This was an interesting Betty Hutton vehicle since she's not her usual boisterous self here. In fact, while she does a lot of talking, she also does a lot of dreaming as shown in some sequences which have a different tone than the more reality-based ones. While there are some funny lines, I don't find myself guffawing like I usually do when watching other Hutton movies. This plays more like those weepies starring Bette Davis or some of the other popular female drama stars of the time doing movies. Ms. Hutton does a number as a drunk nightclub performer in one dream sequence and possibly lip-syncs as an opera diva in another. In summary, Dream Girl is one of the more fascinating of the Betty Hutton movies.
9 Reviews
Dull And Misdirected
boblipton21 July 2023
Betty Hutton runs a bookstore with no customers and has written a novel which no one will publish. She's enamored of her brother-in-law, Patric Knowles, and very annoyed by know-it-all sports reporter McDonald Carey. She also is prone to go into trances in which she imagines herself doing something great or noble.
It's based on a play by Elmer Rice, but I can't tell if it's a bad play or director Mitchell Leisen was trying to sabotage Miss Hutton's career. Her character is unfocused enough as it is, but she plays it with bad make-up and a flat, nasal voice. It's a character which, in a well-run comedy, would receive a kick in the pants and get on with things. Instead, thanks to a screenplay by Arthur Sheekman, no such thing happens. It just wanders through several scenes in which she and Carey snap at each other, making sure we thoroughly dislike each, hoping they will get together so they can make each other thoroughly miserable.
Miss Hutton was 27 when she made this, pretty far from the young jitterbugger she had portrayed eight years earlier. Apparently the jitterbug had fallen out of favor, and Paramount was trying to make a new star persona for her. With vehicles like this, the public had no interest in cooperating.
It's based on a play by Elmer Rice, but I can't tell if it's a bad play or director Mitchell Leisen was trying to sabotage Miss Hutton's career. Her character is unfocused enough as it is, but she plays it with bad make-up and a flat, nasal voice. It's a character which, in a well-run comedy, would receive a kick in the pants and get on with things. Instead, thanks to a screenplay by Arthur Sheekman, no such thing happens. It just wanders through several scenes in which she and Carey snap at each other, making sure we thoroughly dislike each, hoping they will get together so they can make each other thoroughly miserable.
Miss Hutton was 27 when she made this, pretty far from the young jitterbugger she had portrayed eight years earlier. Apparently the jitterbug had fallen out of favor, and Paramount was trying to make a new star persona for her. With vehicles like this, the public had no interest in cooperating.
"Dreaming is easy.Life is hard"
weezeralfalfa6 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This 1948 B&W romantic comedy was adapted from the play of the same name, written by Elma Rice. See it at YouTube. It's difficult for me to give a rating. Some will like it, while others won't. I'm somewhere in the middle. The central character Betty Hutton plays (Georgina) is so different from her typical film, she was barely recognizable to me. Especially, her halting speech manner is irritating to me. A better title would have been "Girl Dreaming", for it's her propensity to indulge excessively in daydreaming that is the central problem to be solved. She seems perpetually unsure of herself, immersed in writing a novel about a family she considers ideal. We are treated to 6 of her daydreams, 4 of which are positive experiences for her, while 2 are like nightmares.
Betty has a crush on Jim Lucas(Patric Knowles), who is about to marry her sister Miriam (Virginia Field). During the wedding, she daydreams that, at the alter, Jim suddenly says no, and after consultation with Betty, she replaces her sister as the bride.
Her next daydream relates to the provision in her uncle's will that she and Mariam will inherit some oil wells after their mother dies. Her sister suggests that could be many years from now. She daydreams her mother suddenly dies, making her wealthy. She says now she can give most of her money to the needy.
During this time and afterward, a man called Clark Redfield keeps bugging her, showing up unexpectedly or calling her on the phone, often making insulting remarks about her or her recent first novel. Also, someone arranged a date for her with a George Hand, who asks her to go with him on a Mexico trip. Clark claims that he is married. She has a daydream that she is met in Mexico by Hand's wife, who points her pistol at Betty. She struggles with the gun, which fires, killing the wife. This is followed by a daydream that she has fled to a tropical island, where she is a low class entertainer in a honkytonk. She takes poison and dies.
