Customer Reviews

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Yeeup! As Mr. Tersander would say. This is one of my favorite films. While not exactly bust-a-gut funny, it is warmly amusing throughout with a couple of classic lines & scenes (the perplexing storeroom, the "letch", the well, the all-night Wam session etc.), played to perfection with ease and charm (my God those are lost arts, aren't they?) by a cast of pros who are immediately likeable and comfortable to be around.

The story of a New York adman building his dream house in Connecticut being snookered by the "hicks" and then the series of disasters and cost overruns that befall him, the film is played with just the right tone, light and with great good humor, from the falling lintels to the Zuzz-Zuzz water softener.

Some may question the 5 stars, and although it may not be a great movie, I give it all 5 because Grant, Loy and Douglas are a lost breed of irreplaceable class players, and this kind of effortless amusement is pretty much an extinct genre.

Often imitated but never quite surpassed, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a classic comedy about a topic still as current now as it was in the 1940s. Silly but very funny, this movie is really great - featuring the ever hilarious Cary Grant, and Myrna Loy.

Essentially, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is about a family that decides to move to the country and get away from the overcrowding in the apartment. Instead of making life easier, however, their decision to move causes disaster after disaster. This movie is a hilarious example of how whatever can go wrong will!

Although the topic could have easily degenerated into stupidity, the script, the directing and, most of all, the cast, turn the movie into a classic. The script is witty and very funny, and it is directed with style - but mainly, Cary Grant is terrific! His double takes and reactions will never be equalled...any scene that he is in in pretty much guaranteed to be hysterical. Myrna Loy does a good job of cooling balancing Grant's screwball character, and the supporting cast is good as well.

Anyhow, this is a funny movie for the whole family - it is highly recommended!

Cary Grant and Myrna Loy have a very comfortable chemistry together in this comedy about a couple that decides to get out of their cramped city apartment and move out into the country. Through stubborness and sheer ignorance, they end up making a number of expensive errors as they attempt to build their dream house. The story is narrated by their friend and lawyer Bill, well played by Melvyn Douglas, a cynical man who learns it's easier to just let them make their mistakes. Grant is the perfect actor to express the exasperation of the whole process. The man had amazing comedic timing, deceptively making it look easy. The script hits all of the potential problems with building, and the film is smoothly produced. This is the kind of comedy that will appeal to most people, because almost everyone has had the opportunity to experience the joy that is remodelling, landscaping, decorating, or building. There's something in here for everyone to appreciate.

"Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House" is a witty movie in the wry style not often seen today. Cary Grant and Myrna Loy are wonderful, as is Melvyn Douglas.

This endearing movie is actually based on a true story. Architectural Digest ran an article about it titled "Mr Blandings' Dream House - Revisiting an American Icon in Connecticut" in June 1991.

According to the article, Mr Hodgins (the original Mr Blandings) began building his dream house in 1939 in New Milford, Connecticut. At the time of the article the home still stood and was known as Blandings Way. The Hollywood version of the house was built in Malibu Creek State Park and was also standing in 1991.

The house's original budget was $11,000 but the final cost came to a dizzying $56,000. Mr Hodgins was nearly bankrupted and was forced to sell his dream house just two years after moving in. It was then that he told his story in "Mr Blandings Builds His Castle" and the sequel "Blandings Way". When Mr Hodgins was paid $200,000 for the film rights to his book he offered the entire amount to the (then) current owners of his dream house, but they refused to sell.

This is a great movie true to the original story -- right down to the flower room! Recommend.

Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas star in this little gem from 1948, where Grant plays Jim Blandings, a marketing executive who lives in a cramped New York City apartment with practical wife Muriel (Loy), two daughters, Joan and Betsy, maid Gussie (Louise Beavers), bird Theodore and has best friend Bill Cole (Douglas). Muriel is pushing to renovate their apartment, to make more space, but Jim, after seeing an ad for beautiful Connecticut, decides that maybe they need to move out of the city and purchase a home. Being a comedy, and a comedy with Grant, Loy AND Douglas, you know it won't be a simple procedure. Their dream home turns out to be falling down and rebuilding turns out to be almost more work than they can take.
What makes this film sparkle are the lead performances - - Grant, as always, excels in the comedic roles in which he plays an almost unsuspecting comedian. The only other actor that I think could have done justice to this part would perhaps be the always stellar William Powell, who had such witty chemistry with Loy. Loy shows a constant poise and straightforwardness that plays well off Grant's bumbling comedy. Douglas, who I think was a sadly underrated and underused actor, is wonderful as the best friend "Cole. Bill Cole. Friend of the family." He is the straight man to Grant, with some razor sharp dialogue.
Although this movie was remade in sorts as "The Money Pit" in the 1980s with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, I would advise to pass on the 80s version - although Hanks and Long are fine actors, "Pit" misses the warmth, the comedic flair and the down-home goodness that "Blandings" offers - - making the original a far superior film. Highly recommended.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a favorite for my husband and me! We have watched it at least 8 or 10 times and still find it hilarious. We are building a home and we constantly quote different parts of the movie as the costs seem to be much higher and the rooms seem much smaller (always the case when building). The movie is in black and white and has no sex, violence, or special effects--just a humorous look at a snippet of real life.

Cary Grant is the adman and head-of-the-family living in tight quarters in NYC. So he decides to move to bigger digs in Connecticut and have his own house built. Of course there are complications with the construction, the money, and finally his job - but it all works out. What makes this work so well is that the principals are all in top form. The direction is swift and smooth, and the Blandings believable and enjoyable to watch. It's a lot of fun; the b&w print transfer is also impeccable. Definitely worth a watch.

Cary Grant films are some of my favorites, and this is the favorite of the Cary Grant films. It's got a droll, dry, understated wit and impeccable timing. Some of the scenes are priceless, like the one where they are trying to get an estimate of how to fix up the house, and all they hear is "Tear it down." spoken very matter-of-factly by what seems to be endless construction types. Then there's the one where Myrna Loy (another of my favorite actors) describes in great detail all the various shades of color she wants in the house, only to be recapped by the painting contractor after she leaves as "red, yellow, blue." Priceless.

It's a great movie of how we attempt to move ahead in our lives and all becomes chaos, where we think we have control but it's pointed out to us that we really don't (like the trick closet). And when all seems hopeless and incredibly frustrating, a little ray of hope shines through. Sounds really corny the way I say it, but it really works in this movie. I think it's one of the all-time underrated movies of its era.

If you like Cary Grant, this movie will become a favorite. I adore it.

I have watched this wonderful, funny movie so often, almost once a year for years...Myrna Loy and Cary Grant are a perfect team, I will continue to see it and enjoy it always. I will add that the Money Pit is another side splitting more current version, Tom Hanks and Shelly Long another terrific duo.

More than half a century has passed since this little gem appeared, yet it stands the test of time. Why? Like all great humor, this comedy of errors is firmly rooted in reality. Its protagonists stand halfway between hope and fear as they lunge impulsively into their great American dream--home ownership. Anyone who has owned a home will understand the Blandings' desires, motivations, anxieties--deftly and touchingly portrayed by Grant and Loy. But Hollywood, as is its wont, substantially revised the original story. I encourage those who view this movie to follow it by reading Eric Hodgins' book. Much in the book is lost in the translation to film, yet in developing the character of Blandings' lawyer-friend Bill (brilliantly portrayed by Melvyn Douglas), the movie in some ways improves on the book, in which Bill is a marginal character. This is a movie worth watching once a year.