In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
NETFLIX SYNOPSIS: MGM musical mainstays Judy Garland and Van Johnson star in a tuneful remake of The Shop Around the Corner, about two pen pals who fall in love without realizing they work together in the same shop … and don’t like each other much! Set in turn-of-the-century Chicago, the movie features the film “debut” of 2-year-old Liza Minnelli (glimpsed in the last scene cradled in her mother’s — Judy’s — arms).
REVIEW: Even without ruby slippers it turns out that Judy Garland can carry a tune; and she can dance OK without a scarecrow and a tin man on each arm. This remake of The Shop Around the Corner also features Van Johnson channeling Jimmy Stewart and a supporting turn from silent film comic Buster Keaton. It’s not really a musical per se; it’s more of a rom-com with a few musical numbers to pad the run time, kind of like Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer. But if you ask me, the producers missed the boat by not having a tornado come along and sweep everyone off to Oz.
4 stars
Ashley
