Dream Wife

1953 "It's a RIOT how Cary carries on!"
5.9| 1h40m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 19 June 1953 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Clemson Reade, a business tycoon with marriage on his mind, and Effie, a U.S. diplomat, are a modern couple. Unfortunately there seems to be too much business and not enough pleasure on the part of Effie. When Clemson meets Tarji, a princess trained in all the arts of pleasing men, he decides he wants an old fashioned girl. Princess Tarji's father is king of oil-rich Bukistan. Because of the oil situation and to maintain good political relations during the courtship between Clemson & Tarji, the State Department assigns a diplomat to maintain protocol until the wedding - Effie!

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Reviews

Supelice Dreadfully Boring
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
utgard14 American businessman Cary Grant is engaged to diplomat Deborah Kerr but grows tired of her putting her career before their relationship. So he breaks things off and becomes engaged to a Middle-Eastern princess (Betta St. John) who has been taught from birth "how to make a man happy." But the customs of her people (and Kerr's interference) ensure that Grant won't find any happiness with her.Inane romantic comedy that is neither romantic nor funny. A terrible movie on nearly every level. The characters are very unlikable no matter how hard I tried due to my fondness for the actors. The best thing I can say about this is that I liked the name of Cary's character, Clemson Reade. Cary Grant didn't make many stinkers but he did here. It's one of the worst films in his career. It was so bad Cary considered retiring from acting after this and didn't make another movie for two years. Worth seeing if you're a die-hard fan of the stars or on the slim chance you might find something interesting about the socio-political stuff.
edwagreen Miserable picture with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. 4 years later they teamed again to make the memorable "An Affair to Remember." That was a movie! This was utter junk, at it's worst.We are fully aware of the cultural differences between the Middle East and our culture. Kerr looked like she was annoyed with the whole film and rightfully so!We know of the subservience of the Middle Eastern woman to the man. They didn't have to highlight this. The young lady sure learned quickly about American mores and she acted the part accordingly.Walter Pidgeon had little to do here and this wasn't the way for Bruce Bennett to be ending his acting career, or for Richard Anderson to begin his.How are they going to keep them down on the farm, after they've seen Paris? Easy. Keep away from this putrid film.Am so tired of seeing an American or British woman who is totally immersed in her career to a point that she will forsake marriage and family. Hillary Clinton and other ladies, you've come a long way ladies!
deewitt I saw this movie for the first time on TCM, interested because of the pairing of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. It's really boring, with a silly, unbelievable plot. Worse than that, Grant looks and act in such a peculiar manner. He appears to be bone-thin, with his suits just hanging on him. And his expressions and body language border on the effeminate in some sequences. This is not the dashing, debonair, sophisticated Cary Grant we've all become accustomed to seeing in so many movies over the years.Kerr has a brief drunk scene that is unusual for her screen persona. Aside from that, there's not much to her character that can save this dreary flick.The one thing worth noting is the movie's benign portrayal of Islamic rulers. Was it really like that 50 years ago, or were we just too ignorant to know any better?
tedg In designing a life, perhaps the first decision is how many fantasy worlds you wish to maintain. Nearly everyone has several that are robust. This is made possible because of the powerful support movies provide so we can generate and maintain fantasies with some external apparatus.We now have ready support in film for several types of fantasy worlds, concerning God, country and love of course. Identity if you are a teenager.Love is a difficult one to understand because either it doesn't connect (because it is of a world we have chosen to exclude) or it does, in which case our objectivity gets entangled. What's really good is when you have a romantic film that directly supports this need and utterly fails.This is one of those. Cary Grant in an ill-fitting suit. Deborah Kerr with amazingly fat thighs. A concept and script so incompetent one wonders just what they were thinking.The guy behind this later found the groove in this formula with the "I Dream of Jeannie" TeeVee show. There, he softened things: made the "hard woman" softer and the "soft" woman so soft she wasn't even a real woman.So this is interesting from that perspective. Bad films tell you more about the good ones than the good ones themselves do. But there is another feature of this that seems fantastic these days. Along with the romance element, they bonded it with what was then seen as the exotic flavor of Arabia. There is a subplot concerning America's desperate need for oil (more than 50 years ago!) but the main exoticism is the contrast between Islam and US culture. Islam's quirks are seen as comic and innocently charming.I had wondered elsewhere when we would again see Arab women in films as sexy beings. Didn't even happen here. Probably won't happen in my lifetime.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.