Dream Wife (1953)

Director:

Sidney Sheldon

Writers:

Sidney Sheldon (writer) and
Herbert Baker (writer) ...

Release Date:

19 June 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

M-G-M's HILARIOUS HIT! (original print ad - mostly caps)

Plot:

Clemson Reade, a business tycoon with marriage on his mind, and Effie, a U.S. diplomat, are a modern couple...

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Diplomat | Marriage | Royalty | Diplomacy

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Clemson Reade
Deborah Kerr	...	Effie
Walter Pidgeon	...	Walter McBride
Betta St. John	...	Tarji
Eduard Franz	...	Khan
Buddy Baer	...	Vizier
Les Tremayne	...	Ken Landwell
Donald Randolph	...	Ali
Bruce Bennett	...	Charlie Elkwood
Richard Anderson	...	Henry Malvine
Dan Tobin	...	Mr. Brown
Movita	...	Rima
Gloria Holden	...	Mrs. Landwell
June Clayworth	...	Mrs. Elkwood
Dean Miller	...	George

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #16307)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening sequence, from shot to shot, there is complete lack of consistency as to which leg Cary Grant has crossed over the other.

Quotes:

Clemson Reade: [as they walk toward the altar for their wedding] What can you expect from a woman? You're weak, helpless, and nothing but trouble. And that goes for all of you. Harriet Beecher Stowe. She wrote about slaves, didn't she? Well, it sure takes one to know one.
Tarji: She great woman. She write Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Clemson Reade: Susan B. Anthony...
Tarji: Susan B. Anthony fight for woman's vote. And that not all. Carry Country...
Clemson Reade: Carry Nation!
Tarji: Carry Nation.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What's My Line?: (1953-08-09)" (1953)

Soundtrack:

Ghi Ti, Ghi Ti, Ghi Ti

How Many Fantasies?

In designing a life, perhaps the first decision is how many fantasy worlds you wish to maintain. Nearly everyone has several that are robust. This is made possible because of the powerful support movies provide so we can generate and maintain fantasies with some external apparatus.

We now have ready support in film for several types of fantasy worlds, concerning God, country and love of course. Identity if you are a teenager.

Love is a difficult one to understand because either it doesn't connect (because it is of a world we have chosen to exclude) or it does, in which case our objectivity gets entangled. What's really good is when you have a romantic film that directly supports this need and utterly fails.

This is one of those. Cary Grant in an ill-fitting suit. Deborah Kerr with amazingly fat thighs. A concept and script so incompetent one wonders just what they were thinking.

The guy behind this later found the groove in this formula with the "I Dream of Jeannie" TeeVee show. There, he softened things: made the "hard woman" softer and the "soft" woman so soft she wasn't even a real woman.

So this is interesting from that perspective. Bad films tell you more about the good ones than the good ones themselves do.

But there is another feature of this that seems fantastic these days. Along with the romance element, they bonded it with what was then seen as the exotic flavor of Arabia. There is a subplot concerning America's desperate need for oil (more than 50 years ago!) but the main exoticism is the contrast between Islam and US culture. Islam's quirks are seen as comic and innocently charming.

I had wondered elsewhere when we would again see Arab women in films as sexy beings. Didn't even happen here. Probably won't happen in my lifetime.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.