IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (DVD) DVD

In the Good Old Summertime
In the Good Old Summertime is a musical remake of the 1940 Ernst Lubitsch comedy The Shop Around the Corner, which in turn was based on a play by Miklos Laszlo. The locale has been changed from Hungary to Chicago, but the turn-of-century time frame and the plot remain the same. Van Johnson and Judy Garland play a couple of clerks in a sheet-music store who detest each other on sight. Both reserve their words of affection for their respective pen pals, whom they've never met. The audience, of course, is aware that Johnson is Garland's pen pal, and she his, but it's fun to anticipate the fireworks when the characters on screen make this discovery. Buster Keaton, then employed by MGM as a "comedy consultant," is provided with one of his best parts in years as the bumbling nephew of shop owner S.Z. Sakall. The songs sung in Summertime consist of period numbers like "I Don't Care", "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie", and the title tune. This is the film in which 18-month-old Liza Minnelli (Garland's daughter) toddles into the closing number, though it is not her film debut, as has often been claimed: an even younger Minnelli popped up briefly in Garland's previous MGM musical Easter Parade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Judy Garland as Veronica Fisher Van Johnson as Andrew Larkin Buster Keaton as Hickey S.Z. Sakall as Otto Oberkugen Spring Byington as Nellie Burke Clinton Sundberg as Rudy Hansen Marcia van Dyke as Louise Parkson Lillian Bronson as Aunt Addie

Crew Randall Duell - Art Director Cedric Gibbons - Art Director Robert Alton - Choreography Irene Sharaff - Costume Designer Robert Z. Leonard - Director Adrienne Fazan - Editor George Stoll - Composer (Music Score) Jack Dawn - Makeup Harry Stradling - Cinematographer Joe Pasternak - Producer Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer Alfred E. Spencer - Set Designer Warren Newcombe - Special Effects Ivan Tors - Screenwriter Samson Raphaelson - Screenwriter Albert Hackett - Screenwriter Frances Goodrich - Screenwriter Miklos Laszlo - Play Author

In the Good Old Summertime
In the Good Old Summertime is a peppy and unassuming musical whose modest but undeniable charms will be enjoyed most by audiences unfamiliar with the movie (The Shop Around the Corner) upon which it is based. Although it has drastically changed Shop's setting, Summertime does keep a surprising amount of the movie's wonderful dialogue, even as if plays havoc with some of the plot essentials, resulting in a movie that is curiously devoid of all but the smallest dramatic tension. This, of course, places a significant burden on the talents of its cast, and Summertime is quite fortunate here. If Van Johnson cannot equal the work of Jimmy Stewart in Shop, he is still an excellent choice for the musical version. Even better is Judy Garland, who is in superb voice and delivers a knock-out "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey," a lively "I Don't Care" and a touching "Merry Christmas." She's also in peak comedic form, delivering an exceptional performance even when the script falls prey to hokeyness, as it does on occasion. The supporting cast is quite good, even if Buster Keaton is largely wasted, Robert Z. Leonard's direction is fine and the period costumes are quite colorful. If Summertime is not the perfect musicalization of Shop -- that honor belongs to the stage show, She Loves Me -- it is still an enjoyable little romp. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Introduction by Garland biographer John Fricke Vintage Fitzpatrick traveltalks shorts "Chicago the Beautiful" and "Night Life in Chicago" Theatrical trailers of this movie, The Shop Around the Corner, and You've Got Mail DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 103 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Credits [2:32] 2. Sunday [2:54] 3. Postal Encounters [3:44] 4. Honest Opinions [3:34] 5. Any Jobs Today? [3:34] 6. "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland." [4:22] 7. Lady Friends [4:07] 8. Stubborn [3:27] 9. "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey." [3:45] 10. Dreamgirl to Duchess [4:52] 11. Inventory Tonight [4:30] 12. No One Else [1:44] 13. Restaurant Rendezvous [4:20] 14. Scratching the Surface [4:33] 15. No Feeling Feel [3:31] 16. And Baby Makes Three [2:31] 17. A Man Like Him [1:20] 18. Too Much Responsibility [2:32] 19. "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." [4:20] 20. Missing Violin [2:13] 21. "Play That Barber Shop Chord." [2:34] 22. "I Don't Care." [3:57] 23. String Smashup [2:19] 24. Louise's Audition [3:01] 25. Out of a Job [3:31] 26. Promotion and Resignation [4:19] 27. The Best Man Won [4:54] 28. Dear Friends [3:54] 29. Happy Family; Cast List [4:57]