My Dream is Yours is a 1949 musical comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars Doris Day, Jack Carson, and Lee Bowman. My Dream is Yours is a remake of the 1934 film Twenty Million Sweethearts.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Production Company: Michael Curtiz Productions
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Jack Carson, Doris Day, Lee Bowman, Adolphe Menjou, Eve Arden, S.Z. Sakall, Selena Royle
US Box Office: $4,985,000 ($103,700,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Release Date: April 16, 1949
Plot Summary: Singer Gary Mitchell (Lee Bowman) refuses to renew his contract with talent agent Doug Blake (Jack Carson) shortly before he is scheduled to appear on the Hour of Enchantment radio show. Needing a replacement with Mitchell, Doug finds aspiring New York singer Martha Gibson (Doris Day), a young single mother with a great voice. Doug recruits Martha to join him, but Martha finds that the road to stardom is harder than it seems.
Production: In late 1947 Warner Bros. began development on a follow-up to the musical comedy film Romance on the High Seas (1948), which starred Doris Day and Jack Carson (and was still in its post-production phase at this point). The film was titled My Dream is Yours, and was intended as a loose remake of the earlier Warner Bros. musical Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934). Warner Bros. picked prolific director Michael Curtiz to direct the film. Curtiz and George Amy produced the film through Curtiz’s company “Michael Curtiz Productions”, a subdivision of WB that the studio set up for tax reasons.
Warner Bros. always intended My Dream is Yours to be a vehicle for their new musical star Doris Day. Day was cast in the lead role of aspiring singer Martha Gibson. Day signed a seven year contract with Warner after the success of her first film Romance on the High Seas. My Dream is Yours was Day’s second film. Day was the fourth-billed star of Romance on the High Seas (even though she played the main character) but she was the second-billed star of My Dream is Yours. Jack Carson was cast as talent agent Doug Blake. Carson was the leading man in Romance on the High Seas and would later co-star with Day in her third film It’s a Great Feeling (1949). Day and Carson were dating during the filming of My Dream is Yours.
Curtiz began filming My Dream is Yours in late March of 1948 and wrapped up in June. My Dream is Yours was primarily shot on set at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Some on-location filming was done at the Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles and a few exterior scenes were shot at the Iverson Ranch (a popular “movie ranch” frequently used as a set for westerns). Exterior footage of the Long Beach Airport was used to represent the film’s airport in establishing shots, but all interior scenes set at the airport were shot on set. Doris Day missed three days of shooting in May of 1948 due to being sick with a fever.
My Dream is Yours is most well known in modern times for featuring an Easter-themed dream sequence that combined live action and animation. In the dream scene the animated Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny (voiced by Mel Blanc) interacts with Doris Day and Jack Carson for the song “Freddie, Get Ready!” Bugs Bunny and the other cartoon characters were animated by Looney Tunes animator Friz Freleng. The animation was superimposed over footage of the actors shot by Curtiz.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Bandleaders Ada Leonard and Frankie Carle appear as themselves in My Dream is Yours. My Dream is Yours was actor Edgar Kennedy’s last film. Kennedy played Martha’s Uncle Charlie in the film. He died in November of 1948, several months after My Dream is Yours was released. Doris Day and S.Z. Sakall (Felix Hofer) appeared together in four films: Romance on the High Seas (1948), My Dream is Yours, Tea for Two (1950), and Lullaby of Broadway (1951). Day and Eve Arden (Vivian Martin) starred together in My Dream is Yours and Tea for Two. Sections of the apartment set constructed for Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) were reused to represent Gary Mitchell’s apartment in My Dream is Yours, both films were shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.
Reception: My Dream is Yours was released on April 16, 1949 (the Saturday before Easter). Although it earned less money at the box office than Romance on the High Seas, My Dream is Yours was still a moderate success for Warner Bros. Doris Day would finally receive top billing in her fifth film Tea for Two (1950).
Critics gave My Dream is Yours mixed to negative reviews when it was first released. The film critics at TIME magazine gave the film a negative review. They praised Doris Day’s singing and Eve Arden’s comedic performance, but thought that the story was too generic and that My Dream is Yours just reused elements from better films. John L. Scot of the Los Angeles Times similarly praised Day’s singing and Arden’s performance, but disliked the film’s story. Richard Coe of The Washington Post called My Dream is Yours “supremely dull.” Nell Dodson-Russell of the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder conversely gave the film a positive review. She strongly praised Doris Day’s performance and singing.
Why You Should See It: My Dream is Yours is a good musical comedy film. The film has some funny moments and features good songs. I liked the titular song “My Dream is Yours,” which is sung multiple times in the film. Doris Day gives a charming performance and her character is very likeable. The animated/live-action scene helps to make My Dream is Yours stand out from Day’s other musical films of the late 1940s and early 1950s.