''My Dream Is Yours'' is a 1949

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

musical

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film starring

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including ''The Strawberry Blonde'' (1941) with James Cagney and ...

, Doris Day, and

Lee Bowman Lee Bowman (December 28, 1914 – December 25, 1979) was an American film and television actor. According to one obituary, "his roles ranged from romantic lead to worldly, wisecracking lout in his most famous years". Career Born in Cincinnati, ...

Plot

The film opens in Los Angeles, where Doug Blake is dumped as a manager by Gary Mitchell. 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 turning records in a jukebox factory. He takes her to Los Angeles and tries to introduce her to Felix Hofer. 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

as Doug Blake * Doris Day as Martha Gibson *

as Gary Mitchell (singing voice was dubbed by Hal Derwin) *

Adolphe Menjou Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley K ...

as Thomas Hutchins *

Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 ...

as Vivian Martin * S. Z. Sakall as Felix Hofer *

Selena Royle Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author. Early life and career Actress Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress ...

as Freda Hofer *

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

as Uncle Charlie * Sheldon Leonard as Grimes *

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...

as Sourpuss Manager *

Ada Leonard Ada Leonard (July 22, 1915 – November 29, 1997) was an American bandleader. She was the leader of the All-American Girl Orchestra, the first all-female band to tour with the USO during World War II. The big-band leader was a performer with a ...

as Herself *

Frankie Carle Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". "Sunrise Serenade" was Car ...

as Himself *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Peggy (uncredited) * Mel Blanc as

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

Tweety Bird Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

(voice)

Songs

The film features the following songs, mostly lyricized by

Ralph Blane Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer. Life and career Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He attended Tulsa Central High School. He studied singing with ...

and composed by Harry Warren: * "My Dream Is Yours" with lyrics by

Hemming (1999), p. 298 * "Someone Like You" with lyrics by

* "

Love Finds a Way ''Love Finds a Way'' is a 1909 American silent short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. Cast * Anita Hendrie as The Duchess * Arthur V. Johnson as The Duke * Marion Leonard as Their Daughter * Harry Solter as One of the Daughter's Suitor ...

" with lyrics by

* "Tic, Tic, Tic", with lyrics by

a song praising the virtue of Geiger counters and the similarities between love and radiation poisoning * "(You May Not Be an Angel, but) I'll String Along With You"with lyrics by Al Dubin * "Freddie, Get Ready" with lyrics by

and Mel Blanc, the last chorus uses the tune of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. * " I'll String Along with You" with lyrics by Al Dubin * " You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby with lyrics by Johnny Mercer" * "With Plenty of Money and You" with lyrics by Al Dubin * "

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

" with lyrics by Mort Dixon, a 1928 song rather than a link between the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the radioactive ode "Tic, Tic, Tic" earlier in the film * " Canadian Capers (Cuttin' Capers)" with lyrics by Blane and Warren, music by Henry Cohen, Gus Chandler, and Bert White "Someone like You” has been subsequently recorded by

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

in 1949 and Peggy Lee.

Production

The film serves as a remake of '' Twenty Million Sweethearts'' (1934), in which the aspiring singer was male.Tucker (2012), p. 107-109 The film ''Swing Hostess'' (1944) also had a similar plot, in which aspiring singer Judy Alvin (Martha Tilton) is spinning records in a jukebox factory, and her roommate and friend Marge (Iris Adrian) tries to help her start her career.

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

. According to gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, Day missed three days of shooting in May 1948, due to being sick with a fever. The film features the final, feature film appearance of comic actor

, who died on November 9, 1948. The film is perhaps best remembered today for an extended dream sequence combining animation and

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

which featured a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

, dancing with

and Doris Day to the tune of '' Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2'', as well as an appearance by

Tweety Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for t ...

, which was a favorite of animation director Friz Freleng. The sequence has an

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

theme and features the actors in bunny suits.

Reception

Box Office

According to Warner Bros records the film earned $1,994,000 domestically and $748,000 foreign.

Critical

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' 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 The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', 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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', called the film a "supremely dull achievement". He found Arden's character wittier and more human than that of Doris Day. The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

wrote, "The only bit of novelty in this hackneyed reworking of this how-tough-it-is-to-get-a-break-in-show-business theme is the introduction of a cartoon fantasy sequence representing a child's dream of the Easter bunny....it doesn't last long enough to divert attention from the sad fact that 'My Dream is Yours' is a dull show.""Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Doris Day in Musical at Strand—Jungle Film at Rialto." New York Times, 16 April 1949. Tom Santopietro, in a retrospective of the film, credits Arden with the best performance of the film, praising her comic timing.

Sources

* *

References

External links

* * * * {{Looney Tunes movies 1949 films 1949 musical comedy films 1949 romantic comedy films Films directed by Michael Curtiz Animated films set in Los Angeles Animated films set in New York (state) Animated films set in New York City Looney Tunes films Bugs Bunny films Tweety films American films with live action and animation American romantic musical films Warner Bros. films 1940s American animated films Films with screenplays by Harry Kurnitz Musical film remakes 1949 animated films 1940s English-language films