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Dream Wife

1953, Movie, NR, 99 mins

Dream Wife: Review

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Grant and Kerr are at the top of their form, but the script and direction aren't in this battle-of-the-sexes romp with a fanciful story and not enough laughs to carry the slim plot. Grant is dating Kerr, an official with the U.S. State Department. He'd like to marry her but wants a woman at home, not in the office. Kerr is loath to give up her excellent job, and, at the moment when Grant asks for her hand, she is in the midst of an oil crisis in the Middle East. Grant recalls a gorgeous Arabian princess, Betta St. John, he once met in the mythical country of Bukistan who had spent her life learning how to please a man. He cables her and proposes in a fit of pique. Kerr is sent to Bukistan because of the ticklish problems with the oil cartel, and her job is to make certain that Grant does not get out of line in his courtship of St. John. The princess comes to the US and falls under the influence of Kerr who shows her that women have equal rights to men and that there's no need to defer to the male of the species. Once that's established, it's just a matter of a few minutes before Grant and Kerr wind up together at the finale. A stronger hand at the helm might have made this work, but Sheldon lets the actors walk all over him. They must have also taken liberties with the script that he coauthored, because Sheldon, if nothing else, can be a terrific comedy writer, and Herbert Baker, the second co-author, was acknowledged as one of Hollywood's wits. Baker's pieces for the annual Writers Guild dinners are still quoted years after his death. This was a re-teaming of the successful group who made THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY-SOXER five years before, but it just didn't measure up. Walter Pidgeon co-stars as Kerr's boss, but he could have mailed his part in for all the use they made of his considerable abilities. Good work by the featured players, especially Bruce Bennett, Dabbs Greer, Richard Anderson, and Steve Forrest. Oscar-nominated for Best Costume Design. leave a comment
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