Good News is a 1947 musical comedy film directed by Charles Walters. The film stars June Allyson and Peter Lawford, and it was based on the 1927 musical stage play Good News.
Director: Charles Walters
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Patricia Marshall, Joan McCracken, Ray McDonald, Loren Tindall
US Box Office: $6,362,500 ($160,200,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Release Date: December 4, 1947 (premiere); December 26, 1947 (general release)
Plot Summary: At Tate College in 1927, football star Tommy Marlowe (Peter Lawford) has a crush on mean sorority girl Pat McClellan (Patricia Marshall), but she turns him down. Tommy gets Connie Lane (June Allyson), a nice sorority girl and a student librarian, to teach him French to impress Pat. Tommy and Connie end up falling in love, but problems arise once Pat becomes interested in Tommy because she (wrongly) thinks he is very wealthy. Can Connie win back Tommy before its too late?
Production: In 1930, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a film adaptation of the 1927 musical play Good News, which was written Laurence Schwab and B.G. DeSylva. In late 1939, MGM producer Arthur Freed and director Busby Berkley planned to make an adaptation of Good News as follow up to their successful musical film Babes in Arms (1939) which starred Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. However, MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer thought that the two should instead release a follow up that would capitalize on the recent swing music trend. Freed and Berkely’s project became Strike Up the Band (1940) starring Garland and Rooney. MGM and Freed finally began work on a new adaptation of Good News in early 1947. Freed hired Berry Comden and Adolph Green to write a screenplay for the film. Comden and Green had previously worked on Broadway as writers and performers, Good News was their first screenplay.
Good News was the directorial debut of Charles Walters. Walters was a stage actor and dancer who worked for the past few years as a choreographer on a number Hollywood musicals including Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and Ziegfeld Follies (1945). June Allyson, who was mostly known for starring in musicals, was cast in Good News as Connie Lane, the main character. Van Johnson and Mickey Rooney were both considered for the role of Tommy Marlowe before English actor Peter Lawford was cast in the part. Lawford originally didn’t want to play the part because he thought that his English accent would be unfitting for an American character, and he thought that his singing and dancing ability wasn’t up to par, but he agreed to take the role. Gloria DeHaven was originally cast as Pat McClellan. DeHaven refused to take the part (because it was a supporting role) so MGM suspended her contract and she was replaced by Patricia Marshall.
Filming on Good News went from March to May of 1947. The film was primarily shot on set at MGM Studios in Culver City, California. Some location filming was also done in Burbank, California. In two of Connie’s main songs: “Just Imagine” and “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” June Allyson’s singing was dubbed by singer Patt Hyatt. The song “An Easier Way,” sung by June Allyson and Patricia Marshall was filmed but later cut from Good News.
Fun Facts and Trivia: In real-life Peter Lawford was fluent in French and June Allyson was largely unfamiliar with the language, which is the opposite of their characters in Good News! Lawford actually had to teach Allyson French off-screen for their “The French Lesson” song and scene. The Tait University football uniforms from Good News were later reused for MGM’s Singin’ in the Rain (1952). In that film, they are worn by actors who are filming a silent sports movie in the studio. Good News was the film debut of Broadway star Patricia Marshall (Pat McClellan). She starred in numerous plays, but only appeared in four films. Peter Lawford and Clinton Sundberg (Professor Kennyon) later appeared together in Easter Parade (1948), which was also directed Charles Walters.
Reception: Good News premiered on December 4, 1947 and went into wide release on December 26. The film performed well enough in the United States with a fairly average box office gross for a musical film. However, Good News failed in overseas markets, foreign viewers likely weren’t interested in the 1920s American college setting. As a result Good News lost a small amount of money for MGM.
Good News received generally positive reviews from critics at the time. The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a mostly positive review. He thought that Good News was worth seeing due to its nostalgic value (being set in a 1920s college). However, Crowther complained about Lawford’s dancing ability and Allyson’s singing ability (unaware that much of her singing was dubbed). The film has received a similarly positive response in retrospect. Steven Crum of Video-Reviewmaster.com gave Good News a positive review and praised June Allyson’s performance. Tony Sloan of Radio Times praised Charles Walter’s work on the film’s musical sequences. In 2000, Good News was one of 500 films nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of the top 100 funniest American films. In 2004, the finale song “Varsity Drag” was one of 400 songs nominated by the AFI for their list of the top 100 greatest American movie songs.
Oscars: Good News was nominated for one Academy Award: Best Original Song (for the song “Pass That Peace Pipe” with music and lyrics by Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin and Roger Edens). “Pass That Peace Pipe” lost the award to the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” from Song of the South (1946). That song had music written by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert.
Why You Should See It: Good News is a cute and entertaining musical comedy film. Director Charles Walters did a great job choreographing the dancing during the film’s musical sequences. Most of the songs in Good News are good, and all of them are well choreographed. June Allyson gives a good performance as Connie. She is likeable, sweet, and charming in the film. Allyson was older than the character she portrayed, but that just makes the character seem more mature (a positive in my opinion).