My Dream Is Yours

My Dream Is Yours
File:Mydreamisyoursposter.jpg 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

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

• Jack Carson as Doug Blake
• Doris Day as Martha Gibson
• Lee Bowman as Gary Mitchell (singing voice was dubbed by Hal Derwin)
• Adolphe Menjou as Thomas Hutchins
• Eve Arden as Vivian Martin
• S. Z. Sakall as Felix Hofer
• Selena Royle as Freda Hofer
• Edgar Kennedy as Uncle Charlie
• Sheldon Leonard as Grimes
• Franklin Pangborn as Sourpuss Manager
• Ada Leonard as Herself
• Frankie Carle as Himself
• Iris Adrian as Peggy (uncredited)
• Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny & Tweety Bird (voice)

Songs

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

• "My Dream Is Yours"
• "Someone Like You"
• "Love Finds a Way"
• "Tick, Tick, Tick"
• "Freddie, Get Ready" with lyrics by Ralph Blane
• "I'll String Along with You" with lyrics by Al Dubin
• "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"
• "With Plenty of Money and You" with lyrics by Johnny Mercer
• "Nagasaki" with lyrics by Mort Dixon
• "Canadian Capers" with lyrics by Blane and Warren, music by Henry Cohen, Gus Chandler, and Bert White

"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 and Peggy Lee.

Production

The film serves as a remake of Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934), in which the aspiring singer was male. 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.

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.

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

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.

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. 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. 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.

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

External links

• My Dream Is Yours at the TCM Movie Database
• My Dream Is Yours at IMDb