What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2021) with… My Dream Is Yours (1949)

We’re back again with another 2021 Blu-ray debut, the 1949 film musical My Dream Is Yours, starring Jack Carson, Doris Day and Lee Bowman!

Note: As I had originally hinted last week, my plan was to have a review for the recent Blu-ray release of Ziegfeld Follies to post today (after having delayed that a week). I’m been struggling with writer’s block on that one, and between that and my opinion of My Dream Is Yours (originally planned as an entry in next month’s musical blogathon that I’m hosting), I decided to switch the publishing dates for these two (so hopefully my review of Ziegfeld Follies will actually be done finally for next month).

Coming Up Shorts! with… Shivering Shakespeare (1930)

(available on Blu-ray as part of The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1 (1929-1930) from ClassicFlix)

(Length: 20 minutes, 26 seconds)

The kids all take part in a production of Quo Vadis for the Golden Age Dramatic League. This one was a lot of fun!! A lot of the humor was in the kids forgetting the dialogue for the play (and, all things considered, I can’t blame them)! Things go wrong, especially with some older kids throwing stuff at them throughout the performance. Of course, the slow-motion pie fight that ends this short makes for a wonderful and hilarious ending! This one is considered one of the classics in this early bunch (of the talkies), and I can’t disagree with that!

Coming Up Shorts! with… So You Want To Be An Actor (1949)

(available as an extra on the My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection)

(Length: 10 minutes, 56 seconds)

Joe McDoakes (George O’Hanlon) is an out-of-work actor, who keeps trying to make it big. This one is a decent short, with a few good gags here and there. Some of the humor is a bit forced, which is the biggest problem. There are some good moments, though. Frank Nelson as a theatrical agent is a hoot (although, to be fair, all he has to do is speak, and I’m in stitches)! Fred Clark also gets a brief part as a producer that Joe’s trying to read for, and essentially pays more attention to the card game he is playing than to Joe. Like I said, there are a few good moments, but this is an at best average Joe McDoakes short (at least, from those I’ve seen so far, anyway).

Coming Up Shorts! with… The Grass Is Always Greener (1950)

(available as an extra on the My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection)

(Length: 21 minutes, 24 seconds)

A group of ranch-hands are all grousing about their working conditions, and thinking strongly about quitting. Then a stranger named Windy (Chill Wills) arrives, and helps them realize just how good they have things there. I found this one quite entertaining, with a good moral to the story, as well. I’ll admit, it didn’t quite go the direction I expected it to (mainly, I thought, the way things worked when he came in, that Chill Wills’ Windy would turn out to be an angel or something), but that certainly didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this one. It’s a very heartwarming short, and a good reminder of just how nice things can be sometimes when you look at it the right way. One I definitely would like to revisit again and again!

Coming Up Shorts! with… A Ham In A Role (1949)

(available as an extra on the My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection)

(Length: 6 minutes, 48 seconds)

A dog wants to give up the slapstick comedy he’s been doing and be a Shakespearean actor. Of course, trying to rehearse at home, he finds himself dealing with the two Goofy Gophers! While not one that I’ve seen frequently, I will still admit to enjoying this cartoon! In general, I like the two gophers with their manners and their antics as they take on their various antagonists, and the Shakespearean dog makes things just as hilarious! Certainly worth seeing every now and then!

