Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
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 is a 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 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 (running one hour), and with Grant's actual wife Betsy Drake playing Muriel in the June 9, 1950 broadcast on NBC's Screen Director's Playhouse (a 1/2 hour version).

Contents

[edit] Promotion

As a promotion for the film, 73 full replicas of the house were built around the US to be raffled off or sold. Locations where the replicas were built include Bakersfield, California, Worcester, Massachusetts, East Natick, New Jersey, Portland, Oregon, and Ottawa Hills, Ohio. Thousands lined up in front of the house in Ottawa Hills, paying admission to the opening of the house. [1]

[edit] Plot

Jim Blandings (Cary Grant), a bright account executive in the advertising business, lives with his wife Muriel (Myrna Loy) and two daughters in a cramped New York apartment. Suffering from lack of space, Mrs. Blandings secretly plans to remodel their apartment. After putting an end to that idea, Mr. Blandings comes across an ad for new homes in Connecticut. At first planning to purchase and "fix up" an existing home, they contact a real estate agent who decides they are just the sort of suckers he needs to unload "The Old Hackett Place" in fictional Lansdale County Connecticut. He purchases the property for much more than the usual going rate for land in the area - against the recommendations of his friend/lawyer Bill Cole (who can be heard doing occasional narration).

The old house, dating from the Revolutionary War-era, turns out to be structurally unsound and has to be replaced. They hire Mr. Simms (Reginald Denny) the architect to design and supervise the construction of the new home.

From the purchase to the house's completion troubles beset the Blandings:

  • After purchasing the property the Blandings' then decide to have the house examined by an engineer, who tells them it is worthless and needs to be demolished. In fact, a series of inspectors all say "Tear it down!"
  • The Blandings' demolish the old house without consent from the previous owner/mortgage holder (Hackett)... who wants full payment.
  • Jim finds he must go to bed hours earlier than he normally would so he can get up extra early at 5:00 A.M., to catch the only morning train out to New York... which means he will arrive at his office before it even opens.
  • The well being drilled by Mr. Tesander is going deeper and deeper looking for water, while just days later the contractors have to plug a bubbling spring they accidentally open while digging the basement for the house, making the earlier drilling a costly waste of time.
  • No windows are installed and the floors are freshly varnished the day they move in.

On top of all these problems, at work Jim is assigned the task of coming up with a slogan for a canned pork product named "WHAM" (doubtless based on the real-life product Spam), an advertising account that has destroyed the careers of previous account executives assigned to it, much as the account is threatening to destroy Jim's career. He also suspects that Muriel is cheating on him with Bill Cole, who due to a violent thunderstorm one night had to stay over at the Blandings house with Muriel the only other one there.

With the mounting pressure, the sky rocketing expenses and his new assignment Jim Blandings starts to wonder why he ever wanted to live in the country.

The actual house built by Hodgins still stands in the Merryall area of the Litchfield County town of New Milford, Connecticut. It recently sold in August of 2004 for $1.2 million.

[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

[edit] References

  1. ^ toledoblade.com - A home made famous in the 1948 mega-hit ‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House’ is in Ottawa Hills

[edit] External links