Two events coincided yesterday that prompt me to heap praise on one of my favorite movies of all time, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

One is that I’m finishing up Selling the Dream: Why Advertising Is Good Business. Just have to write the introduction, which I started yesterday and which focuses on popular culture’s mixed depictions of the advertising industry. One of the films I discuss is Blandings, which involves an ad man and his family buying a home in the country, with comical complications naturally.

The other event yesterday was the announcement of Academy Award nominations. In my book, you won?t find better screenwriting than in the old pitter-patter films of the 1940s and 1950s. Here?s an example, among many, from Blandings:

Muriel Blandings: You remember Bunny Funkhouser, dear, that clever young interior decorator that we met at the Collins’ cocktail party.

Jim Blandings: You mean that young man with the open-toed sandals? What about him?

Muriel Blandings: Well, you know how long we’ve said we’ve got to do something about fixing up this apartment. Well, a couple of weeks ago, he called, and I asked him to come over, and he had some simply wonderful ideas, and I didn’t want to bother you with sketches and estimates until I knew whether we could afford it. So I sent them over to Bill.

Jim Blandings: How much?

Muriel Blandings: What’s the point in asking how much until you know what you’re going to get?

Jim Blandings: I’ve seen Bunny Funkhouser. I know what I’m going to get.

Of course, this exchange works even better when you hear Cary Grant and Myrna Loy perform it. You just have to hear Cary Grant, with a sneer, say, ?that young man with the open-toed sandals.?