Jim and Miriam are divorcing, since Jim made a big mistake at his job of reviewing book manuscripts. Jim asks Betty if she will go with him to Reno to get a divorce, and suggests they might marry and live on a ranch in the West. This sounds romantic to Betty. She daydreams she has married Jim and has just given birth. She doesn't consider that Jim has no experience living on a farm or ranch.
Betty is conflicted whether to go with Jim to Reno , or go on a date with the persistent Clark to dinner, followed by a production of "Madame Butterfly". She decides to try to do both, since Jim's plane leaves very late in the evening. During dinner, Clark continues to make critical remarks relating to Betty, especially her lack of experience in real life, without her parent's support. Nonetheless, Betty is beginning to show some positive interest in him. While at the opera, Betty daydreams that the lead female is suddenly taken sick. The director chooses her to take her place. She does a very impressive job singing Cho-Cho-San, showing that she can be successful at something.(I suspect someone dubbed Betty on this one, if indeed it was Betty on stage.) Afterward, Clark quips "Dreaming is easy. Life is hard", referring to her relative lack of real life experiences. He talks about himself, and Betty is impressed. He works as a newspaper sports columnist. He asks again if she wants to take a taxi to the airport to hopefully go with Jim. She says yes.(Sort of like the "Casablanca" situation.) I will stop here and let you see the film to find out the finale.
Why did Clark, coming out of nowhere, decide to start chasing Betty, but usually belittle her? The standard Hollywood formula for the romantic aspects of a film was for the girl to hate the boy initially, then, gradually or suddenly at the end, change her mind, for various reasons. However, Clark is an extreme case of this formula. Realistically, it's hard to believe that Betty would put up with Clark's constant stalking(by foot and phone)and criticisms to get to the point where they have an evening date. She finally came to see that
his criticisms were often valid. On the other hand, Jim had failed at his job, and had no clear prospects for the future, offering a pipe dream that probably wouldn't turn out. Clark, on the other hand, had a steady job as a newspaper sports critic.
Patric Knowles' speech sounded just like that of Errol Flynn. In fact, he costarred in several Flynn movies, serving as Will Scarlet, in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", for example. Virginia Field played sister Miriam. Walter Able played the father, while Peggy Wood played the mother. Peggy also would play the mother in the TV series "I Remember Mama" running from 1949-57....Zamah Cunningham played Betty's music teacher, whom several reviewers found amusing.
Betty has a crush on Jim Lucas(Patric Knowles), who is about to marry her sister Miriam (Virginia Field). During the wedding, she daydreams that, at the alter, Jim suddenly says no, and after consultation with Betty, she replaces her sister as the bride.
Her next daydream relates to the provision in her uncle's will that she and Mariam will inherit some oil wells after their mother dies. Her sister suggests that could be many years from now. She daydreams her mother suddenly dies, making her wealthy. She says now she can give most of her money to the needy.
During this time and afterward, a man called Clark Redfield keeps bugging her, showing up unexpectedly or calling her on the phone, often making insulting remarks about her or her recent first novel. Also, someone arranged a date for her with a George Hand, who asks her to go with him on a Mexico trip. Clark claims that he is married. She has a daydream that she is met in Mexico by Hand's wife, who points her pistol at Betty. She struggles with the gun, which fires, killing the wife. This is followed by a daydream that she has fled to a tropical island, where she is a low class entertainer in a honkytonk. She takes poison and dies.
Jim and Miriam are divorcing, since Jim made a big mistake at his job of reviewing book manuscripts. Jim asks Betty if she will go with him to Reno to get a divorce, and suggests they might marry and live on a ranch in the West. This sounds romantic to Betty. She daydreams she has married Jim and has just given birth. She doesn't consider that Jim has no experience living on a farm or ranch.
