grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by tavm grade 9 / 10

  Good News is one of the most underrated MGM musicals

  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!

---

• Reviewed by drednm grade 10 / 10

  Don't Get Yourself in a Sweat !

  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.

---

• Reviewed by Sterling-3 grade 9 / 10

  Musical numbers in Good News

  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.

---

Read more IMDb reviews