Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
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| Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | H.C. Potter |
| Produced by | Melvin Frank Norman Panama |
| Written by | Eric Hodgins (novel) Melvin Frank Norman Panama (screenplay) |
| Starring | Cary Grant Myrna Loy |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Editing by | Harry Marker |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 4, 1948 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
- This article is about the 1948 film. For the 1946 novel, see Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (novel).
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House 1948 American comedy film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The film was written and produced by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama and was an adaptation of Eric Hodgins' popular 1946 novel, illustrated by William Steig.
The film was a box office hit upon its release, and has remained a popular film through cable television broadcasts and the home video market. Warner Home Video released the film to DVD with restored and remastered audio and video in 2004, following a campaign to get it released to the medium. Featuring a plot that can be easily identified with, the film has spawned a number of remakes/semi-remakes, including the 1986 Tom Hanks vehicle The Money Pit, 1993's The Dream House, and 2007's Are We Done Yet?.
The DVD release of the film includes in the disc's special features, two 1/2 hour radio performances, both with Cary Grant reprising the title role, and with Irene Dunne as Muriel in the October 10, 1949 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast on CBS, and with Grant's actual wife Betsy Drake playing Muriel in the June 9, 1950 broadcast on NBC's Screen Director's Playhouse.
[edit] Plot
Jim Blandings (Cary Grant) is a well-to-do advertising executive, who lives with his wife Muriel (Myrna Loy) and two daughters in a cramped New York apartment. They consider remodeling somebody else's property, but then decide to buy a picturesque house in rural, fictional, Lansdale County Connecticut -- a short train commute from his office.
Everything goes wrong. Blandings pays too much, knocks down the decrepit house on which the former owner holds a mortgage, finds the trains don't run on his schedule, watches helplessly as the well-digger goes deeper and deeper looking for water, and so forth. Blandings is further flustered when he learns that Blandings' good friend and lawyer, Bill Cole (Melvyn Douglas), had spent a night in the house alone with his wife. The tribulations are almost too much for Blandings, who considers, after the house is built and occupied, dumping it on the market and seeking shelter elsewhere.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Cary Grant | Jim Blandings |
| Myrna Loy | Muriel Blandings |
| Melvyn Douglas | Bill Cole |
| Louise Beavers | Gussie |
| Reginald Denny | Henry Simms |
| Jason Robards, Sr. | John Retch |
| Lex Barker | Carpenter Foreman |
| Connie Marshall | Betsy Blandings |
| Sharyn Moffett | Joan Blandings |
| Ian Wolfe | Real Estate Agent Smith |
| Nestor Paiva | Joe Appolonio |
| Harry Shannon | W.D. Tesander |
| Tito Vuolo | Mr. Zucca |
