I have seen this movie several times, and not once has it ever struck me as funny. There are a few slightly amusing moments, when the couple first are shown the house by realtor Ian Wolfe, but most of the movie is them getting more into debt, and more upset with each other, all over this great idea to build a new house.
I just don't see the humor in Cary Grant's character blundering into one bad decision after another, and the rising tension that marks the film. To be honest, I would be rather suspicious too, if an old friend always seemed to be hanging around when I wasn't there. The idea that Melvyn Douglas and Myrna Loy might be cheating on Cary Grant doesn't seem all that far fetched.
For an alleged comedy, there's a really bleak quality to this story. The way it's all conveniently wrapped up at the end is just a little too neat for me, after all the agony this family has gone through.Maybe the movie has been misunderstood as a comedy, when it is in fact a bitter satire on the pitfalls of building a home. Satire is not the same thing as comedy, though it may use humor to make a point.
There are very few old movies I dislike, but to be honest, this just doesn't work for me. I find too much real bitterness in it to make it work as the comedy it's supposed to be.
I just don't see the humor in Cary Grant's character blundering into one bad decision after another, and the rising tension that marks the film. To be honest, I would be rather suspicious too, if an old friend always seemed to be hanging around when I wasn't there. The idea that Melvyn Douglas and Myrna Loy might be cheating on Cary Grant doesn't seem all that far fetched.
For an alleged comedy, there's a really bleak quality to this story. The way it's all conveniently wrapped up at the end is just a little too neat for me, after all the agony this family has gone through.Maybe the movie has been misunderstood as a comedy, when it is in fact a bitter satire on the pitfalls of building a home. Satire is not the same thing as comedy, though it may use humor to make a point.
There are very few old movies I dislike, but to be honest, this just doesn't work for me. I find too much real bitterness in it to make it work as the comedy it's supposed to be.