''Dream Wife'' is a 1953 romantic comedy film starring

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

and

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

made by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. It was directed by

Sidney Sheldon Sidney Sheldon (February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007) was an American writer. He was prominent in the 1930s, first working on Broadway plays, and then in motion pictures, notably writing the successful comedy ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer ...

and produced by

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

, from a screenplay by

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

, Alfred Lewis Levitt and Sidney Sheldon. The music score was by

Conrad Salinger Conrad Salinger (August 30, 1901, Brookline, Massachusetts – June 17, 1962, Pacific Palisades, California) was an American arranger, orchestrator and composer, who studied classical composition at the Paris Conservatoire. He is credited with ...

, the cinematography by Milton R. Krasner and the art direction by Daniel B. Cathcart and

Cedric Gibbons Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish-American art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons designed the ...

. The costume design by

Herschel McCoy Herschel McCoy (August 6, 1912 – February 3, 1956) was an American motion picture costume designer with credits on more than 150 feature films from 1936 to 1955. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. McCoy's ear ...

and

Helen Rose Helen Rose (February 2, 1904 – November 9, 1985) was an American costume designer and clothing designer who spent the bulk of her career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Career Helen Rose was born on February 2, 1904 to William Bromberg and Ray Bobbs ...

received an Oscar nomination. The film's secondary stars included

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

and Betta St. John, with supporting performances by

Eduard Franz Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten ...

, Buddy Baer,

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) in b ...

Dan Tobin Daniel Malloy Tobin (October 19, 1910 – November 26, 1982) was an American supporting actor on the stage, in films and on television. He generally played gentle, urbane, rather fussy, sometimes obsequious and shifty characters, often with a c ...

, Dean Miller, and

Movita Maria Luisa "Movita" Castaneda (April 12, 1916 – February 12, 2015) was an American actress best known for having been the second wife of actor Marlon Brando. In films, she played exotic women/singers, such as in ''Flying Down to Rio'' (1933 ...

Plot summary

Businessman Clemson Reade (

) breaks off his engagement with workaholic fiance Effie (

), and becomes engaged to the adoring Princess Tarji ( Betta St. John) from the fictional country of Bukistan, whom he sees as an "old-fashioned" girl. As Bukistan is in the midst of making an oil trade agreement with the United States, the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

assigns a handler to Princess Tarji. Surprisingly, the person given the assignment is Effie. As Reade endeavors to get close to his fiance, Effie ends up educating the princess about Western ideas of emancipation and the modern role of a wife. Effie teaches Tarji the English language through books about important American feminists. While working with Tarjii Effie comes to moderate some of her own ideas. Conversely, Reade's attempted courtship of the princess, which he initially conducts by American customs, must be adjusted to Bukistanian tradition. Effie explains to him that the marriage, called "hufi", is followed by a prolonged period of celebration called "bruchah". These terms are borrowed for comedic effect from the Jewish terms "

huppah A ''chuppah'' ( he, חוּפָּה, pl. חוּפּוֹת, ''chuppot'', literally, "canopy" or "covering"), also huppah, chipe, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cl ...

" — the canopy beneath which the marriage ceremony takes place (thus the ceremony sometimes is called "hupah"), and the "Sheva 'bruchis' or '

sheva brachot ''Sheva Brachot'' ( he, שבע ברכות) literally "the seven blessings" also known as ''birkot nissuin'' ( he, ברכות נישואין), "the wedding blessings" in ''Jewish law'' are blessings that are recited for a bride and her groom as par ...

'" - the 7 blessings. "Bruchah" means "blessing", and these are recited both at the ceremony and throughout the week-long celebration that follows. Tarji embraces the ideas Effie presents. She adopts American clothing and allows herself such activities as taking a walk through the city on her own. Not understanding the language, Tarji smiles warmly at the people she passes. A number of the men she passes mistake Tarji's friendliness for romantic intent. Several of them arrive at her apartment, and a fight breaks out between them and Reade. The police are called, with the result being that Tarji is thrown in jail. Outraged, her father travels to the United States with the intent of negating his daughter's engagement. However, Effie charms Tarji's father into reconsidering, much to Reade's dismay. Tarji confesses to Reade that she does not love him, and will not come to their wedding ceremony. Realizing his true feelings are for Effie, Reade is relieved to be released from his commitment. Tarji is summoned by her father, who lectures her sternly. Despite her earlier assertion, she arrives for her wedding with Reade. He is aghast, and attempts to rebuke her for abandoning her newfound feminist ideals, ultimately succeeding in stopping the marriage. Tarji's father is outraged, but Effie slyly congratulates him, pointing out that he would not let a man like Reade ruin the oil deal he had with the United States, even though he was a scoundrel. Tarji's father agrees to uphold the treaty, despite the wedding not going through. He tells Effie she must love Reade very much, implying he understood her true motives all along. The wedding is cancelled, and Reade and Effie kiss.

Cast

as Clemson Reade *

as Effie *

as Walter McBride * Betta St. John as Tarji *

as Khan of Bukistan *

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was an English actor. Early life Born in Balham, London, he moved with his family at the age of four to Chicago, Illinois, where he began in community theater. His mother was Dolly Trema ...

as Ken Landwell *

Donald Randolph Donald Randolph (January 5, 1906 – March 16, 1993) was a film, television, and radio actor. The actor, who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's '' Topaz'' (1969), acted in dozens of radio dramas, television programs and over thirty films. Randolph ...

as Ali *

Bruce Bennett Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix, also credited Herman Brix; May 19, 1906February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who prior to his screen career was a highly successful college athlete in football and in both intercol ...

as Charlie Elkwood *

as Henry Malvine *

as Mr. Brown *

as Rima *

Gloria Holden Gloria Anna Holden (September 5, 1903 – March 22, 1991) was an English-born American film actress, best known for her role as '' Dracula's Daughter''. She often portrayed cold society women. Early life Holden was born in London, England. She ...

as Mrs. Jean Landwell * Gordon Richards as Sir Cecil

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,213,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $672,000 elsewhere, meaning it resulted in a loss of $456,000.

In other media

The character of Princess Tarji was resurrected in one episode of Sheldon's ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...

'', titled "This Is Murder" (4/9/66), portrayed by Gila Golan.

References

External links

* * * * {{AFI film, id=53542, title=Dream Wife 1953 films 1953 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films set in New York City Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Sidney Sheldon 1950s English-language films 1950s American films