In what is essentially a musical remake of Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime tells the tale of pen-pals who are in love but are working together in the same retail store where they loathe each other. The picture would later be remade again in the film You’ve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks substituting letters in the mail for emails, to keep up with the times!
Taking please in turn-of-the century America, Andrew Larkin (Van Johnson,23 Paces to Baker Street) and Veronica Fisher (Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz) are co-workers in a music shop who dislike one another during business hours but unbeknownst to them, are carrying a romance through the mail. Add some great musical numbers and that’s the whole story.
In the Good Old Summertime has a great cast outside of Judy Garland and Van Johnson. Silent comedy legend Buster Keaton (The General) has a small role Hickey. Veteran actor S. Z. Sakall (Casablanca) is the shop owner while future mega-star Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland’s daughter has an uncredited role as the daughter of Larkin and Fisher in the films’ finale.
Warner Archive debuts In the Good Old Summertime on Blu-ray. Overall, the technicolor film is clean and with rich colors, especially reds, such as the scene with Judy Garland putting on lipstick. While other colors also are bold, the reds particularly stand out here. Interior and exterior shots are also detailed, with film grain abound. Black levels are deep and flesh tones are accurate.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 is a bit of a let-down as much of the dialog is difficult to hear and had to adjust the volume quite a bit to hear the spoken words. The song and dance numbers do not suffer the same fate luckily and sound terrific.
The supplemental materials are from the 2004 DVD release which includes the Introduction by Judy Garland Biographer John Fricke.
James Fitzpatrick MGM Traveltalks – these are documentaries that take a closer look at Chicago, where In the Good Old Summertime takes place. The shorts are entitled Chicago, the Beautiful and Night Life in Chicago.
There is the song selection supplement and a theatrical trailer which round out the extras.
In the Good Old Summertime is every bit as enjoyable as its predecessor with sound wonderful musical numbers thrown into the mix. Despite the audio not being up to Warner Archive’s usual quality, the release is the best the film has ever looked, and the extras have been ported over, making this a recommended release!
In the Good Old Summertime
Director- Robert Leonard
Cast- Judy Garland, Van Johnson
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive / Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 10/12/91