My Dream Is Yours

My Dream Is Yours is a 1949 American Technicolor musical romantic comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Jack Carson, Doris Day, and Lee Bowman.

My Dream Is Yours
Theatrical release poster and DVD Cover
Directed byMichael Curtiz
Friz Freleng (animated sequence)
Written byHarry Kurnitz
Dane Lussier
Allen Rivkin (adaptation)
Laura Kerr (adaptation)
Jerry Wald (story)
Paul Finder Moss (story)
Produced byGeorge Amy
Michael Curtiz
StarringJack Carson
Doris Day
Lee Bowman
CinematographyWilfred M. Cline
Ernest Haller
Edited byFolmar Blangsted
Music byHarry Warren
Distributed byWarner Bros
Release date
  • April 16, 1949 (1949-04-16)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[1] or $2,087,000[2]
Box office$1.7 million[3] or $2,742,000[2]

Plot

The film opens in Los Angeles, where Doug Blake is dumped as a manager by Gary Mitchell. 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 turning records in a jukebox factory. He takes her to Los Angeles and tries to introduce her to Felix Hofer. 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” has been subsequently recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in 1949[7] and Peggy Lee.[8]

Production

The film serves as a remake of Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934), in which the aspiring singer was male.[9] The film Swing Hostess (1944) also had a similar plot, in which aspiring singer Judy Alvin (Martha Tilton) is spinning records in a jukebox factory, and her roommate and friend Marge (Iris 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.[9]

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.[9]

According to gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, Day missed three days of shooting in May 1948, due to being sick with a fever.[9]

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,[10] 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.[9]

Reception

Box Office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $1,994,000 domestically and $748,000 foreign.[2]

Critical

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.[9] 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.[9] 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.[9]

The New York Times wrote, "The only bit of novelty in this hackneyed reworking of this how-tough-it-is-to-get-a-break-in-show-business theme is the introduction of a cartoon fantasy sequence representing a child's dream of the Easter bunny....it doesn't last long enough to divert attention from the sad fact that 'My Dream is Yours' is a dull show."[11]

Tom Santopietro, in a retrospective of the film, credits Arden with the best performance of the film, praising her comic timing.[9]

Sources
  • Hemming, Roy (1999), "Harry Warren", The Melody Lingers on: The Great Songwriters and Their Movie Musicals, Newmarket Press, ISBN 978-1557043801
  • Tucker, David C. (2012), "My Dream Is Yours (1949)", Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances, McFarland & Company, ISBN 978-0786488100

References
  1. Variety 18 February 1948 p 14
  2. Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See "Appendix 1". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15 (sup1): 1–31. January 1995. doi:10.1080/01439689508604551.
  3. "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
  4. Hemming (1999), p. 298
  5. "DorisDayMagic.com". 26 July 2017.
  6. Christopher Young (1 January 1977). The Films of Doris Day. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-0583-1.
  7. 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.
  8. Mark Lewisohn (29 October 2013). Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years. Crown/Archetype. pp. 1350–. ISBN 978-0-8041-3934-2.
  9. Tucker (2012), p. 107-109
  10. Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. p. 98. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
  11. "Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Doris Day in Musical at Strand—Jungle Film at Rialto." New York Times, 16 April 1949.
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