In the Good Old Summertime
| In the Good Old Summertime | |
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| Directed by | Robert Z. Leonard Buster Keaton (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by | Miklos Laszlo Samson Raphaelson Albert Hackett Frances Goodrich Ivan Tors Buster Keaton (uncredited) |
| Starring | Judy Garland Van Johnson S.Z. Sakall Spring Byington Clinton Sundberg Buster Keaton Liza Minnelli |
| Music by | Fred Spielman George Evans Betti O'Dell George E. Stoll Jimmy Wakely |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | July 29, 1949 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.4 million |
In the Good Old Summertime is a 1949 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It starred Judy Garland, Van Johnson and S.Z. Sakall.
The film is a musical adaptation of the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and written by Miklós László based on his play Parfumerie. For In the Good Old Summertime, the locale has been changed from 1930s Budapest to turn-of-the-century Chicago, but the the plot remains the same.
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[edit] Plot
Garland, as Veronica Fisher, enters Oberkugen's music shop, looking for work. Little does she know that a pen pal, Van Johnson as Andrew Larkin, with whom she has been corresponding, is a salesman in the shop. Oberkugen refuses to employ her until she persuades a wealthy matron, through her singing and musical expertise, to buy an Amboy harp at almost $25 over Oberkugen's list price. Larkin resents her, and their relationship is quarrelsome, yet he continues to write doting letters to his pen pal at post office box 237. In spite of their bickering, they are profoundly attracted to each other at work, but keep their interest covert under a barrage of arguments.
[edit] Production
Garland introduced the Christmas song "Merry Christmas" in this film; it was later covered by Johnny Mathis and Bette Midler.
Buster Keaton devised a way for a violin to get broken that would be both comic and plausible. Keaton came up with an appropriate fall, and the filmmakers then realized he was the only one who would be able to execute it properly, so they cast him in the film. Keaton also devised the sequence in which Van Johnson inadvertently wrecks Judy Garland's hat, and coached Johnson intensively in how to perform the scene. This was the first MGM film Keaton appeared in since being fired from the studio in 1933.
It was filmed between October 1948 and January 1949.
Garland's three-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli makes her film debut in the musical, walking alongside her mother and Van Johnson during the closing scene. The song Last Night When We Were Young was written in the 1930s by Harold Arlen and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg for the Metropolitan Opera star Lawrence Tibbett. Judy Garland loved the song so much and wanted to include it in the movie. The song was recorded and filmed but when the picture was released, it was cut from the final print. The audio recording of "Last Night When We Were Young" was featured on several of Garland's M-G-M albums and she also later recorded it for Capitol Records in the 1950s. The footage of the number was finally seen 55 years after In The Good Old Summertime was released in the PBS documentary American Masters: Judy Garland: By Myself in 2004.
[edit] Reception
The film was made during the height of strain on the relationship between Garland and the MGM production company. As a testament to Garland's strong popularity, the film was a huge critical and commercial success. In the Good Old Summertime was the second to last film that Judy Garland made at MGM (with the final being Summer Stock). MGM terminated Garland's contract - by mutual agreement - in September 1950.
[edit] Cast
- Judy Garland as Veronica Fisher
- Van Johnson as Andrew Delby Larkin
- S.Z. Sakall as Otto Oberkugen
- Spring Byington as Nellie Burke
- Clinton Sundberg as Rudy Hansen
- Buster Keaton as Hickey
- Marcia Van Dyke as Louise Parkson
- Lillian Bronson as Aunt Addie
- Liza Minnelli as Veronica and Andrew's daughter (at the ending credits)
[edit] External links
- In the Good Old Summertime at the Internet Movie Database
- In the Good Old Summertime at the TCM Movie Database
- The Judy Garland Online Discography "In The Good Old Summertime" pages.
- NYT Overview
- The Judy Room "In The Good Old Summertime" filmography entry.
