Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

H.C. Potter

Writers:

Eric Hodgins (novel)
Norman Panama (written by) ...

Release Date:

4 June 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

A man and his wife decide they can afford to have a house in the country built to their specifications. It's a lot more trouble than they think.

Plot Keywords:

House | Apartment | Engineer | Advertising | Connecticut

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Jim Blandings
Myrna Loy	...	Muriel Blandings
Melvyn Douglas	...	Bill Cole
Reginald Denny	...	Henry L. Simms
Sharyn Moffett	...	Joan Blandings
Connie Marshall	...	Betsy Blandings
Louise Beavers	...	Gussie
Ian Wolfe	...	Smith - a real estate agent
Harry Shannon	...	W. D. Tesander
Tito Vuolo	...	Mr. Zucca - the steam shovel operator
Nestor Paiva	...	Joe Appollonio
Jason Robards Sr.	...	John W. Retch (as Jason Robards)
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mary
Lex Barker	...	Carpenter Foreman
Emory Parnell	...	Mr. PeDelford

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | West Germany:12 | France:U | Finland:S | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #12766) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Administration Building, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Many critics in 1948 felt that Cary Grant and Myrna Loy were too old to play the naive young couple who don't know about building a house.

Quotes:

Muriel Blandings: You remember Bunny Funkhouser, dear, that clever young interior decorator that we met at the Collins' cocktail party.
Jim Blandings: You mean that young man with the open-toed sandals? What about him?
Muriel Blandings: Well, you know how long we've said we've got to do something about fixing up this apartment. Well, a couple of weeks ago, he called, and I asked him to come over, and he had some simply wonderful ideas, and I didn't want to bother you with sketches and estimates until I knew whether we could afford it. So I sent them over to Bill.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)

Cary Grant at his best

This film is a fantastic showcase for Grant's bewildered man of America, and he always did that so well. The Blandings, a 'typical New York family, on about 15,000 a year', decide to leave their four room apartment in the city and buy a 'dream house' in rural Connecticut.

Of course, this being a comedy, you know it won't go smoothly (you get a good clue as well from Melvyn Douglas' laconic narration here and there, as the Blandings' long-suffering lawyer, and Mrs B's high school sweetheart). First the picturesque little home is a wreck, then they start to plan a substitute (the scene where Mr and Mrs B plan what rooms their new house will have is classic), then everything that can go wrong goes wrong ... on top of this, Grant's harrassed advertising executive has to find a slogan for the bete noire of his company, Wham! ham.

My particular favourite scenes involve Myrna Loy, perfect as Mrs B, instructing which colours of paint each room will have; and a little room at the top of the house which regularly traps Grant inside. A highly recommended RKO goodie, this film. Hugely enjoyable.