My Dream Is Yours

My Dream Is Yours

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Friz Freleng (animated sequence)
Produced by George Amy
Michael Curtiz
Written by Laura Kerr (adaptation)
Harry Kurnitz
Dane Lussier
Allen Rivken
Paul Finder Moss (story)
Jerry Wald (story)
Starring Jack Carson
Doris Day
Lee Bowman
Music by Harry Warren
Cinematography Wilfred M. Cline
Ernest Haller
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • April 16, 1949 (1949-04-16)
Running time
 101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2 million[1]

My Dream Is Yours is a 1949 musical romantic comedy film starring Jack Carson, Doris Day, and Lee Bowman.

Plot

The film opens in Los Angeles, where Doug Blake (Carson) is dumped as a manager by Gary Mitchell (Bowman). He goes to New York City to find a new singer to replace Gary on the Hour of Enchantment radio show. While in New York, he discovers Martha Gibson (Day) turning records in a jukebox factory. He takes her to Los Angeles and tries to introduce her to Felix Hofer (Sakall). His efforts lead to a series of communication failures.

Meanwhile, Martha has begun to fall in love with Gary. Doug takes her to a party at Gary's house where Gary gets drunk and is unable to sing on his radio program. Martha replaces him and becomes successful. Gary, whose ego has driven away all of the people who once helped him, cannot find anyone who will hire or even represent him. Knowing how Martha feels about Gary, Doug helps him come back, but Gary goes back to his old ways and drives Martha away. Martha then realizes that she really loves Doug and makes up with him.

Cast

Songs

The film features the following songs, mostly lyricized by Ralph Blane and composed by Harry Warren:

"Someone like You", not to be confused with the song of the same name by Adele, has been subsequently recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1949[4] and Peggy Lee.[5]

Production

The film serves as a remake of Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934), in which the aspiring singer was male.[6] The film Swing Hostess (1944) also had a similar plot, in which aspiring singer Judy Alvin (Martha Titon) is spinning records in a jukebox factory, and her roommate and friend Marge (Irish Adrian) tries to help her start her career.

Eve Arden has a key supporting role as Vivian "Vi" Martin, Doug Blake's co-worker in the radio show The Hour of Enchantment. She is depicted as a highly competent professional woman. She at first agrees to financially support Doug in exchange for half his business earnings. She then allows Martha and her son Freddie to move in with her. When more is needed to finance Martha's career, Vivian has to sell her own mink coat.[6]

The film features a love triangle among Doug Blake, Martha Gibson, and Gary Mitchell. Vivian Martin has her own romantic subplot with Thomas Hutchins, though it is limited to a few suggestive glances. This was the third and last time that Arden co-worked with Adolphe Menjou.[6]

According to gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, Day missed three days of shooting in May 1948, due to being sick with a fever.[6]

The film features the final, feature film appearance of comic actor Edgar Kennedy, who died on November 9, 1948.

The film is perhaps best remembered today for an extended dream sequence combining animation and live action which featured a cameo appearance by Bugs Bunny, dancing with Jack Carson and Doris Day to the tune of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, as well as an appearance by Tweety, which was a favorite of animation director Friz Freleng. The sequence has an Easter theme and features the actors in bunny suits.[6]

Reception

Time magazine's review was not favorable, finding that the film merely reused elements from older films. "It has all been done before—frequently much better". It did, however, find some positive aspects of the film. One was Doris Day's singing, another the caustic lines of Eve Arden.[6] John L. Scot, reviewer for the Los Angeles Times, found the basic story trite. But also praised the charm of Doris Day and her ability to sell a tune, while also favoring the comedy performance of Eve Arden.[6] Richard L. Coe, reviewer of The Washington Post, called the film a "supremely dull achievement". He found Arden's character wittier and more human than that of Doris Day.[6]

Tom Santopietro, in a retrospective of the film, credits Arden with the best performance of the film, praising her comic timing.[6]

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Variety 18 February 1948 p 14
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Hemming (1999), p. 298
  3. ↑ Christopher Young (1 January 1977). The Films of Doris Day. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-0583-1.
  4. ↑ J. Wilfred Johnson (5 August 2010). Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb. McFarland. pp. 128–. ISBN 978-0-7864-5039-8.
  5. ↑ Mark Lewisohn (29 October 2013). Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years. Crown/Archetype. pp. 1350–. ISBN 978-0-8041-3934-2.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Tucker (2012), p. 107-109
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