And Now For The Main Feature…

The House Of Beauty, owned by Felix Hofer (S. Z. Sakall), is sponsoring the radio program “Hour Of Enchantment,” featuring popular singer Gary Mitchell (Lee Bowman). It’s just about time for Gary to renew his contract with Hofer, but he decides to turn it down, much to the chagrin of his agent, Doug Blake (Jack Carson). Doug tries to change his mind, but Gary instead invites Doug to join him as his secretary (which Doug refuses). Doug’s boss at the agency, Thomas Hutchins (Adolphe Menjou), urges him to make any concessions in order to get Gary to sign, but Doug refuses, believing that he can go to New York and find somebody else. His boss doesn’t want somebody else, so Doug decides to quit his job and go into business for himself. Now without an expense account, Doug borrows money from his new partner (and Hutchins’ secretary) Vivian Martin (Eve Arden) so that he can go to New York. He tries listening to various singers throughout the city, but doesn’t find anybody he likes. Finally, he comes to a bar, where the bartender tries to push his niece, who works at a jukebox service. The bartender’s niece, Martha Gibson (Doris Day), sings herself (instead of playing a record like she is supposed to do), and is fired by her boss. However, Doug likes what he heard, and decides to bring her back to L.A. (although she has to leave her young son, Freddie, behind with her uncle). Doug has Martha audition for Hofer, who likes her, but not her jazzy style of music. Of course, while she auditions, she also meets Gary Mitchell, and the two take a liking to each other. Since her audition for Hofer didn’t go as well as hoped, Doug has her move in with Vivian to help keep costs down. He tries to get Martha in front of anybody else who could give her a chance, but everyone turns her down. When she sees how much Doug seems to owe everybody, she decides to get a job in a nightclub working for Fred Grimes (Sheldon Leonard), but that job doesn’t last long. When Doug sees how down she is, he sends for her son Freddie, the sight of whom cheers her up quite a bit. When Doug overhears her singing Freddie to sleep with a lullaby, he realizes that he’s been trying to promote her with the wrong singing style, and decides to try again. However, his efforts to get Hofer to hear her don’t go well. Her big chance comes, though, when Gary Mitchell is too drunk to go on the “Hour Of Enchantment” radio program, and Doug barely manages to convince Hofer to give her a chance. But will this chance work out? And how will Gary react?

When making her film debut in Romance On The High Seas, Doris Day impressed director Michael Curtiz with her natural ability as an actress. Before finishing that film, he made plans for what would be her second film, My Dream Is Yours (which would reunite her with her Romance co-stars Jack Carson and S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall). Curtiz decided on a story that was essentially a remake of the earlier 1934 Warner Brothers film Twenty Million Sweethearts, adding in some ideas taken from Doris Day’s own life and career up to that point in time. The film also added in a dream sequence combining live-action and animation, featuring Bugs Bunny (a sequence that the director had to fight to keep as is, considering the studio wanted it FULLY animated).

I will admit that I enjoyed this movie! I thought that Doris Day’s performance improved from Romance to this film (although I thought she was pretty good in that film, too). I thought Jack Carson was also pretty good and funny, although in the comedy department, Eve Arden certainly steals her scenes as the put upon partner who has to keep financing the whole deal. The rest of the cast does well for me, too (especially S. Z. Sakall, who is always fun to watch). I like the movie overall. The biggest disappointment for me here is the music (hence, why I decided against using this review as an entry in my musical blogathon next month). Most of the music I personally find to be quite forgettable, and I really don’t like the title tune, which is made worse considering it’s sung multiple times throughout the film (as I’ve indicated before, I don’t mind hearing a song I like a bunch of times in the same movie, but, when I don’t like it, it just feels like the song is being rammed down your throat, and makes it even harder to like). While the song itself isn’t necessarily great, I will admit to liking the song “Freddie, Get Ready” with Bugs’ appearance (as well as a quick cameo from Tweety Bird, too). Like I said, I like the cast, I like the comedy, and I like the story. The music’s not the best, but it’s not enough for me to keep from recommending this one. I’d certainly suggest seeing it if you get the chance!

This movie is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Archive Collection. The Blu-ray makes use of a new HD transfer taken from an interpositive (IP) that had been made at some point recently from the original three-strip camera negative. Even if it’s not from the original negative, this transfer still looks gorgeous, showing off the color pretty well! It looks like it should, especially with all the dust and dirt cleaned up. It’s certainly good enough for me to recommend without hesitation!