Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House [Blu-ray]

Director: H.C. Potter H.C. Potter

Overview

What The Money Pit and Funny Farm were striving for is here in all of its glory. For anyone who has ever remodeled or built or even just owns their own home, this is the one to see. A classic, this story has Cary Grant at his funniest as an advertising executive who gets tired of the city life and moves to the country. With Loy and Douglas in supporting roles, its family entertainment with the classic Grant style.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/18/2021
UPC:	0883929738458
Original Release:	1948
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	19,111

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cary Grant	Jim Blandings
Myrna Loy	Muriel Blandings
Melvyn Douglas	Bill Cole
Reginald Denny	Henry Simms
Louise Beavers	Gussie
Sharyn Moffett	Joan Blandings
Connie Marshall	Betsy Blandings
Ian Wolfe	Smith
Nestor Paiva	Joe
Lex Barker	Carpenter
Harry Shannon	W.D. Tesander
Tito Vuolo	Mr. Zucca
Jason Robards Sr.	John Retch
Lurene Tuttle	Mary
Emory Parnell	Mr. Delford
Will Wright	Eph Hackett
Frank Darien	Judge Quarles
Stanley Andrews	Murphy
Cliff Clark	Jones
Franklin Parker	Simpson
Charles Middleton	Wrecker,Wrecker
Cy Slocum	Man
Jack Jahries	Elevator Operator
Robert Bray	Workman
Frederick Ledebur	Workman
Don Brodie	Charlie
Hal K. Dawson	Mr. Selby
Kernan Cripps	Cop
Ralph Stein	Proprietor
Mike Lally	Customer
Bud Wiser	Customer
Gene Leslie	Taxi Driver
Dan Tobin	Bunny Funkhauser
Leigh Harline	Composer

Technical Credits

Norman Panama

Melvin Frank

Eric Hodgins

H.C. Potter	Director
Norman Panama	Screenwriter,Producer
Melvin Frank	Screenwriter,Producer
Russell A. Cully	Special Effects
Eric Hodgins	Screenwriter
Dore Schary	Executive Producer,Producer
Clem Portman	Sound Effects
Francis M. Sarver	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

The American dream of home ownership becomes a nightmare for one couple in this sprightly 1948 satire, which veteran comedy scribes Norman Panama and Melvin Frank adapted from a bestselling novel by Eric Hodgins. It’s another vehicle for Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, who teamed so felicitously in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer a year earlier. This time around they play New Yorkers who, exasperated by city living and tiny apartments, become desperate to own a home in the country. A shrewd real estate broker sells them on a ramshackle farmhouse that they purchase as a "fixer-upper." But the fixer-upper eventually comes down to make room for a new home built to their specifications -- a process that taxes both their finances and their patience. Grant and Loy are perfect in their roles, displaying the effortless comic timing that made them top stars during Hollywood’s "golden age." Perennial second banana Melvyn Douglas provokes a plethora of laughs with his sly rejoinders, while Reginald Denny, Connie Marshall, Louise Beavers, and Ian Wolfe contribute similarly effective supporting turns. Director H. C. Potter maintains a measured pace, slowly but steadily building to a climax of hysterically absurd proportions. Other movies -- most notably The Money Pit -- have mined the same comedic vein, but Potter struck pay dirt first, and Mr. Blandings remains the funniest take on the material ever filmed.