(1948)

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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Jim Blandings (Cary Grant) nearly cracks from the emotional and financial stress of home ownership, thoroughly alienating his wife Muriel (Myrna Loy) and best friend Bill Cole (Melvyn Douglas), and suffering a complete creative block at work (as demonstrated by his inability to come up with a slogan to sell WHAM, a thinly-disguised SPAM). He is brought back from the edge of despair by Mr. Tesander (Harry Shannon), a contractor who comes to the house to refund a $12.36 overpayment. Gussie (Louise Beavers) “saves his bacon” at work (so to speak) by coming up with the slogan, “If you ain’t eatin’ WHAM, you ain’t eatin’ ham!” The final scene shows a happy and prosperous Blandings family enjoying their home, with Jim holding the book he wrote, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (the viewer, of course, likes to imagine that it’s a bestseller).

This movie was remade as The Money Pit.