Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 26, 2022

Warner Bros.' unabashedly sweet Technicolor musical My Dream is Yours was conceived while Doris Day's star-making debut Romance on the High Seas was still in production; you could say that director Michael Curtiz, who directed both films, just had a feeling. While this simple story about a single mom hand-picked to be the next radio star is heavy on the cheese, its throwback charm -- and yes, another winning performance by Day -- keeps the ship sailing.

Things start off rough in Los Angeles, as white-hot crooner Gary Mitchell (Lee Bowman, but Hal Derwin is doing the singing) gets into a contract dispute with manager Doug Blake (Jack Carson) backstage at "Hour of Enchantment", the popular radio show run by his boss Thomas Hutchins (Adolphe Menjou) and producer Felix Hofer (S. Z. Sakall), with the singer soon leaving for greener pastures. Furious about the severed business partnership, Felix refuses Doug's offer to bring back "the next singing sensation" from New York but Doug goes anyway, effectively ending his job too. Taking his secretary and long-time friend Vivian Martin (Eve Arden) along for the ride, Doug lucks out in the big city when he finds war widow Martha Gibson (Doris Day) working at a jukebox factory and hears her beautiful voice... and after her own job loss (they're very convenient in this film), she's got no choice than to accept his offer. After leaving her young son Freddie (Duncan Richardson) behind with his uncle, Martha finally makes her way to the West Coast.

This seemingly smooth series of events is broken up by a few sitcom-grade mix-ups, which return with reinforcements during much of the film's second half as an endless series of roadblocks, miscommunications, and an obligatory love triangle stand in Martha's way to... well, just let her singing voice work its magic. Along the way, we're treated to no shortage of original and familiar numbers sung by Day as her character works odd jobs and eventually finds a bigger stage; if nothing else, these moments nudge the film's threadbare plot along in an organic, entertaining way. But it's the other stuff that distracts from an otherwise amiable drama, which ranges from a few out-of-character moments to the returning Freddie's gee-whiz cuteness which includes a fair amount of Bugs Bunny product placement; this innocent detour even leads to a rather odd dream sequence co-directed by Friz Freleng and featuring the famous rabbit himself, who dances with Martha and Doug in fully bunny getup. It kind of works, is thankfully over before causing too much damage, and really stands as a microcosm for My Dream is Yours as a whole: fun, but ultimately pointless.

My Dream is Yours was first released on DVD back in 2007, and again by Warner Archive almost exactly a decade later. The boutique label returns with yet another full-bodied Blu-ray edition that pairs pitch-perfect Technicolor visuals with lossless audio and a nice little collection of bonus features carried over from those earlier discs.

My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There's little to say about Warner Archive's solid transfer other than that it easily reaches the considerable heights of the boutique label's past Technicolor titles on Blu-ray. Although its source material and film scan resolution were not specified, the resulting 1080p image looks clean and damage-free with excellent fine detail, no signs of excessive grain management or other eyesores, and a pleasing film-like texture that's nonetheless been lovingly polished to a purist-friendly shine. Color saturation is exemplary and black levels are also typically nice and deep, although they seemed to fluctuate slightly during a handful of shot transitions and, perhaps inevitably, the brief third-act fusion of live action and animation (screenshot #20) looks even more out-of-place with the increased resolution of Blu-ray... not to mention that WB's best animators obviously weren't available for this one. Nonetheless, it's a largely outstanding image that, pound for pound, easily outpaces previous home video releases and should thrill long-time fans of the film.

My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's audio can't quite measure up to its visuals... but likely due to source format limitations, not any disc defect. The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track wrings out plenty of sonic detail, from show-stopping musical numbers to crowded conversations at cocktail parties and the like, which regularly push this split one-channel track to the limit. Dialogue is mostly clear but sometimes affected by a slight layer of gauzy hiss, whereas the lip-synced musical numbers stand out more strongly in direct contrast. In contrast, the music and original songs are largely full and dynamic with very little in the way of high-end distortion or similar issues. These moments (of which there are many) provide the track's most memorable moments, but the somewhat inconsistent nature of its source quality can't be avoided.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, but not the extras. This is pretty annoying since the DVD collection that most of them were sourced from did in fact have optional subtitles available. It's perhaps my only ongoing hang-up regarding Warner Archive releases, and one that I hope is addressed at some point.

My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and no inserts. All bonus features have been ported over from earlier DVD editions and a few A/V upgrades have been made.

• Joe McDoakes Short: "So You Want to Be an Actor" (10:56) - Our perpetual man "behind the 8-ball", here a failed actor, tries just about everything to land a gig; soon enough, everything comes full-circle.

• WB Short: "The Grass is Always Greener" (20:24) - This Oscar-nominated 1950 short film, directed by Richard L. Bare and based on a Pulitzer prize-winning play, concerns a group of struggled ranchers whose lives are changed after a potentially crazy stranger wanders onto their property.

• WB Cartoon: "A Ham in a Role" (6:48) - This 1949 Looney Tunes short stars the Goofy Gophers, was clearly influenced by the comedy stylings of Tex Avery, and appears to be the same restored version as seen on Warner Bros.' excellent Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3. But really... no Bugs Bunny short?

• Theatrical Trailer (2:24) - This lively promotional piece can also be seen here.

• Song Selection - Instant access to My Dream is Yours' 16 main musical and dance numbers, listed below.

• Main Title
• "Love Finds a Way"
• "Canadian Capers"
• "My Dream is Yours"
• "Tic Tic Tic"
• "Canadian Capers" (Reprise)
• "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"
• "I Wanna Go Back to Bali"
• "Nagasaki"
• "I'll String Along With You"
• "Someone Like You"
• "My Dream is Yours" (Reprise)
• Freddie, Get Ready
• "My Dream is Yours" (2nd Reprise)
• "Someone Like You" (Finale)
• End Title

My Dream Is Yours Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Curtiz's My Dream is Yours, starring Doris Day in only her second role, may not reach the heights of his best work (or even Romance of the High Seas, Day's debut the previous year), but it's a decent musical that plays to her obvious vocal strengths and features a solid supporting cast. Too many sitcom hijinks and other detours -- including a truly baffling but kinda fun dream sequence featuring Bugs Bunny -- keep it from reaching greater heights, but winning charm puts it firmly into "guilty pleasure" territory with plenty of great songs to back it up. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is solid, too, with strong visual merits and a few welcome era-specific extras to boot. Recommended.