Week of June 25, 2009, Issue #714
FILM
Good News
Summer melodies: College romance kicks off Edmonton Film Society's Songs of Summer
Jonathan Busch / jonathan@vueweekly.com
Kick off the frivolous joy of summer with MGM's 1947 remake of the Roaring Twenties musical Good News, a fun though sexless college romp starring sweetie-pie June Allyson and unsung Rat Packer Peter Lawford. Whereas the film might signify the ongoing attempts of the Hollywood musical to maintain its perky relevance after WWII, it nonetheless combines a reliable set of revival melodies and energetic dance routines for a skillfully maneuvered twirlabout across the studio lot. The strong will and conniving romantic methods of both the leading and supporting female roles might also be argued in favour of the film's gendered portrayal, despite how many eyebrows might be raised at the stellar though culturally insensitive number, "Pass the Peace Pipe," written specifically for this film version and nominated for an Oscar.
Before college kids donned togas or attended pro-choice rallies, their main concern was standing behind the leather-capped football team for the upcoming big game. When true romance shakes up the star player's will to win, Tait College's shot at the championship is put at stake. New student and gold-digger Pat (Patricia Marshall) uses her grand gams and flashy style to get the ga-gas from all the boys, including aforementioned star Tommy Marlowe (Lawford). He assumes that learning French is the perfect plot to woo her, seeking the assistance of brainy student and assistant librarian Connie Lane (Allyson), who outwits and eventually charms him more than any sorority princess ever could. But as Pat learns of Tommy's rich "Pickle King" daddy, she is suddenly interested in pursuing his heart for every imaginable virtue of selfishness. Tommy's infatuation with Pat has him stomp harder and harder over Connie's poor heart, until he learns that true love should be neither a monetary nor social gain.
Meanwhile, the secondary love game of Good News finds an adorable tryst between ballsy socialite Babe (Joan McCracken) and Bobby (Ray McDonald), a benchwarming anti-hero who wishes for more luck with the campus gals. Babe might be a dream come true, if it wasn't for Beef (Loren Tindall), her oafish team starter boyfriend ready to plow over any other wise guy who comes between them. So instead, Bobby runs in the other direction, forcing Babe to ruthlessly scheme her way into his heart, including being almost crushed to death by Bobby's troupe of pals as she hides in the backseat of his broken jalopy.
For its approachingly jaded era, the romantic element of Good News hardly locks itself in. Musicals of this period seem to invest themselves solely in the relieving spectacle of song and dance, working towards the critical distanciation from the dream machine that so gloriously fed into the studio-mocking comedy of Singin' in the Rain and powerful watershed of Carmen Jones (the latter of which is included in the Edmonton Film Society's musical-themed summer program). Its failure to sweep the audience away turns our attention to the effortless numbers and the raw performative qualities of its cast, notably McCracken, who ball-bustingly grins and grinds her way through every step to steal each of her scenes (hardly a wonder that she would be famed choreographer and director Bob Fosse's second marriage).
Good News is only the kick-off EFS' roster of classic musicals, with every week offering another significant step toward the evolution of the songful story. A mailroom clerk rises to the top of the corporate ladder in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying while Doris Day sports her signature blonde do in The Pajama Game and Tea For Two. Also included are edgier models like Norman Jewison's Fiddler on the Roof and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria, seeing the entrance of the modern musical that would usher social issues and bizarre sexuality into the mix. It's a fair treat, especially after last summer's messy Mamma Mia! and the trite and painful musical tribute of the recent Oscar telecast privileging the talents of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens over veterans like Joel Grey and Bebe Neuwirth. V
Mon, Jun 29 (8 pm)
Good News
Directed by Charles Walters
Written by Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Starring Peter Lawford, June Allyson, Joan McCracken
Showing as part of the Edmonton Film Society's Songs of Summer program
royalalbertamuseum.ca/events/movies/movies.htm for details
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