MovieChat Forums > Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) Discussion > Basically, nothing has changed!

Basically, nothing has changed!

posted 12 years ago by lisajohn-4
12 replies | jump to latest

This is one of my all-time favorite movies...great cast, story, etc. I'm a movie buff and just love this movie. I'm also an architect with 35 years of experienced and I'm here to tell you that, essentially nothing has changed! Clients are driven by emotion. Clients have their own ideas & impressions and all of them have a dream of designing their own house (despite any experience to qualify them). Just as this movie shows, clients flail forward, thinking they know what is best for them (and ignore the advise of their architect, builder, etc.) and make uninformed decisions. And so, the house exceeds their budget, but in the end, they resign themselves to the consequences of their decisions! And they love their house because it is "theirs".
The great irony is that a house is the most expensive investment most people will make, yet they think that "they know best" despite any evidence to the contrary. The great driver for most people is budget. If you can cut out some perceptibally un-needed item, you are better off. Conversally, people don't try to design their own car or their own shoes...they rely upon professionals to to do this work. Of course!.

[–] Eric-1226 12 years ago

I think one thing that's changed is the issue of financing. I would imagine that a bank loan for a personal "dream house" is quite difficult to obtain nowadays, what with banks - already having been burned by the housing bust of 2008 - being highly reluctant to lend money into a generally bad housing market. Banks probably aren't going to want to lend money for an expensive, customized dream house if it is individualized to the tastes (whims?) of one particular owner. If the bank has to step in and foreclose, they don't want to have this type of specialty house on their books. Too hard to complete it, package it up and re-sell it.

That being said, I would also imagine that there are still a few people out there with enough wherewithal to finance their own dream house, with little or no bank involvement. But I think that building costs and building code restrictions are much tougher to deal with nowadays, compared to the late forties when this film was made. Heck, even simple remodels or repair jobs done on existing houses can be quite expensive. I personally have had a few repair jobs that I wanted done on my house that I felt compelled to postpone indefinitely because contractors wanted HUGE amounts of money for comparatively small jobs. Luckily I'm handy with tools and inherited a sort of do-it-yourself moxie from my dad, so I've been able to do a lot of things myself, but still, knowing what I know about exorbitant contractor costs, I wouldn't touch a personal "dream house" project with a ten foot two-by-four!

Of course, I guess that's what a good architect can do for you: work as an overseer to get you a reasonably priced contractor, and see to it that the job doesn't run into massive cost overruns like, say, in the way those government highway projects always seem to do. lol

[–] lisajohn-4 11 years ago

If you want to play contrarion, of course you can find a bazillion things that have changed since 1948....financing, construction costs, building codes, clothing and hairstyles! The intent of my original post being the emotional human drivers and the typical cycle of Owner inspiration, enthusiasm, shocked-by-reality, resignation and justification really hasn't changed in the past 65 years. And that is the core of the humor in this film and why it still resonates today.

[–] dannieboy20906 10 years ago

I think what you say makes a lot of sense. There are sure to be many exceptions, but most (I would guess 60 to 80 percent of people) people make important decisions based on their emotions instead of logical analyses. I don't claim to be a Vulcan, but I do try to adhere to facts and probability rather than emotion, unless it comes down to asking someone out or to marry me. I go with emotion when they matter.

I know an investment counselor who was lauded by clients for giving them good advice who has gone bankrupt (personal, not corporate) three times and is currently broke. We have also all heard the stories of the plumber with the backed up toilet and the mechanic with the broken down car. There is a reason why lawyers say that any person who defends himself has a fool for a client.

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

There are times (as you pointed out) that the heart should win; there are times when the facts aren't enough.

[–] athomed 12 years ago

I'm sure most said clients don't have a friend like Bill to be hilarious throughout the whole film and help them wade through the murky mess of home-building. In that sense, they're worse off.

___
There is nothing in the world so contagious as laughter and good-humour.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

A lot of the humor in this movie is still relevant today, I think. The only thing that's changed is inflation...costs have really gone up.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] essex9999 10 years ago

The only thing that's changed is inflation...costs have really gone up.

Especially housing costs, which gave gone up far out of proportion to inflation. Did I hear someone in movie say the Blandings' house had cost $21,000 to build? That's a little over $200,000 in today's money.

Even if that sum didn't include the land costs, imagine building a beautiful house like that in the Connecticut suburbs of New York for $200,000 today!

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I know! That property is probably simply wonderful now...probably worth much more than $200 000.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] texastreasure517 10 years ago

In Wikipedia, it states that the house recently sold for $1.2 Million.

[–] borg1005-1 10 years ago

What hit me was when I noticed one of the workmen using a saw - no power tools in those days.

And the casual use of dynamite instead of a jackhammer.

Lots of little stuff like that.

[–] lisajohn-4 10 years ago

Yep! The emotional drivers remain the same. And many of the basic construction problems are pretty much the same today (unknown sub-surface issues, owner-directed changes without understanding the implications, etc.). My father was a building contractor, starting after he was discharged from the army after WWII. He told me a story about ordering an electric, Skil brand circular saw from the local lumber yard. This was a totally new tool at the time. Prior to this, lumber was cut with a hand saw (and nails were driven with a hammer!). The old-timers told him...."you'll cut your leg off with that thing"! But Dad was always looking for ways to be more efficient (and hopefully make a bit more profit!). Later in the 60's Dad bought the new nailing guns that been brought to market. Again, we could do more work in less time. Wow! It seems like ancient history, but like Mr. Blandings, some things never change.....we continue to find better, more efficient and less expensive ways to build. I love this film!

[–] liscarkat (18600) 6 years ago

There were electric power saws and drills in the late 1940s, but yes, hand tools were still used much more than they are today. Even in the 1960s, a house-building site would resound with the pounding of hammers instead of the popping of nail guns.