Betty is conflicted whether to go with Jim to Reno , or go on a date with the persistent Clark to dinner, followed by a production of "Madame Butterfly". She decides to try to do both, since Jim's plane leaves very late in the evening. During dinner, Clark continues to make critical remarks relating to Betty, especially her lack of experience in real life, without her parent's support. Nonetheless, Betty is beginning to show some positive interest in him. While at the opera, Betty daydreams that the lead female is suddenly taken sick. The director chooses her to take her place. She does a very impressive job singing Cho-Cho-San, showing that she can be successful at something.(I suspect someone dubbed Betty on this one, if indeed it was Betty on stage.) Afterward, Clark quips "Dreaming is easy. Life is hard", referring to her relative lack of real life experiences. He talks about himself, and Betty is impressed. He works as a newspaper sports columnist. He asks again if she wants to take a taxi to the airport to hopefully go with Jim. She says yes.(Sort of like the "Casablanca" situation.) I will stop here and let you see the film to find out the finale.
Why did Clark, coming out of nowhere, decide to start chasing Betty, but usually belittle her? The standard Hollywood formula for the romantic aspects of a film was for the girl to hate the boy initially, then, gradually or suddenly at the end, change her mind, for various reasons. However, Clark is an extreme case of this formula. Realistically, it's hard to believe that Betty would put up with Clark's constant stalking(by foot and phone)and criticisms to get to the point where they have an evening date. She finally came to see that
his criticisms were often valid. On the other hand, Jim had failed at his job, and had no clear prospects for the future, offering a pipe dream that probably wouldn't turn out. Clark, on the other hand, had a steady job as a newspaper sports critic.
Patric Knowles' speech sounded just like that of Errol Flynn. In fact, he costarred in several Flynn movies, serving as Will Scarlet, in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", for example. Virginia Field played sister Miriam. Walter Able played the father, while Peggy Wood played the mother. Peggy also would play the mother in the TV series "I Remember Mama" running from 1949-57....Zamah Cunningham played Betty's music teacher, whom several reviewers found amusing.
Zamah Cunningham Steals the Show
drednm11 May 2007
Surprisingly funny little comedy about a day-dreaming young woman who meets her match in a tough sports writer. Based on a hit play by Elmer Rice.
Betty Hutton stars as the dreamer, a woman who walks through life and dreams about "something happening." Then boorish Macdonald Carey arrives for her sister's wedding and he spends the rest of the film trying to get her to live her own life. The "Walter Mitty" stuff is kept to a minimum. and the plot drags in a few places, but the actors are excellent and the one-liners are very funny.
Zamah Cunningham is a total delight as the music teacher, stealing the long scene with her spastic movements and great voice.. Patric Knowles is the brother-in-law, Walter Abel and Peggy Wood are the parents. Virginia Field is the sister. Carolyn Butler is Claire. And Lowell Gilmore is the roue.
Hutton is low-keyed and still very funny. She plays a saloon singer in one dream and sings "Madame Butterfly" in another. As usual, Hutton is excellent. And this is one of the few films I've liked Macdonald Carey in. A must for Betty Hutton fans.
Betty Hutton stars as the dreamer, a woman who walks through life and dreams about "something happening." Then boorish Macdonald Carey arrives for her sister's wedding and he spends the rest of the film trying to get her to live her own life. The "Walter Mitty" stuff is kept to a minimum. and the plot drags in a few places, but the actors are excellent and the one-liners are very funny.
Zamah Cunningham is a total delight as the music teacher, stealing the long scene with her spastic movements and great voice.. Patric Knowles is the brother-in-law, Walter Abel and Peggy Wood are the parents. Virginia Field is the sister. Carolyn Butler is Claire. And Lowell Gilmore is the roue.
Hutton is low-keyed and still very funny. She plays a saloon singer in one dream and sings "Madame Butterfly" in another. As usual, Hutton is excellent. And this is one of the few films I've liked Macdonald Carey in. A must for Betty Hutton fans.
Hutton is irritating
AAdaSC4 November 2010
This story is boring. Georgina (Betty Hutton) keeps day-dreaming. The only cast members that are any good are Virginia Field who plays Hutton's sister and Walter Abel who plays her father. Abel delivers his lines comically and is at the opposite end of the acting spectrum to Hutton who drifts through the film in an annoying manner. Her speech pattern is very whiny and irritating. She has a couple of funny moments but it's just not good enough considering she is on screen for so long. There is an interesting section with a singing teacher that provides some top tips for those of you who want to learn to sing. I remembered a few of them from my days as a choir boy! Unfortunately, I can't say anything better than this film is dull.
