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What a charming, little, easy to watch movie this was.

Nothing great, nothing heavy or new but simply just great easy entertainment with great performances from Judy Garland, Van Johnson and Buster Keaton in a small but fun role and apparently also Liza Minnelli in an even smaller, and her first role.

The story is simple but charming and effective. It's an early version (but not the earliest) of "You've Got Mail". It's not really a musical, just merely a movie that just happen to have some songs in it. The songs are nothing spectacular like you would expect when you hear the word 'musical'. So, if you don't like musical movies this movie might still be very well worth your time as well.

Don't let the year it was made in scare you of. This is a movie that doesn't ever get outdated, mainly thanks to its fun and easy to watch, kind of atmosphere.

7/10

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I won't go into plot details, as it's been done by so many other reviewers before me. Instead, I'll just share my observations as a fan of classic musicals, and specifically of Judy Garland.

Personally, I think it was during 43-46 period when Judy looked and sounded the best. And incidentally, it was also the period when the classic MGM studio system was at the apex of its efficiency in churning out one great musical after another before its demise later in that decade.

In Good Old Summertime, one can't help but realize, with much regret, that the greatest period of the good old musical films and of Judy Garland was beginning to wane. And it is noticeable from quality of music scores and from changes in her appearance also.

Of course, it's still a very enjoyable movie, especially if you watched one of the other movies based on the same story. And Judy still looks amiable and sounds great even when she had to sing in such self-deprecating manner as in 'I Don't Care', which feels very different from other instances of similar comic approach of her previous films like 'When I Look at You' in Presenting Lily Mars, or 'Couple of Swells' from Easter Parade, for example.

Even though the movie is categorized as a musical, it's certainly not Harvey Girls where you can enjoy such trademark MGM scenes, like that big, complex sequence as 'Atchison Topika and the Santa Fe'.

Back then, the Freed Unit with so many talented actors and actresses were so efficient that they didn't need too many camera cuts or even extensive rehearsals to create a such captivating 20 min long sequence.

In Good Old Summertime, Judy Garland is almost the only person who sings, and there is no 'sequence' to talk of, as most of the numbers are done by her singing solo, except for the Barbershop Quartet and 'I Don't Care' numbers.

In general, songs are less memorable than those from her other movies. There's a Christmas song which Judy sings beautifully as usual, though it just isn't on par with 'Have Yourself a Merry Christmas' from Meet Me in St. Louis.

Judy still looks attractive, but not more so than in her earlier movies. Her personal troubles in real life begin to take their toll on her appearances by the time she appeared in this movie. Van Johnson is amiable, but he's certainly not her ideal partner in a musical film, as he can't really sing or dance like Mickey Rooney or Gene Kelly.

All in all, it's a still very enjoyable movie, but if you are a Judy Garland fan like me, you might want to try her other films first, preferably one from the 43-46 period, if you haven't seen them all already.

And when you have already seen most of them, and when you are sure to understand why people keep praising Judy Garland and her movies from her better days even today, then with a preparation of your mind for experiencing some regrets and pangs which might result from seeing her lesser self in a lesser kind of a musical, you are ready to enjoy this movie as a devote Judy Garland's fan.

It's something similar to what it requires to enjoy her late year recordings like the famous Carnegie Hall album. It pains to notice how she lost her range and her once impeccable vibrato became one that sounds artificial and forced.

But at least, it's Judy Garland and I believe that would suffice to enjoy it for most her ardent fans. As to what seems deficient, they can supplement it by their memories of what she has been in her prime time.

Having previously seen this movie twice before, I was very glad to show this film to Mom right now, as she had never watched this. Judy Garland is in fine form, as always, when both singing, dancing, and acting especially when doing comedy. Van Johnson is also fine as the leading man and matching her in getting laughs as well. Some of that may be because of Buster Keaton who besides being one of the supporting cast, also helped devise the hilarious scene when Ms. Garland and Johnson first meet, which isn't a pleasant experience for either of them, that's for sure! S. Z. Sakall is also funny in his own way as their boss and Spring Byington is also a fine match for him. Oh, and there's a nice surprise at the end if one is familiar with what a certain future star looked like when a toddler! So on that note, me and Mom recommend In the Good Old Summertime. P.S. Since I like to cite when anyone associated with my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is involved in something else, here, it's the writers Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett who also wrote IAWL.

This pleasant version of the romance-by-correspondence story is worth seeing for the good cast and for the musical additions. This kind of light story depends heavily on the leads, and they do well here. "The Shop Around the Corner" is still the best version, due in large part to Jimmy Stewart and the rest of a fine cast. The 1990's remake was watchable because of the two sympathetic lead performers, but otherwise its script and direction weighed it down with too much extraneous material. Setting aside comparisons, "In the Good Old Summertime" in itself is enjoyable and is generally well-crafted.

This adaptation makes good use of Judy Garland's talents, and she in turn delivers a fine performance. Van Johnson is agreeable, if sometimes a bit bland, as the leading man. The rest of the cast is good as well, and although Buster Keaton does not get a lot to do, it's still great to see him in the cast. The story in itself is fairly thin, but it has a light, good-natured atmosphere and some lively material. The settings are believable, and they go along well with the story. There's easily enough to make "In the Good Old Summertime" worth seeing.

Quaint would really be the best way to describe this. Mild but colorful reworking of The Shop Around the Corner trades that films exquisite pathos for a sunny tone and loses something in translation but is miles ahead of the travesty that is You've Got Mail. The musical score is full of charming songs from the period socked across by the great Judy although she seems terribly jittery here. Of all her films this is the one where her resemblance to Liza Minnelli is the strongest so it seems fitting that Liza plays her daughter in a bit at the end. As for the rest of the cast, Spring Byington and Cuddles Sakall are cute and well matched in a much more gentle version of the shop keeper and his wife than the original film, but Buster Keaton is almost totally wasted in a small part.