And Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy) tries to get her ideal color scheme incorporated into the house. In the screencap embedded above, she is showing the "boss painter" a thread, which she can't loan to him because it is rare and hard to find...
INT. THE FOYER - LATE AFTERNOON
A general flurry of activity; Gussie and several workmen
carrying furniture upstairs, unpacking barrels, etc. Muriel,
list and samples in hand, is explaining her color scheme to
Mr. PeDelford, a polite, cigar-smoking, noncommittal boss
painter. In the b.g., casually leaning on the bannister is
PeDelford's taciturn and somewhat skeptical-looking assistant.
MURIEL
Now I want the living room to be a
soft green.
(PeDelford nods)
Not quite as bluish as a robin's
egg, but yet not as yellow as daffodil
buds.
PEDELFORD
Mm.
MURIEL
(handing him a sample)
The best sample I could get is a
little too yellow, but don't let
whoever mixes it go to the other
extreme and get it too blue. It should
just be sort of a grayish yellow
green.
PEDELFORD
(making a note)
Mm-hmm.
They turn to the dining room.
MURIEL
Now the dining room I'd like yellow.
Not just yellow, a very gay yellow.
PEDELFORD
Mm-hmm.
MURIEL
Something bright and sunshiny.
(sudden inspiration)
I tell you, Mr. PeDelford, if you'll
just send one of your workmen to the
A&P for a pound of their best butter
and match it exactly, you can't go
wrong.
PEDELFORD
(making a note)
Mm.
MURIEL
This is the paper we're going to use
here in the foyer.
(hands sample to him)
It's flowered but I don't want the
ceiling to match any of the colors
of the flowers. There are some little
dots in the background, and it's
these dots I want you to match. Not
the little greenish dots near the
hollyhock leaf, but the little bluish
dot between the rosebud and the
delphinium blossom. Is that clear?
PeDelford looks carefully at the sample, then:
PEDELFORD
(making note)
Mm-hmm.
MURIEL
The kitchen's to be white. Not a
cold, antiseptic hospital white -- a
little warmer but not to suggest any
other color but white.
PEDELFORD
(note)
Mm.
MURIEL
Now for the powder room, I want you
to match this thread.
(hands him thread)
You can see it's practically an apple
red. Somewhere between a healthy
Winesap and an unripened Jonathan.
PEDELFORD
(making note)
Mm.
There is a crash from the kitchen.
MURIEL
Will you excuse me?
Muriel hastily exits toward the kitchen. PeDelford turns to
his assistant.
PEDELFORD
Got it, Charlie?
CHARLIE
(deadpan; indicating
rooms with his thumb)
Green, yellow, blue, white, red.
PEDELFORD
Check.
DISSOLVE
I have always loved that scene, and every time I see it I appreciate it more.
Text from DailyScript.
One of my all-time favorite movies! TFS!
ReplyDeletebobbie
I love this film, and I especially love that scene. Blandings Forever!
ReplyDeleteAnyone wanting to remodel or build should see that movie before doing anything else. It'll give them a good laugh and show them how it's NOT done. :-D
ReplyDeleteOne of our favorite quotes is:
ReplyDeleteCarpenter Foreman: On them second floor lintels between the lally columns, do you want we should rabbet them or not?
This is my ALL TIME favorite scene in a movie and top ten favorite movies. Thanks for the reminder I should watch it again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning this film. Yup, it's great. They don't write scripts like this anymore. Witty banter on steroids--one of the highly entertaining daughters calls it "bickering." 24k gold. (This is a film that'll never be shown in a women's studies class. The male lead character is pretty well whipped and it's 1948!)
ReplyDeleteFor more "witty banter on steroids", try His Girl Friday (Cary Grant/Rosalind Russell) 1940.
DeleteThanks! Yes! So long since I've seen it it'll be like the first time. One of the many perks in an "elderly" and increasingly daft existence.
DeleteWe were moving into our home 35 years ago when I ran this film for my wife, who'd never seen it. It's still one of our favorites.
ReplyDeleteRead the books, they're even better!
ReplyDeleteKnew a woman who wanted her window shutters painted black with a little purple ... exactly the color of an eggplant
ReplyDelete