History Literature / MrBlandingsBuildsHisDreamHouse

The main character is James Blandings (Grant), a successful advertising executive. He and his wife Muriel (Loy) grow tired of their cramped Manhattan apartment and seek out a country estate in Connecticut for themselves and their two daughters. They soon fall in love with "the old Hackett place", an old farmstead with a dilapidated colonial farmhouse. After their original plan to renovate the house proves impractical, they eventually decide to tear it down and build a new one. The rest of the story is a series of comical disasters, as the Blandings overspend their budget and fight with contractors. Following all these proceedings with amusement is their family friend and lawyer, Bill Cole (Douglas).

* GeorgeWashingtonSleptHere: One of the selling points of the house is that General Gates supposedly stopped to water his horses there during the Revolutionary War.

* DeadpanSnarker: Bill Cole.

* AskAStupidQuestion: From the movie, when they're trying to locate the house and encounter a sign on a bridge reading SHRUNK MILLS 2 MILES.

* AskAStupidQuestion: From the movie, "What in the world are shrunk mills?" "Probably mills that are shrunk."

The main character is James Blandings (Grant), a successful advertising executive. He and his wife Muriel (Loy) grow tired of their cramped Manhattan apartment and seek out a country estate in Connecticut for themselves and their two daughters. They soon fall in love with "the old Hackett place", an old farmstead with a dilapidated colonial farmhouse. After their initial plan to renovate the house proves impractical, they eventually decide to tear it down and build new. The rest of the story is a series of comical disasters, as they overspend their budget and fight with contractors. Following all these proceedings with amusement is the Blandings' friend and lawyer, Bill Cole (Douglas).

The main character is James Blandings (Grant), a successful advertising executive. He and his wife Muriel (Loy) grow tired of their cramped Manhattan apartment and seek out a country estate in Connecticut for themselves and their two daughters. They soon fall in love with "the old Hackett place", an old farmstead with a dilapidated colonial farmhouse. After their initial plan to renovate the house proves impractical they eventually decide to tear it down and build new. The rest of the story is a series of comical disasters, as they overspend their budget and fight with contractors. Following all these proceedings with amusement is the Blandings' friend and lawyer, Bill Cole (Douglas).

A comedic 1946 novel by Eric Hodgins (with illustrations by Creator/WilliamSteig), inspired by the author's own experience building his home, ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' was adapted into a 1948 film of the same name directed by H.C. Potter, starring Creator/CaryGrant, Creator/MyrnaLoy, and Creator/MelvynDouglas.

* LittleMissSnarker: Betsy and Joan are both pretty free with their opinions. Joan cheerfully informs her father that his job is ruining America, and Betsy offers unsolicited analysis of James and Muriel's arguments.

* RageBreakingPoint: James loses it when Tesander the well-digger turns up over "a matter of twelve dollars and sixty-one cents" and goes on a tear about all the money he's lost before emptying his pockets for Tesander to take. It turns out that Tesander is there to ''give'' them the twelve dollars, having found he'd overcharged them.

* HaveAGayOldTime: Muriel asks for the walls to be painted "a very gay yellow".

* BlandNameProduct: Wham, the tinned ham product James has to market, is a riff on Spam.

* EurekaMoment: James finally gets the inspiration for the new WHAM jingle from a phrase his maid says.

The main character is James Blandings (Grant), a successful advertising executive. He and his wife Muriel (Loy) grow tired of their cramped Manhattan apartment and seek out a country estate in Connecticut for themselves, their two daughters, and their housekeeper Gussie. They soon fall in love with "the old Hackett place", an old farmstead with a dilapidated colonial farmhouse. They initially plan to renovate the house but when this proves impractical they eventually decide to tear it down and build new. The rest of the story is a series of comical disasters as they overspend their budget and fight with contractors. Following all these proceedings with amusement is the Blandings' friend and lawyer, Bill Cole (Douglas).