Wed 22 Mar 2006
One of my favorite films is Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.
In the film, Mr. and Mrs. Blandings build a lovely house in the Conneticut countryside. Blandings, an “adman” suspects his wife of having an affair with an old flame, who happens to be the architect for the house….
To compare the costs of building then, in the 1930’s to today, CNN did a story on Prices in Old Movies. Sometimes, money references in classic movies provide the jolt that reminds us of how inflation has changed what we pay for things. For instance, after adjusting for inflation, $25 in 1941 is the equivalent of $332 today.
Damon Darlin in the Walk-Through, the New York Times real estate blog, comments that the article misses one point about inflation. While renovations have kept pace with the general inflation trend basic real estate costs have skyrocketed.
I’ve always enjoyed “Mr. Blanding’s Builds His Dream House” but, believe it or not, I also liked the remake, The Money Pit with Tom Hanks & Shelley Long. Other favorites include Pacific Heights, about a young couple who buys a duplex in San Francisco and almost loses it to a very scary Michael Keaton, and Duplex with Ben Stiller & Drew Barrymore.
Other real estate films on my list:
Poltergeist (Craig T. Nelson plays a real estate agent)
War of the Roses (Divorcing couple fights over their beautiful house)
American Beauty (Kevin Spacey’s wife (Annette Bening) is a real estate agent)
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (One of the main characters is a real estate agent)
Glen Garry Glen Ross (scary film about selling real estate in the old days)
Open House - The Movie
Life As A House (Kevin Kline)
My Architect (Director Nathaniel Kahn searches to understand his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, who died bankrupt and alone in 1974)
The Fountainhead (Gary Cooper as architect Howard Roark)
Next in the works, a Real Estate Movie Film Festival!