Hutton is more enjoyable in this restrained performance.
planktonrules9 January 2019
Betty Hutton is an unusual actress of the 1940s and 50s. Unlike a typical actress, her roles were usually louder, brasher and more energetic than the rest. In general, I don't like these performances and prefer a bit more subtlety...however, I must admit that she is quite good in "Dream Girl" because she is more restrained and likable.
The story begins with Georgina (Hutton) going to her sister's wedding. However, throughout the story you can hear Georgina's thoughts...and you soon learn that she wishes she was marrying her soon to be brother-in-law! At this wedding is an unusual and somewhat annoying guest...a reporter named Clark Redfield (Macdonald Carey). Upset at NOT being the bride, Georgina seems to take it out on Clark...and he dishes it back just as quickly. Can these two mismatched folks manage to somehow fall in love by the end of the picture?!
While I would not want many more films in the style of "Dream Girl", it is a nice change of pace and is a nice time-passer. A bit predictable but also clever and sweet at times.
By the way, I know Hutton could sing. But does anyone know if this was actually her singing the aria from "Madame Butterfly" near the end of the film? If it was, she was incredible!
The story begins with Georgina (Hutton) going to her sister's wedding. However, throughout the story you can hear Georgina's thoughts...and you soon learn that she wishes she was marrying her soon to be brother-in-law! At this wedding is an unusual and somewhat annoying guest...a reporter named Clark Redfield (Macdonald Carey). Upset at NOT being the bride, Georgina seems to take it out on Clark...and he dishes it back just as quickly. Can these two mismatched folks manage to somehow fall in love by the end of the picture?!
While I would not want many more films in the style of "Dream Girl", it is a nice change of pace and is a nice time-passer. A bit predictable but also clever and sweet at times.
By the way, I know Hutton could sing. But does anyone know if this was actually her singing the aria from "Madame Butterfly" near the end of the film? If it was, she was incredible!
Elmer Rice play a "lost" vehicle for Betty Hutton.
elfersj3 November 2005
A Betty Hutton fan for virtually her entire career, I haven't seen this since it was first issued & wonder why it's been neglected. Granted, she didn't sing much (if at all), but it's an interesting vehicle for her comic talents. She plays a female Walter Mitty who imagines herself in numerous extreme situations. I can remember only Sadie Thompson in a seedy South Sea saloon, & Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly, lip-synching someone else's rendition of "Un Bel Di."
Hutton's best work, both musically & dramatically, has also been neglected by VHS & DVD. Somebody Loves Me, based on the lives of vaudevillians Blossom Seeley & her husband, played by Ralph Meeker. Billie Byrd also had a choice wise-cracking role.
Hutton's best work, both musically & dramatically, has also been neglected by VHS & DVD. Somebody Loves Me, based on the lives of vaudevillians Blossom Seeley & her husband, played by Ralph Meeker. Billie Byrd also had a choice wise-cracking role.
Hybrid Play
bkoganbing22 January 2021
The author of Street Scene Elmer Rice wrote Dream Girl and it ran for 348 performances on Broadway during the 1945-46 season. On stage the stars were
Betty Field and Wendell Corey. It must have had something a bit more going for it than this film version.
It has Betty Hutton and maybe had Preston Sturges still been with Paramount he might have done something more. Dream Girl seems like a hybrid workm part Walter Mitty, part Strange Interlude and a bit of Lady In The Dark thrown in for good measure,
Betty's part is that of a dreamy girl who is constantly giving way to imagining fantasies, especially about the men in her life and more not those. She's got a thing for Patric Knowles who is married to her sister Virginia Field, but there's a lot less to Knowles than meets the eye.
The one to set here on a path of reality is Macdonald Carey a cynical newspaperman (is there another kind in movies). But he has his work cut out for him.
Dream Girl is passably good and it could have doe more for Hutton's career. But I don't think she was properly directed.
It has Betty Hutton and maybe had Preston Sturges still been with Paramount he might have done something more. Dream Girl seems like a hybrid workm part Walter Mitty, part Strange Interlude and a bit of Lady In The Dark thrown in for good measure,
Betty's part is that of a dreamy girl who is constantly giving way to imagining fantasies, especially about the men in her life and more not those. She's got a thing for Patric Knowles who is married to her sister Virginia Field, but there's a lot less to Knowles than meets the eye.
