Posted by 
The Warner Archive has made no official announcement, but Amazon now has a listing for the Archive’s new Blu-ray edition of In The Good Old Summertime. CLICK HERE to order.
It had previously been mentioned that the film would get a new HD remastering and transfer, and a premiere Blu-ray release at some time in 2021. Most fans assumed it would be around the Christmas season, so this August date is good news!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on In The Good Old Summertime here.
POST RELEASE UPDATE: Unfortunately, this release is a letdown. After the recent stellar releases of 3-strip Technicolor films from the same era, the Archive has spoiled us. Allegedly the original 3-strip negatives for one or two of the reels for Summertime are missing. This is apparent in certain sections of the film. It’s much more clear than the DVD release, but still has a kind of flat look with little to zero film grain whereas some reels, especially from just before the party sequence (“I Don’t Care”) to the end of the film, look great. It’s similar to the more flat restorations of the late 1980s and 1990s. The audio is also muffled in parts, possibly due to that print quality. These are most likely the reasons why the Warner Archive didn’t promote this as a 1080p high def transfer with restored audio.
The BIGGEST disappointment is the inexplicable omission of the outtake song “Last Night When We Were Young.” No reason for the omission has been given. The footage and audio exist and have been included as an extra on the That’s Entertainment! series releases. Fans had hoped that the short dialog sequence just before Judy begins the song, featured on the laserdisc but not elsewhere, would also be included. Instead, none of it is included. Only two FitzPatrick Traveltalks shorts (Chicago the Beautiful & Night LIfe in Chicago) and the theatrical trailer are included as extras. To top it off, the images on the back cover art are horrendous as if the only screenshots they had available were from super8 prints from the 1960s.
All that being said, it is still a big improvement over the DVD releases and worth the upgrade. The lower quality reels are still better than the previous DVDs and while the omission of one of the few Garland outtakes (a classic one at that) that have survived in both film and audio form is unforgivable, it’s nice to have an enjoyable upgraded print of the film, one of Judy’s best.
Thanks for all you do here! Appreciated.
You’re welcome! 🙂
Thank you for the breaking news! Absolutely, I’ll be checking back daily for a pre-order link.
Scott, we love you!
I love you all, too! 🙂
Thanks, Scott! Will be saving this for Christmas time viewing! Let’s hope “For Me and My Gal” and “The Clock” can’t be far off!
Fab news.. now Presenting Lilly Mars and Me and My Gal please Warner!!
You’ve got to love the racy promotional artwork for “In the Good Old Summertime” that had absolutely nothing to do with the film. It hope Judy got a look at the poster showing her with ecstatic expression and more side-boob than arch-rival Lana Turner ever had. She would have burst into laughter: “Take THAT, Lana!”
I finally received my copy of “Summertime” yesterday, after a delayed, two-month wait for delivery! (Don’t ask). After reading raves from respected Blu Ray reviewers, I, too, was shocked at how bland the transfer is. And the sound is unremarkable at best!
What’s curious here is how much better “Girl Crazy” looks and sounds, and they had NO original negative to work with. Perhaps using SOME of the original negative is worse because it only hilights the scenes where the negative was unavailable (“Put Your Arms Around Me”, for instance, looks no different than that of the DVD). Too bad.
I’ve viewed “Summertime” several times now, and once my initial shock wore off I shifted into gratitude that the film was at least upgraded. Scott, you are spot on about “I Don’t Care” – it seems it’s literally as Judy begins this number that the visual is right from the negative from this point onward. And the Christmas scenes in the shop afterward look stunning.
In the end, Warner’s did the best they could with what they had. But an upgrade in sound, and yes, the deleted “Last Night When We Were Young” would’ve been nice.
Too bad every warner release from this era can’t look as great as “Good News” or “The Pirate.”