In the Good Old Summertime

Pleasant atmosphere and songs fill out this cozy situational period piece. Garland seems at ease and Johnson pulls it off -- they play co-workers who despise each other at work, but are secretly in love as correspondents through the mail. Similar to "Meet Me in St. Louis", without its excellence in story and character, but with much of the same studio-concocted charm. Keaton does a few falls, making the best of his last MGM film.

Given how Judy Garland scored so well in another period piece, Meet Me In St. Louis, it was a natural that she be cast in In The Good Old Summertime even if she was a replacement for June Allyson. It's called serendipity.

The film is a musical adaption of MGM's The Shop Around The Corner in which James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan played the anonymous correspondents who love what each other write, but can't stand each other in person. It doesn't help that the two of them are co-workers in a department store.

Van Johnson takes the Stewart part in In The Good Old Summertime and early 20th century Budapest is transferred to early 20th century Chicago. Johnson and Garland work in a music store with Spring Byington, Clinton Sundberg, and Buster Keaton and that's owned by S.Z. Sakall. Sakall is far more lovable as he always is than Frank Morgan in the same part in The Shop Around The Corner. A bit thick, but lovable. He does think he has talent on the violin, the same way Jack Benny did on his radio program. He plays it as well as Benny did and even playing it on a Stradivarius doesn't help.

Except for one new song, Merry Christmas, the rest of the score is interpolated period favorites like Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland, I Never Knew, I Don't Care and of course the title song. Judy is really in her element doing these numbers. In fact two of the early century's great musical performers, Blanche Ring who introduced In The Good Old Summertime, and Eva Tanguay whose specialty song was I Don't Care, were still alive to see Judy do both of their numbers for the current audience. I've often wondered what they must have thought.

Buster Keaton is strangely subdued in this film. He only gets one real comic moment doing a pratfall on a dance floor and breaking a violin in the process. I'm betting some of his material wound up on the cutting room floor.

At the very end of the film, little Liza Minnelli all of three at the time made her screen debut. If you like period pieces as I do and the music of the era as I do or if you liked The Shop Around The Corner or the most current adaption of the piece, You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, than you will appreciate and enjoy In The Good Old Summertime.

If you do like it, that's a very good sign.

First came "The Shop Around the Corner" with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Then "In the Good Old Summertime" with Judy Garland and Van Johnson, a musical remake. Then "She Loves Me", the Broadway musical with Barbara Cook and Daniel Massey based on the earlier version. Then "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks, which by no means was an original story idea but an update of all three previous versions.

MGM must have been in an inspired mood when they made this one, with Judy and Van at their best, both playing off each other with great charm and humor. Judy even gets to warble a few wonderful songs ("I Don't Care", "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland", "Play That Barbershop Chord") aside from showing her gift for romantic comedy. The delightful supporting players are Spring Byington, S.Z. Sakall, Buster Keaton and Clinton Sundberg.

Garland is a music store clerk corresponding with her unseen pen pal (Van Johnson) who also happens to be her boss. The happy ending features Judy's daughter, Liza, taking her first stroll before the cameras at 2 or so.

One of those rare remakes that actually improves upon the original and manages to be just as charming with the addition of music. One of Judy's best--a complete delight. Too bad she and Van Johnson weren't teamed more often.

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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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.