Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreams House (1948)

Fed up with his cramped Manhattan apartment, an advertising executive (Cary Grant)  decides to move to the country with his wife (Myrna Loy) and daughters (Connie Marshall, Sharyn Moffett). But he soon discovers building a house from the ground up can be a very costly nightmare. Based on the novel by Eric Hodgins and directed by H.C. Potter. This popular comedy is a template for all the "house hell" comedies that followed like THE MONEY PIT (1986). Grant and Loy are expert farceurs as is Melvyn Douglas as Grant's best friend so all H.C. Potter has to do is stay out of their way. But he appears to have a skillful touch with the supporting cast. The jealousy triangle (Loy is an old flame of Douglas) seems overkill as there is enough amusement to hold our attention and Grant's jealousy seems out of place. Good fun. With Lex Barker, Louise Beavers, Ian Wolfe, Reginald Denny and Lurene Tuttle.