Two new releases from Warner Archive

Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's

Good News

Good News is a lively movie from 1947 starring Peter Lawford and June Allyson. It’s filled with mayhem and music.

The setting is the 1920s on a college campus. Tommy Marlowe (Lawford) is the star football player. He is rich, handsome, and has a good personality. He sets his sights on Pat McClellan (Patricia Marshall) who is only after him for his money. But Connie Lane (Allyson) does not care about his family’s fortune. She has her heart set on Tommy. The problem is, can she make him see her for herself rather than just the French tutor that is helping him pass his class so he will be eligible to play in the big game.

With songs like “The Best Things in Life are Free,” “Good News,” and “Varsity Drag,” the film is filled with music as the collegiate set tackles their studies along with dating and the usual college chaos.

Mel Torme costars and sings along with both Allyson and Lawford. This is a big singing and dancing movie that was the popular genre of the time. And it’s definitely filled with toe-tapping songs.

Peter Lawford once commented years after making this movie that he was terrified of the fast-paced dancing in the film. But nevertheless, he pulled it off without a hitch.The movie was nominated for an Academy for best original song “Pass the Peace Pipe.” June Allyson and Peter Lawford costarred in the 1949 film Little Women and Two Sisters from Boston in 1946.

Room for One More

Room for One More is a fun and sensitive film about a family where everyone has a big heart – of gold. It’s a typical feel good story.

Poppy (Cary Grant) is a hard-working husband and father of three. His wife Anna (Betsy Drake) loves being a mother and has a loving and caring attitude toward everyone and everything. She is constantly bringing in lone animals. First it was a cat, then a stray dog, then a bunny. And when she visited an orphanage, well, you get the picture.

Anna sees the older children who are not being placed in foster care. So she decides her family can take in one more child. This little girl has been abused and is a brat. But little by little, with loving care, Poppy, Anna, and their three children get through to her and she turns from a brat into a loving sister. Then there is the situation with a little boy with braces on his legs. He has never had a normal life. Can this family show him how to be a real part of a loving family? What do you think? This family is amazing and filled with love, heart, hope, patience and care.

The film is fun and the fact that Drake and Grant were married in real life adds a bit of sparkle to their chemistry. When the final scene ends, viewers will undoubtedly have a smile on their face and a warm heart.

Both of these Blu-rays are part of the Warner Archive Collection and can be ordered at their website or wherever Blu-rays are sold.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.