The one to set here on a path of reality is Macdonald Carey a cynical newspaperman (is there another kind in movies). But he has his work cut out for him.
Dream Girl is passably good and it could have doe more for Hutton's career. But I don't think she was properly directed.
Day dreaming or drama queening?
mark.waltz29 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
There's no doubt in my mind that in real life, the undeniably talented Betty Hutton was one big drama queen, combining her obsession with entertaining with an emotional need that her chosen profession couldn't fulfill. She is starring here in the film version of a play that probably couldn't be properly filmed, and it's a brave ambition to try to do justice to it. In her career, Hutton would play real life entertainers Texas Guinan, Pearl White, Annie Oakley and Blossom Seeley, basically utilizing aspects of her own personality yet coming off unscathed. She's basically repeating the failure that Ginger Rogers had in the ahead of its time musical "Lady in the Dark" where the inner workings of a troubled woman take center stage and come off too complex for simple entertainment seeking audiences.
This film has the misfortune of not even giving the audience a chance to get to know the leading heroine before dragging them into a high speed chase through Hutton's psyche. It would certainly take a diagram with charts and road maps to explain all the splits in Hutton's character's personalities. The photography for Hutton (as well as her outfits and hairstyles) isn't very flattering either. Confused Hutton bounces back and forth between MacDonald Carey as an aggressive sports columnist and Patric Knowles as her brother in law like a flea in a circus. The cast, under the direction of Mitchell Leissen, overplays every line, with Walter Abel and Peggy Wood braying each word as her parents. She tries desperately to flow easily from one fantasy to another, but the invisible barricades. This isn't really a story, but a psychological diary that should not only be under lock and key but cemented up behind the strongest bricks and mortar. If her bizarre psychosis doesn't disturb you, try out her dream of trying to emulate both Mae West and Dietrich, but sounding like a singing combination of Ethel Merman and Margaret Hamilton.
Then comes her attempt to play Madame Butterfly in full makeup where she looks more like Madame Gin Sling from Joseph Von Sternherg's "The Shanghai Gesture". Hutton spends the entire film talking through her nose, reminding me of the irritating Gloria Upson in "Auntie Mame", hysterical for a supporting role bit aggravating in the lead. She's ripe for a mental institution here, as is Carey for trying to get her to see reality so he can marry her. After this, Hutton returned to the tried and true formulas that had made her a unique personality, one that people either lived or avoided. In retrospect, "Dream Girl" wasn't even a stage success for Lucille Ball on tour, and if Hutton saw it and tried to pick up tips, she came off more as a burlesque on Joan Davis than taking the character she was playing seriously.
This film has the misfortune of not even giving the audience a chance to get to know the leading heroine before dragging them into a high speed chase through Hutton's psyche. It would certainly take a diagram with charts and road maps to explain all the splits in Hutton's character's personalities. The photography for Hutton (as well as her outfits and hairstyles) isn't very flattering either. Confused Hutton bounces back and forth between MacDonald Carey as an aggressive sports columnist and Patric Knowles as her brother in law like a flea in a circus. The cast, under the direction of Mitchell Leissen, overplays every line, with Walter Abel and Peggy Wood braying each word as her parents. She tries desperately to flow easily from one fantasy to another, but the invisible barricades. This isn't really a story, but a psychological diary that should not only be under lock and key but cemented up behind the strongest bricks and mortar. If her bizarre psychosis doesn't disturb you, try out her dream of trying to emulate both Mae West and Dietrich, but sounding like a singing combination of Ethel Merman and Margaret Hamilton.
Then comes her attempt to play Madame Butterfly in full makeup where she looks more like Madame Gin Sling from Joseph Von Sternherg's "The Shanghai Gesture". Hutton spends the entire film talking through her nose, reminding me of the irritating Gloria Upson in "Auntie Mame", hysterical for a supporting role bit aggravating in the lead. She's ripe for a mental institution here, as is Carey for trying to get her to see reality so he can marry her. After this, Hutton returned to the tried and true formulas that had made her a unique personality, one that people either lived or avoided. In retrospect, "Dream Girl" wasn't even a stage success for Lucille Ball on tour, and if Hutton saw it and tried to pick up tips, she came off more as a burlesque on Joan Davis than taking the character she was playing seriously.
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