Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Rating:
Summary: Great movie but...
Review: We were very anxious to get this classic CG movie. but the movie was in black and white. not color as advertized.

Rating:
Summary: "Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got
Review:
a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms - slower, but safer."
"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"
"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning. "He failed the first time. Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"
"Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.
"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can."
There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.
"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.
"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.
"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"
"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup..."
"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.
"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.
"What is that in your pocket?"
"Nothing!"
"Don't you lie to me!"
Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"
Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.
"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!"
It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to find them all.
"Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.
"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.
"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"
All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.
"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. "I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.
It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Harry, having been thinking about thousands of wizards speeding toward the Quidditch World Cup, sped up to walk with Mr. Weasley.
"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" he asked.
"It's been a massive organizational problem," sighed Mr. Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."


Rating:
Summary: A True Story
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: An absolute essential classic
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Means we gotta blast......
Review: 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.


Rating:
Summary: Grant & Loy Build A Winner
Review: 1948's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is an extremely funny comedy about a New York City ad executive, Jim Blandings(Cary Grant) who gets fed up with the crowded life in the city and builds his dream house in rural Connecticut. Through a series of mishaps, he ends up with a money pit on his hands. Mr. Grant is at his best as the pigheaded Blandings who is constantly getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble. Myrna Loy shows why she is known as the perfect wife as the more level-headed Muriel Blandings. She has one of the best scenes in the movie where she is trying to describe the exact colors she wants the paint for her house and ends up sending the contractor to the produce store to match the colors. The only lowlight to the movie is the perceived tryst that Blandings thinks Muriel is having with his lawyer and friend Bill Cole (Melvyn Douglas). It takes away from the story and is really unnecessary. Other than that, this is a first-rate comedy.

Rating:
Summary: If you work with software, you want to see this flick
Review: I'm a real fan of classic movies as you can tell from some of my other reviews.

Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House makes a great analogy for systems and software development. Even though this film hit the street in 1948, the situations in which the Blandings find themselves is relevant for any project today. This story of a man who wishs to fulfill his life dream of ruling his estate in the country contains almost every gotcha ever seen on a project:

- Scope changes
- Conflicting executive sponsorship
- Changes, Changes control, and the cost of change
- Conflicting goals
- Users who want it all for almost nothing
- Poor project planning

My favourite scene is when Mr. and Mrs. Blandings grab some pencils and start 'tweaking' the architect's drawings.

This film was remade as 'The Money Pit', but I wouldn't recommend that version.

This film will be remade again in 2005 and I doubt it could live up to the tempered choas shown by Cary Grant nor the calm, straigt faced comedy of Myrna Loy.

If you see this film you won't regret it. If you buy it you will watch it often

Rating:
Summary: Comedy Masterpiece
Review: There were 3-4 of these films that came out right after WWII exploiting the migration to the suburbs, Red Skelton did one, Jack Benny did another. This was the finest of the lot I believe.

They actually did build a house as part of this movie and I've always wanted to go by and have a look at it.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Fun Film!
Review: This is hysterical and especially if you've ever rennovated or built a house.