Good News (1947)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

Lew Brown (play) and
Laurence Schwab (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 December 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

Plot:

At fictitious Tait University in the Roaring 20's, co-ed and school librarian Connie Lane (June Allyson)...

Plot Keywords:

Librarian | Football | Love | Record Player | Nostalgic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

June Allyson	...	Connie Lane
Peter Lawford	...	Tommy Marlowe
Patricia Marshall	...	Pat McClellan
Joan McCracken	...	Babe Doolittle
Ray McDonald	...	Bobby Turner
Mel Tormé	...	Danny (as Mel Torme)
Robert E. Strickland	...	Peter Van Dyne III (as Robert Strickland)
Donald MacBride	...	Coach Johnson
Tom Dugan	...	Pooch
Clinton Sundberg	...	Professor Burton Kennyon
Loren Tindall	...	Beef
Connie Gilchrist	...	Cora the cook
Morris Ankrum	...	Dean Griswold
Georgia Lee	...	Flo
Jane Green	...	Mrs. Drexel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Bell	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Spectator saying 'Down in Front' (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	The Doctor (uncredited)
Bill Harbach	...	(uncredited)
Shirley Jean Rickert	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Mary Stuart	...	Flossie (uncredited)
Richard Tripper	...	(uncredited)
Arthur Walsh	...	Skinny Tait Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Walters

Writing credits
Lew Brown		(play) and
Laurence Schwab		(play) (as Lawrence Schwab) and
Frank Mandel		(play) and
Buddy G. DeSylva		(play) (as B.G. DeSylva) and
Ray Henderson		(play)
Betty Comden		(screenplay) and
Adolph Green		(screenplay)

Produced by
Roger Edens	....	associate producer
Arthur Freed	....	producer

Original Music by
Conrad Salinger		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles Edgar Schoenbaum		(director of photography) (as Charles Schoenbaum)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno		(as Edward Carfagno)
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose		(costumes: women)
Valles		(costumes: men)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup artist
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Jennings	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Paul G. Chamberlain	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Conrad Kahn	....	sound (uncredited)

Music Department
Lennie Hayton	....	musical director
Kay Thompson	....	vocal arranger
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Roger Edens	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Lennie Hayton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert Van Eps	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Alton	....	dance director
Henri Jaffa	....	associate technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #12519)

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, director Busby Berkeley, and producer Arthur Freed were planning to remake this as a follow-up to Babes in Arms (1939). But when Louis B. Mayer suggested instead to Freed to capitalize on the swing music craze, they switched gears into the production of Strike Up the Band (1940).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Not one of the "College Girls" is either dressed or coiffed in anything that resembles 1920s styles. The costumers used contemporary clothing (1947 that is) for virtually all scenes.

Quotes:

Babe Doolittle: I've been reading that psychology you were talking about. I've got a split personality!
Beef: Well, if anyone comes near you, they'll be a split-personality!

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment! III (1994)

Soundtrack:

Tait Song

Pleasant Light Entertainment

Pleasant light entertainment with a rather nostalgic feel, "Good News" works fine as long as you aren't expecting too much substance. The plot, characters, and setting are all pretty familiar, but the cast gives it an upbeat tone and a good energy level. As the two leads, Peter Lawford and June Allyson keep their characters likable and sympathetic with solid performances.

The setting is a 1940s conception of what a 1920s college campus was like, and it is thus something of a mythical world that never actually existed. Yet it's a setting that lends itself well to the story and to the musical numbers, and the cast all seem at home in it. Lawford plays the football star whose academic and romantic difficulties threaten his place on the team, and Allyson plays a bookish girl designed to win the audience's sympathy. Patricia Marshall plays a rather innocent version of a campus vamp.

The musical numbers fit well with the story, and while neither contains anything particularly memorable, they are entertaining. The movie maintains pretty much the same pace and tone for the whole running time, and it's a good way to pass an hour and a half or so when you just want to see something light and positive.