great june allyson musical - Good News (1947) Discussion

[–] drjulia99 19 years ago

So glad to find another Good News fan! Nobody here (in Nebraska) seems to know what I'm talking about! I fell head over heals for Peter Lawford and loved everything about the film. I was taking Spanish at the time so imagine my French professor's surprise when I told her her eyes were blue in French, Ha! She probably thought I was hitting on her.

Anyhoo, do you have the DVD, it has the a couple of dance numbers from the 20's which are a roar!

Dagnabbit, dagnabbit straight to heck!

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[–] keith-298 19 years ago

yes i bought the dvd via mail from the usa. over here in malaysia, you can hardly come across a good classic musical in the stores.

i bought this dvd because, along with ann miller, kathryn grayson - june allyson is a favourite of mine and i have heard so much about "good news". no regrets in buying that movie (except unfortunately, the quality of the dvd i got was not to my expectation), anyhow, it is still a wonderful enjoyable musical from mgm.

hahaha!!! glad you impressed your french professor. you should enact the whole "french lesson" routine with her!!! she would be floored!!!

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[–] brumbolt 18 years ago

When I met June Allyson in 2002 I told her about the DVD of Good News (also one of my favorites ) I mentioned the early version with Penny Singleton.She wasnt aware of the early version.I told her Penny was no June Allyson,she laughed .June is as sweet as you might expect a charming Woman.I had the plesure of spending a lot of timewith her as it was at the Judy Garland festival which is a 3 day event .We sat together during Margaret OBriens presentation.Margaret told how she and June were the best criers at MGM but June was the champion.She is the Champion in everything in my book.
Gordon ,Montreal

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[–] Isaac5855 18 years ago

Without a doubt, this was June Allyson's best musical...I only saw this movie for the first time a few years ago, but I had heard the soundtrack many years prior. I liked the score but had never gotten the opportunity to actually see the film until a few years ago. If you loved the golden age of MGM musicals, this was one of the best.

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[–] ashleyd198122 18 years ago

I also thought that this was a great June Allyson musical. I've only seen it twice and the first time was only a few years ago, but I have been a fan of the June Allyson/Peter Lawford duo since seeing them together in Little Women when I was a little girl. I'm 25 years old and I love the old musicals. They just don't make movies like they used to do.

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[–] sametic 15 years ago

I really like this flick, although it's not without its flaws. But it nails the true spirit of the genre in spades, and it still blows away the likes of say, High School Musical.

Unfortunately, even if Hollywood could manage to get them right in this day and age, modern audiences are too jaded to flock to musicals en masse anymore. This may be why the few good musicals left tend to be animated features that play to children, the only demographic that hasn't been corrupted by its own cultural savvy yet.

Another contributing factor is the rather elementary problem of lack of talent. Under the studio system, a good 50% of Hollywood's entertainers possessed the ability to sing, dance, act, or some amalgam of the three, and if they couldn't, they had to learn. Compare this to today's prerequisites, which vacillate between "will swear" and "will do nude scenes". The sheer void created by this admittedly generalized mentality precludes the machine from spewing out nonstop musical offerings.

In any case, today's musicals often come with a grain of salt designed to be a subtle plea for acceptance. Either they're stylized to the point of surrealism (Moulin Rouge, Chicago), or they're only musicals by default (Dreamgirls, Mamma Mia).

I must say, the musical offerings for adults these days almost always miss the mark. Chicago, for instance, has got to be one of the worst musicals I've ever seen in any era, drenched in sleaze and vanity, terribly choreographed, embarrasingly bad performances and songs, etc. I don't understand how it won any awards. Perhaps this genre is such a novelty act nowadays that Oscar feels obligated to shower it with affection whenever it pokes its head in the door.

Glad to see I'm not alone, though, in the sense that the true spirit of this genre lives on in us, the modern audience who dares to appreciate it.

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[–] bradford-1 12 years ago

Anyone who liked GOOD NEWS should try to pick up 1943's BEST FOOT FORWARD, based on the Broadway hit. Ms. Allyson shares the screen with Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Gloria DeHaven, Nancy Walker, Virginia Weidler and Harry James & His Orchestra.

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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[–] pontevedro 8 years ago

I just watched this yesterday. I haven't been much of a June Allyson fan but this film showed me why she was a success. I'll have to check out some of her other films.

I probably haven't seen her in the best vehicles. I don't care much for the Gene Kelly 3 Musketeers, in so many ways (not just because June seems a pretty bland Constance). She suffers by comparison with Katherine Hepburn as Jo in Little Women, and with Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey. And she is overshadowed by Barbara Stanwyck in Executive Suite. I did like her number in "Girl Crazy" so maybe I need to see her in more musicals.

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