Throwback Movie Night: Good News

Tonight's throwback movie is "Good News", a 1947 musical starring Peter Lawford, June Allyson and Patricia Marshall as college students at Tait College. June Allyson plays Connie Lane, a librarian (Yes!!) who ends up falling for Tommy Marlowe, the star quarterback of the football team (played by Peter Lawford, of course).  There's some catchy tunes and a typical 'let's learn the newest fashionable dance!' sort of song.


The setting is the 1920s and the writers tried to stuff some 1920s jargon into the script. Unfortunately, the costume department wasn't told that the setting was supposed to be the 1920s, so the entire cast is dressed in 1950s-era clothing but speaking like they were 30 years older than they are supposed to be (ah, movie magic?). Still, I really like it. Probably because it's got a librarian as a main character. Connie Lane is a no-nonsense, uber-responsible sort of person who manages to work in the library, help out as a French tutor, be head of her sorority and, presumably still go to classes...  Tommy Marlowe is the big man on campus who swears he can get any girl he wants and doesn't even have to try. He's also a fast learner, and so he has all the time in the world to date because he picks up on his coursework so quickly. Connie teaches him to speak French in under five minutes while she's shelving some books. Aw.

The wrinkle in the entire thing is Pat McClellan (played by Patricia Marshall), who is fresh out of finishing school and is a hardcore gold digger. After some of the girls lead her to believe that Tommy Marlowe is an heir to the largest pickle-producing business in the world. Pat puts all her effort into landing Tommy, and they are all set to announce their engagement but Tommy's grades start to slip and he (gasp!) fails French! The star quarterback can't play in the biggest game of the season if he flunks a class, so the entire school begs Connie to tutor Tommy and let him re-take the test. Over the next ten minutes, Tommy realizes he doesn't really love Pat-the-gold-digger, he loves Connie-the-librarian, so he purposely flunks the test again. But, in a dramatic moment, Connie lets her school spirit run away with her and passes him, so he can play in the big game. Still, she devises a plan to get Tommy back and ta-da! Happiness abounds at Tait College.

As is only fitting for a musical, it all ends with a big dance number. Somehow the big man on campus is completely unaware of the newest dance craze to hit Tait College, known as the "Varsity Drag". But, never fear! The librarian is here and nobody knows the "Varsity Drag" better than the librarian!: