''Dear Mr. Wonderful'' (also known as ''Ruby's Dream'' in some US video releases) is a 1982 German comedy-drama crime film starring

Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Ra ...

Plot

Ruby Dennis (

) is a small-time

lounge singer Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The rang ...

who owns a bowling alley. The film follows his attempts to make it big while struggling against the

mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...

and finding romance with Sharon (Ivy Ray Browning). Dennis lives with his sister, Paula ( Karen Ludwig), and her son, Raymond (

Evan Handler Evan Handler (born January 10, 1961) is an American actor who is best known for playing Harry Goldenblatt, a divorce attorney and later husband of Charlotte York on ''Sex and the City'' (2002–2004) and its revival series ''And Just Like That…' ...

). Paula quits her job and runs off to help the poor, leaving Dennis to keep Raymond away from a life of crime. Ruby ventures toward a

spiritual crisis Spiritual crisis (also called "spiritual emergency") is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system (i.e., their unique purposes, goals, values, attitude and beliefs, identity, and focus) typi ...

, something that is off-kilter to his surroundings.

Cast

as Ruby Dennis * Karen Ludwig as Paula *

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

as Louie *

Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in ''Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in '' Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rosta ...

as Glenn *

Richard S. Castellano Richard Salvatore Castellano (September 4, 1933 – December 10, 1988) was an American actor who is best remembered for his role in ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' and his subsequent role as Peter Clemenza in ''The Godfather''. Early life Castella ...

as FBI Agent * Ivy Ray Browning as Sharon * Larry Rapp as Arnold *

Joseph Rigano Joseph Rigano (April 2, 1933 – March 27, 2014) was an American character actor. He often played stereotypical mobsters in films such as ''Casino'', ''Analyze This'' and '' Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai''. He is often recognized for ...

as Artie * Gene Ruffini as Jimmy * Ben Dova as Ben * Dominick Grieco as Lenny *

Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy ''Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman' ...

as "Hesh" *

as Ray * Ronald Maccone as Maurice * Tony Martin as Cameo Role

Awards

Peter Lilienthal, the film's director, won "Outstanding Individual Achievement: Direction" in the 1983

German Film Awards German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

References

External links

* 1980s crime comedy-drama films West German films English-language German films 1982 films Films directed by Peter Lilienthal Films set in the United States German crime comedy-drama films 1982 comedy films 1982 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s German films Films scored by Claus Bantzer {{1980s-crime-film-stub