jarrodmcdonald-1 I just watched this film today. I have it on a disc called June Allyson & Peter Lawford. I love- love-love this film.I have read comments about the way the hair was styled and the types of clothes the main characters wore-- complaints they were too 'modern.' But what I thought was more of an anachronism was that the songs seemed to have a very 40s feel to them-- like they would be songs that one would have heard on the radio at that time. The music did not seem to be in the style of compositions from the late 20s.I can overlook this and even the hairstyles and clothing, because the rest of the picture is sublime.I think the only way around these minor problems is if they had framed it with an opening sequence where kids in 1947 were looking at yearbooks from twenty years earlier and decided to put on a show about 1927. So it would have been a story within a story, and their using modern day fashions and music would have been forgivable.

sisbarrolouis 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

asklar-1 This film, despite its corny aspects, contains life affirming joy that will appeal to anyone not living a perfect life. It would not be for a preteen or teenager, immersed in You-tube, or any of the immediate feedback gratification available on the web. It is, however, a fifty-year-old movie that can rekindle our memories of a softer, kinder time, when no matter how grim your own life might have been, you could embrace the possibility of happiness through vicariously enjoying the silliness of such musical numbers as, "Good News," "Pass that Peace Pipe," and the all-time football song, "Buckle-down-Winsocki!Although Peter Lawford was not anyone's dream date, June Allyson, with her sweet innocence and gift for laughter, despite her frequent tears of adolescence, carries this movie with a simple grace and talent that is more mainstream than other, more gifted, entertainers embody. The dance numbers, given today's re-discovery of the pleasure of dance, will captivate.

Ed Uyeshima 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.