are two proms within weeks. What a college!!!! And everyone so squeaky clean and old!!! Not one character looks college age!!! No matter. It's still fun. June shines in her role. Made for her. Much better than Judy would have been. Not a Lawford fan, he does well here. See this for a great fantasy musical. Too bad one of Junes numbers were cut. It's on the DVD and worth a look. Best dance is Pass That Piece Pipe and the finale. Again, for fun and fantasy, GOOD NEWS is worth a viewing..

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3/10

Other Than The Fact The Two Leads Can't Sing Or Dance, It Wasn't Too Bad A Musical!

ccthemovieman-13 October 2007

You have to be kidding! People actually like this film and think is the music is great? They must be deaf! June Allyson and Peter Lawford are two of the worst singers you will ever hear on screen. Really! Hey, they're fine actors, but singers? No way. Dancers? Not really.

The worst of the numbers are in the beginning of the film, which immediately make you wonder what you are in for the rest of the way. Generally speaking, "what you are in for" is a pretty corny movie, really dated, and sub-par song and dance numbers.

Allyson's old-fashioned wholesomeness is appealing, and the college atmosphere was refreshingly the same (contrast that to today where they invite dictators who want to destroy us to speak)......but that's about it. This is not a good musical and not really fitting into a story about the 1920s. It doesn't quite have the '20s "feel."

I hate to say this a for a nice film, but to be truthful: this movie is "bad news",,,,,,at least for your ears.

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A wonderful fantastatical world of joy and possibilities

sisbarrolouis18 December 2013

The chance of waking up at six AM in a semi semiconscious state, flipping on my T.V. and seeing the 1947 film GOOD NEWS, well was such a wonderful surprise. The film of a fantasy life on a college campus sparked me into awaking on a happy positive note. Zany,yes Colorful,yes Lighthearted,yes ESCAPE,yes into a world that seem be be removed from our modern day world. Why shouldn't a Film, Broadway play allow you to slide back into a more comfortable Time and Place? Look theater and the film industry's job is to give us all a place to regenerate our joys and outlook of life. Some how the current films main purpose seems too be,to hang a dark cloud over the populous, retreat into the sanctuary of our home. Times are a changing! and bad in now good. Someone with Intelligence and Knowledge should pick up the script of GOOD NEWS! and run like deer to Broadway in good old N.Y.C. and get this gem on stage. The American public is ripe for some good,happy toe taping fun. I want to leave a theater and feel there is still hope for the human race.....Isn't that what entertaining is all about? But of course the non talented producers seem to not understand the needs of a American Renaissance. Is there something wrong leaving a theater with a smile on your face and a song in your heart". Or is that too plebeian? Lou Sisbarro

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6/10

A musical set on a college campus starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford

jacobs-greenwood8 December 2016

Warning: Spoilers

Directed by Charles Walters with a screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green that was based on a play by Lew Brown, Lawrence Schwab, Frank Mandel, Buddy DeSylva and Ray Henderson, this remake of the 1930 college Musical features the Academy Award nominated Song "Pass That Peace Pipe" and a cast that includes: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Patricia Marshall, Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald, Mel Torme, Robert Strickland, Donald MacBride, Tom Dugan, Clinton Sundberg, Loren Tindall, and Connie Gilchrist (among others). It's 1927 and the guys are called Sheiks and the gals are called Flappers.

Set on the Tait campus, the story involves college football (action), dating and other romantic plights among several different students like hard working (class) librarian and teacher's aide Connie Lane (Allyson), football captain Tommy Marlowe (Lawford), perky Babe Doolittle (McCracken) who's interested in weakling Bobby Turner (McDonald) though she's being pursued by jealous football star Beef (Tindall), who vows to kill anyone that comes near his sweetheart, and others like Danny (Tormé, whose character sings and dances without otherwise being involved in the plot). The drama starts when a new girl, Pat McClellan (Marshall) joins the sorority. She's a gold digger that speaks (fakes) a bit of French; naturally, her first interest is Peter Van Dyne III (Strickland), who's worth millions, in lieu of playboy Tommy, who makes all the other girls swoon but initially puts off Pat. To entice her, Tommy learns a bit of the foreign language from Connie, who quickly falls for him, and the feeling is somewhat mutual.

