Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: H.C. Potter

Starring: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas, Reginald Denny, Sharyn Moffett, Connie Marshall

From: RKO

While I am still trying to get back in the swing of things when it comes to watching movies, this was something I viewed on Friday night: 

Yeeeeppp.

I did need to see something different from the norm that was the past several months so I went with this, which was on Turner Classic Movies last night. Blandings is an amusing home improvement comedy where Cary Grant is an advertising executive in Manhattan; he is doing well as he lives in a downtown apartment w/ wife Myrna Loy and two daughters (they look to be around 14 and 12)... and they even have a black maid, but let's gloss over that bit of awkwardness. Actually, she does contribute something to the plot so it is not as uncomfortable as it could be. The apartment is crowded so Grant gets the ingenious idea to buy an old house in rural Connecticut. Well, the place is ancient & run-down so it needs to be torn down and a new house had to be built... from there, calamity rules the day as they seemingly have to deal with all the complications and the realization they are all over their heads.


Comedy is of course subjective but I got a decent amount of laughs from the various misunderstandings and the family poking fun at each other. Thankfully both of the daughters were not only non-aggravating characters, but I can't carp about the performances either. This was the inspiration for The Money Pit, something I saw like 30 years ago and recall nothing about; I'll presume this is the better of the two, even with a silly subplot where Grant plays a jealous husband just because his lady and his lawyer friend are pals. Mix in memorable supporting characters who all have various trademarks & a movie that is far from bland... the movie works for me, and it has still relevant takes concerning house ownership and how damn expensive it is.