Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 comedy drama film about a family wanting to buy and build a home. The film stars a pair of screen icons in Cary Grant and Myrna Loy who were no strangers to screwball comedies.
The tale focuses on Jim Blandings (Cary Grant, North by Northwest) and his wife Muriel (Myrna Loy, The Thin Man), who along with their children are tired of living in a small, cramped apartment. Jim has decided that they would like to live in a home. He feels that he can afford to buy a house in the country that meets their particulars and budget. What starts out at a budget of $7,000 turns into something much more expensive and much more troubling than they thought. Imagine how hard it would be for them to find or build a house now at today’s prices and all the competition they would face from other would-be buyers!
The story is told in a narration style by Jim Blandings best friend Bill Coles (Melvyn Douglas, Ninotchka) who is there to aid The Blandings during the process, especially Muriel, who seems to have the hots for her. If he is not aiding them, he is trying to prevent them from overspending on their dream house.
All in all, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a harmless 90-minute silly comedy with a simple plot. Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, in the third film together have good chemistry, but not up to levels that William Powell had with the legendary actress. Melvyn Douglas is great in his role as the skeptic family lawyer friend and let’s not forget that the movie has another star from the golden age! Reginald Denny from the Bulldog Drummond series, has a small but fun role as Henry Simms, the architect who will construct the home to Jim and Muriel’s likings. The direction by H.C. Potter is fluid, keeping Mr. Blandings moving along at a good pace, with the film being short enough for you not to tune out.
The Warner Archive Collection, much to the delight of fans, have transferred the often-requested Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House on Blu-ray, giving the film a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. The black and white image looks as crisp and sharp as never before. The picture now looks smooth and polished for during viewing experience. Rich blacks and vibrant whites keep the image strong throughout. The grey scale is balanced, and film grain is present throughout. DNR appears to have been applied. This is easily an upgrade over the DVD.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack is also superb. The noises such as the construction work being done to build the “dream house”, and dialogue is easy to understand, while the hissing, popping, or crackling sounds that were present on the previous DVD are now gone.
Warner Archive has ported over most of the extras from the DVD which includes the two vintage radio adaptations that feature Cary Grant partnered Irene Dunn and Betsy Drake. The hilarious vintage animated short: The House of Tomorrow which fits in perfectly for this release, is also present and a theatrical trailer are all part of this package.
This release should please both fans and collectors alike with a top-notch transfer, superior audio and the extras from the DVD. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is about as good as it well for being a ‘dream’ release for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Director- H.C. Potter
Cast- Cary Grant, Myrna Loy
Country of Origin- US
Distributor –Warner Archive Collection / Warner Brothers
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-5/21/21