Book v. Movie: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

For possibly the first time, I strongly prefer a movie version to the original novel.  Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgins began as a short story in Fortune magazine in 1946.  It was then almost immediately expanded into a novel, illustrated by William Steig.  The story is about a New York City family that decides to buy a home in the country.  Mr. and Mrs. Blandings want to be able to garden and spend more time with their daughters.  As you can expect, they are taken advantage of by others because of their naivety and are constantly foiled by their own grand plans.  Reading about Mr. Blandings failures is briefly funny but chiefly painful.  Mrs. Blandings' character alternates from clueless pampered wife to strong advocate and manager.

The 1948 film version stars Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.  It has a couple of added plot lines and a more humorous tone than the book.  I originally watched the movie because of the stars but have watched it a few more times since because it's amusing. This is one of my favorite scenes and is actually almost word for word from the book. Mrs. Blandings is choosing paint colors.




The story has also been remade into The Money Pit with Tom Hanks and Are We Done Yet? with Ice Cube.

Verdict: Just watch the movie unless you are remodeling or building a home and need to read about someone who has it worse than you.

Trying to forget my own home ownership troubles,
K


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