But Tommy's French doesn't impress Pat, who's only interested in Peter's money, until Connie's best friend Babe, unaware of the new romance and wanting Tommy to be happy so that he'll do well in the pending big game, tells Pat that the football captain is son of a Pickle magnate. Once Tommy's within Pat's clutches, his performance on the gridiron and in the classroom suffers to a point of concern for his frantic Coach Johnson (MacBride), the trainer Pooch (Dugan), and the rest of the students who fear that Dean Griswold (Morris Ankrum) will keep Tommy from playing in the next big game. Ironically it's the French professor Burton Kennyon (Sundberg), for whom the love abandoned Connie works, that gives Tommy his only failing grade. She's then asked to tutor him for the good of the team, which she does reluctantly especially because Tommy and Pat are to be engaged after the game, that is until Connie and Cora (the sorority's housekeeper) conspire to turn gold digging Pat onto now injured Beef, which has the added benefit of freeing Babe to be with Bobby.

Of course, Tommy and Connie are the rage, a stirring dance number (the climactic prom) ends the picture.

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6/10

Cast's Sincere Exuberance Saves Cheery College Musical from Pure Cornpone

EUyeshima18 July 2006

The death of June Allyson this past week is reason enough to revisit one of her most important starring vehicles, this wholesome 1947 MGM college musical from the golly-gee-whiz school of entertainment. Based on a pre-Depression-era stage hit, it's all pretty ridiculous but very sincere with random moments of clever comedy thanks to the formidable team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green with their first screenplay effort. The thin plot involves exuberant co-eds at Tait College and two in particular, conscientious good girl Connie Lane and football hero Tommy Marlowe. The closest thing the film comes to drama is the risk Tommy faces in not being able to play in the big game if he cannot pass his French class, and you can guess who is the only who can tutor him. There is inevitably a snooty gold-digger out to steal Tommy from Connie under the assumption that he is an heir to a pickle fortune. And naturally, there are hijinks galore among the co-eds who have a more vested interest in the big game than their own studies.

The trivial nature of the film is offset primarily by two things. First, there is Allyson, who exudes cornbelt, girl-next-door appeal effortlessly. With her froggy voice and twinkly smile, she shines as Connie despite the fact that she is not inordinately talented as either singer or dancer. As Tommy, Lawford is actually a better dancer than you would expect, but his character is such a flighty dullard that he comes across as rather silly. The second notable factor is a wonderful bouncing ball of a dancer named Joan McCracken, a Broadway performer who plays Connie's comic sidekick Babe Doolittle. Shamefully an obscure footnote now, she is the dynamic center of the energetic if somewhat politically incorrect "Pass the Peace Pipe" production number, a dazzling example of finely coordinated MGM choreography at its best. Another example of that craftsmanship is the final "Varsity Drag" number where dozens of dancers impressively replicate the moves of Allyson and Lawford in synchronized lockstep. This will definitely not suit everyone's taste, even lovers of MGM musicals, but it is a worthy tribute to Allyson's appeal and the kind of musical that would never be made again without some hint of cynicism.

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9/10

Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!

artzau23 October 2001

Aside from Peter Lawford and June Allyson, no great stars came out of this classic movie. Yes, I know Mel Tormé was in it but he made his fame playing the drums and not in films. But, this film made a tremendous impression on me when I saw it as a 10 year old kid. Not to mention the fact that my aunt (was a teenager at the time) had an old 78 with "Pass that peace pipe..." When I came across the video, I had to watch the peace pipe number about 15 times before I could get enough of it. This is not a perfect, slick film by any means and as full of flaws as a jock's composition paper for English 1A: the hair and clothing styles are late 40s and not the late 20s as the story is set; the characters are often thin and underdeveloped; Mel Tormé's acting is awful but, the show is still great. One of the things that makes it great is Joan McCracken who, tragically, never got her career off the ground, as it were. Her timing, her delivery and solid singing and dancing cover any shortages one would find with any of the rest. OK, so Lawford wasn't a great singer but the French lesson works. June Allyson was no Catherine Grayson but her rendition of "The Best Things in Life are Free" is classic. This is just a great show. I waited for nearly 50 years to see it again and when I finally got the chance, I did watch that great dance sequence of "Bury that hatchet and pass that peace pipe, like the Chocktaw, Chipawah, Chatanoogah, etc."

