- Dreamboat (film)
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For other uses, see Dreamboat (disambiguation).
Dreamboat 
Directed by Claude Binyon Produced by Sol C. Siegel Written by John D. Weaver (story)
Claude BinyonStarring Clifton Webb
Ginger Rogers
Anne Francis
Jeffrey HunterRelease date(s) July 26, 1952 Running time 83 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $2 million[1] Dreamboat is a 1952 comedy film starring Clifton Webb as a college professor with a mysterious past.
Contents
Plot
The respectable lives of Professor of English literature Thornton Sayre (Clifton Webb) and his daughter Carol (Anne Francis) are severely disrupted when it is revealed that he was once a matinee idol known as "Dreamboat". His films are being reshown on a television show hosted by his former costar Gloria Marlowe (Ginger Rogers). The college administrators clamor for his resignation, but President Mathilda May Coffey (Elsa Lanchester) requests and is given discretionary power to decide what to do. In private, she admits to Thornton that she had been one of his biggest fans.
Thornton hastily leaves for New York to get an injunction against the show, taking Carol along. There they meet Sam Levitt (Fred Clark), the man responsible for airing the movies. While Sam and Gloria try to get Thornton to change his mind, Sam has underling Bill Ainslee (Jeffrey Hunter) show Carol the sights. Undaunted, Thornton eventually gets his injunction, but his life is irreparably changed. He is fired, and Bill and Carol have fallen in love and are planning to get married.
When Gloria gloats over his setbacks, he reveals that a major movie studio is interested in reviving his film career. She then reveals that she bought his contract and is now his boss. Months later, Bill and Carol watch Thornton in Sitting Pretty - a real film starring Clifton Webb.
Music
The film introduced the standard Poinciana (written by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier) subsequently covered by many artists and which went on to feature in the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County.
Cast
- Clifton Webb as Thornton Sayre / "Dreamboat" / Bruce Blair
- Ginger Rogers as Gloria Marlowe
- Anne Francis as Carol Sayre
- Jeffrey Hunter as Bill Ainslee
- Elsa Lanchester as Dr. Matilda Coffey
- Fred Clark as Sam Levitt
- Paul Harvey as Harrington
- Ray Collins as Timothy Stone
- Helene Stanley as Mimi
- Richard Garrick as Judge Bowles
References
- ^ Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History, Scarecrow Press, 1989 p224
External links
- Dreamboat at the TCM Movie Database
- Dreamboat at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- 1952 films
- Black-and-white films
- American films
- 1950s comedy films
- American comedy films
- Films directed by Claude Binyon
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