Remember
the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? The official
credits of that film do not mention the excellent writing team of Frank Panama
and Melvin Frank, who adapted Eric Hodgins’ 1946 biographical comic novel Mr.
Blandings Builds His Dream House into the popular 1948 “disaster comedyâ€
starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The Money Pit is, in reality, an
under-the-table remake of Blandings. It’s a pity that the original was
not acknowledged, for, frankly, Blandings is much more realistic (and
clever).
Mr.
Blandings Builds His Dream House was indeed a popular film and yet during its
initial run was deemed to have lost money—just like the hapless Mr. Blandings does
while attempting to move out of New York City to Connecticut. The movie is
funny enough, for sure, but perhaps in 1948 audiences were wary of a motion
picture that shed a dark—albeit comic—shade on what many Americans were doing
at that time—moving out of the big cities and into the suburbs!
The
Blandings (Grant and Loy) and their two teen daughters live in a pretty nice
three-bedroom (or is it two?—it’s unclear) apartment in Manhattan… although
like all apartments in Manhattan, it is simply not big enough for the family of
four. They all share one bathroom, and the closet spaces are hazard zones.
Blandings is an advertising executive who is under pressure to create a winning
slogan for a brand of ham called “Wham.†Against the advice of his best friend
and lawyer, Bill Cole (Melvyn Douglas), Blandings buys a decrepit Revolutionary
era place in Connecticut. Before he can remodel it, though, every surveyor and
inspector tell him it’s best to tear it down and start building a new house
afresh. That’s where the trouble starts. Everything becomes more expensive than
was first imagined, and the venture indeed becomes a money pit.
The
picture is a collection of often amusing set pieces that feature Grant doing
his frustrated slow burn act, with Loy somewhat nonchalantly enjoying the havoc
the house is wreaking on the family. Yes, the movie has some laughs, but
ultimately there is something amiss when Melvyn Douglas surprisingly steals it
away from the likes of Cary Grant. Douglas plays the narrator/friend role with
a detached, delightful cynicism, and without a doubt he has all the best lines.
Without his presence, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House might truly
have been a disaster.
The
script, however, is witty. The writing team of Panama and Frank worked with Bob
Hope on many of his better pictures, and they also wrote the hilarious The
Court Jester with Danny Kaye. Perhaps with better direction (H. C. Potter
has only a handful of titles on his CV, although he directed Loretta Young to a
Best Actress Oscar in The Farmer’s Wife), Blandings might have
soared.
The
Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray is an upgrade on a previous DVD release—it looks
and sounds sharp with its DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack. There are
English subtitles for the hearing impaired. Supplements include two different
radio broadcasts of the piece. One is the Lux Radio Theater from 1949 starring Grant
and Irene Dunne, and the other is the Screen Directors Playhouse from 1950 starring
Grant and Betsy Drake. A vintage Tex Avery cartoon, “The House of Tomorrow,†is
shockingly sexist and near-misogynistic, but reflects the times in which it
appeared. The re-issue trailer rounds out the package.
Mr.
Blandings Builds His Dream House is worth a date-movie evening and still might
serve as a cautionary tale before one does a deep dive into erecting a home.
Buyer beware!