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7/10

"Good News" Is Good Fun

evanston_dad6 December 2010

Dopey as can be, and entirely winning.

This musical comedy stars June Allyson and Peter Lawford as a dowdy librarian and star football player, respectively, at an insanely happy college where everyone sings and dances all the time and all the students look like they're in their forties. There's some plot, but it doesn't much matter, because it's just used to string together a bunch of catchy songs. The most well known of those is of course "The Best Things in Life Are Free," but a wonderful and totally politically incorrect song called "Pass That Peace Pipe" received a Best Original Song Oscar nomination, while the one I remember most was the only other one written expressly for the film, a little ditty sung by Allyson and Lawford when she's teaching him how to speak French.

Good fun.

Grade: B+

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8/10

A Colorful Musical Worth Watching

atlasmb3 June 2016

"Good News" is a musical comedy about life at Tait College in 1927. The script--by Comden and Green--features plenty of Roaring 20s patter, like "bee's knees". Its dance numbers also contain plenty of anachronistic swing dancing, to satisfy audiences of its time. Since the dancing is one of its best features, it gets no criticism from me.

Filmed in Technicolor, it also displays some wonderful fashions, though some are not as nice as others. The songs, written by Henderson, Brown and DeSylva, are similarly uneven, but they include "The Best Things in Life Are Free", which gets the classy treatment of Mel Torme.

The story centers around sorority girl Connie Lane (June Allyson) who--despite her best intuitions--develops a crush on BMOC Tommy Marlowe (Peter Lawford). Neither of them are spectacular singers, and they would not be my choices for these roles. The lensman must have used all the gauze in the set's first aid kit achieving the relentless soft focus for Allyson (who was age 30).

The show is stolen by Joan McCracken, who plays Babe Doolittle--the vivacious ball of energy who leads the electrifying dance sequence for "Pass That Peace Pipe". She would have few acting credits in films. (She would also marry Bob Fosse)

Despite one of June Allyson's weaker performances, this film has much to recommend it. June had plenty of other roles in which she shines.

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6/10

old fashion musical

SnoopyStyle8 September 2023

It's 1927 at Tait College. Football is King. Football star Tommy Marlowe (Peter Lawford) is the pick of the lot, but Pat McClellan (Patricia Marshall) rejects him. He and librarian Connie Lane (June Allyson) hits it off, but gold-digger Pat finds out that Tommy comes from wealth. Tommy reveals his impending engagement to Pat. With him failing French, the school is desperate for Connie to tutor him.

It's an old fashion musical based on the 1927 stage production. Apparently, it's been cleaned up from the stage and the pre-Code movie. It's sanitized to the point of being white bread. The songs are not my taste. Far too many times, the actors are pining and sitting and crooning the songs. It's very old fashion and static. There are some bigger dance numbers and those are the most compelling scenes. June Allyson is very endearing. Peter Lawford doesn't have the physicality of a football player, but he does have the charms of a leading man. "Pass That Peace Pipe" got an Oscar nomination for original song although it is a bit dated with modern issues. It's an old fashion musical for old fashion tastes.

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5/10

Shows what happens when Hollywood mangles a Musical classic

sussmanbern2 June 2016

GOOD NEWS was a Broadway classic of the 1920s. But most of you haven't seen a really good production of the original musical. Even threadbare amateur attempts have been seen by very few modern viewers. So you can be excused for thinking that this 1947 movie is a faithful rendering of something that your grandparents raved about.

No such luck. This musical about college romance is chockful of stars who are about a dozen years too old for college. And very little remains of the original story or script. The famous songs, such as The Best Things in Life are Free, Button Up Your Overcoat, etc. have been shuffled around, and the great dance classic, The Varsity Drag, has been moved from the middle to the finale and changed from a Charleston to something that looks like goosestepping. A soundtrack recording preserves the songs nicely but the movie distorts what was once a memorable night at the musical theater.

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8/10

It's good news

blanche-224 December 2008

Peter Lawford, June Allyson, Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald, and Patricia Marshall star in "Good News," a 1947 MGM musical about life at Tait University. Allyson is Connie Lane, working her way through college and living in a sorority house when she meets the big man on campus and star football player, Tommy Marlowe (Lawford). It looks like love, but he's been after the flashy, uppity new girl (Marshall) who's only interested in a man with money. When she thinks Lawford has it, she turns her attentions to him, and he cancels his date with Allyson to the prom - on the night of the event.

Had I been Allyson, the story would have ended right there, but this is 1947 and a movie, and it's a wonderful one - energetic and fresh, with good music and fabulous dancing from Broadway star McCracken and McDonald. "Pass the Peace Pipe," a politically incorrect song by today's standards, is one of the best numbers.

Allyson and Lawford make a great couple, and seeing Lawford so young and handsome, dancing and singing is not only a revelation but sad. He's terrific. Look for an unbelievably young Mel Torme in a small but showy role.

Delightful - don't miss it.

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4/10

Rah! Rah! Rah! This Collegiate Musical Just Ain't The Bee's Knees

strong-122-4788855 July 2013

The good news about "Good News" is that there really isn't any good news. (Ha! Just kidding there, folks!)

Actually, the good news about "Good News" is that this Technicolor Musical/Comedy from 1947 does, surprisingly enough, feature 3 outstanding and really swinging musical numbers, which are - Pass The Peace Pipe, Varsity Rag and the film's opening sequence.

But, on the other hand, the bad news about "Good News" is that, no, these 3 high-energy musical numbers do not in any way, shape, or form, come anywhere near to compensating the viewer for having to endure the drab and clichéd triteness of the rest of the film.

This picture's predictable, little story concerns the activities of a bunch of super-preppy rich kids in the late 1920s who are attending Tait University.

When these "golly-gee" brats aren't singing up a storm (sometimes quite out of tune), they spend most of their time either partying and/or gossiping about who's dating who.

These spoiled-rotten, whipper-snappers seem to have very little concern about their studies, their grades, or their finances. (Well, what the heck could you expect from this bunch, anyways?)

To be totally honest here, I thought that "Good News" (for the most part) really sucked. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. (But, hey, to each his own, is what I always say)

One of this film's biggest let-downs was that its 2 big-name stars, Peter Lawford and June Allyson, couldn't carry a tune even if their lives depended on it. They really couldn't. (I really couldn't say much in favor of their dancing, or acting, either)

And, that, my friends, is the good news, as well as the bad news, about "Good News".

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Football & prom season

gkeith_116 July 2006

Football is in the fall, at least nowadays it is. Prom is in the spring. So is graduation, at small colleges (I think).

This movie had football, prom, and graduation, all in the spring. Then, to top it all off, Tommy said he was getting a degree in French LOL. Tommy came off as such a dunce, and I never really picked up on what his major was, anyway.

I expected the women's hairstyles to be short bobs of the 1920s, and more Charleston dancing. These two points became lost when I decided to let myself get lost in the escapism and pure entertainment.

All in all, I still like this movie, very much. I really like the singing of June and Peter, and feel that they had very nice voices. Hope they were not dubbed. At any rate, they were honest and heartfelt vocal renderings.

June Allyson passed away several days ago (today is July 16, 2006), at age 88. In 'Good News', which I saw today for the third time, I figured I would melt in tears when she & Peter Lawford did the scene of 'The French Lesson'. That happened a little when I saw June in 'Little Women', shown 2 hours or so earlier, where Jo meets Laurie (June & Peter) late in the movie (I just saw the last part of it). I knew that I would be watching them again in 'Good News' a little later, because today was the June Allyson special presentation on TCM (7 of her movies).

I do like the 'Varsity Drag' in 'Good News', and wish June had danced more in this movie. I did enjoy how she and Peter led all the other dancers in the huge finale, each leading their group in a large tight triangle. It was so neat.

RIP June and Peter. We love you so. I am still melting in tears.

12/10

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