Car of Dreams (1935) User Reviews

Silly but very enjoyable fluff

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 28 June 2013]

I will freely admit that "Car of Dreams" is a very silly piece of fluff. Yet, despite its flaws, it's also a nice and enjoyable film. My advice is to stick with this one--it starts off slow but ends very well.

Grete Mosheim plays Vera--a very odd lady indeed. She loves to fantasize about having money and likes to go to shops and pretend she's loaded with cash. However, because she has none, she never buys anything--just pretends. One day, she's admiring a Rolls Royce--and once again, acting like she wants to buy the thing. However, her little game backfires, in a way, because the son of her employer (John Mills) meets her and is infatuated--and arranges for her to get the car for free (claiming she's won some prize). However, even after meeting him, she has no idea Mills is the factory owner's son--she just thinks he's a nice guy. But, things get VERY complicated when they begin to date and he decides to help her by raising her salary. Her coworkers know who he is and they think she does, too. And, since she's gotten a huge raise, they begin to believe she's his mistress! Where all this goes is just something you'll have to see.

While it was disconcerting at first to see and hear John Mills singing, he wasn't too bad and the songs were quite catchy. And the plot played a lot like a good American screwball comedy-romance. Pleasant characters, a very well-written plot and a real likability of everyone makes this a hard film to hate--even if it is, at times, very silly.

Top Gear

[malcolmgsw · 7/10 · 8 January 2019]

This film was shown about 30 years ago on BBC. It has just been shown on London Live. It is a delightful film. John Mills in his matinee idol days. Grete Mosheim may not be the best of the German actresses in exile who came to this country in the thirties but she has a rather endearing disposition, not withstanding her difficulty with English. With the support of Robertson Hare and some pleasant tunes this is a very entertaining musical.

So that's where they got the ending of GREASE from

[1930s_Time_Machine · 5/10 · 25 April 2024]

This isn't anything particularly special but if you fancy a fairly funny, good-natured and well made typical English mid-thirties rom-com, this is for you. It won't make you laugh but it will make you smile.

Don't worry that the story is completely crazy - nobody else involved does. The absurd silly humour feels typically English and yet this is actually based on an earlier Hungarian film. Perhaps that Englishness is because it was adapted for G-B by Stafford Dickens (no relation) who did a few Will Hay and Jessie Matthews comedies.

You're likely to forget this a couple of hours after watching it but - assuming you like daft old English comedies particularly silly farces and Will Hay as opposed to the slightly more sophisticated (and often un-funny) Ealing comedies - you'll enjoy it while you're watching it.

For what it is, it's absolutely fine and delivers a happy and cheerful mood straight into your head and into your heart. You also get to hear why you don't see John Mills singing in anything else! And one thing which does make this unique it it gives you a rare chance to see the former toast of Berlin's theatre scene (until the Nazis took over), Grete Mosheim in her only English speaking picture.

A Rolls Royce To Court My Lady

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 11 May 2010]

Likable young John Mills plays a part in Car Of Dreams that Cary Grant would perfect over in American films. In one of his earliest films Mills plays the rich young owner's son of a store that sells all kinds of musical instruments. A rather dreamy young woman played by Grete Mosheim starts working at the store, but she doesn't meet him quite yet.

Grete loves to windowshop and dream of things that she can't afford and when she's in a Rolls Royce dealer's shop Mills is there and they take a test spin. Later on though her world gets turned upside down when the car arrives at her family's all paid for. Imagine having enough money to just plunk down and pay for a Rolls right up front. The Rolls Royce wasn't quite the expensive status symbol it later became, still it was a mark of prosperity especially in those Depression years.

Not only does he buy the car for her, but Mills assigns himself the role of chauffeur. He wants to see if she really loves him for himself or his dad's bankroll.

Car Of Dreams is yet another one of those rich boy meets girl from other side of the tracks that's a universally popular theme. It has a musical score and we get to hear John Mills sing. Mills had a pleasant voice, but Bing Crosby was in no danger. Grete's accent was popping up throughout the film with no real explanation. Robertson Hare was very funny especially trying to teach Grete the proper rhythm to rubber stamp orders.

I'm not sure the musical score was necessary, the film would have been good without it. Car Of Dreams is an entertaining piece of romantic fluff that film audiences loved during those hard times.

Ham Rolls

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 12 July 2010]

In the last year or so I've seen several British films of this vintage and even later - up to around 1940 - that were far more risible than this. So far as I can tell it was the only time Gret Mosheim played in a film outside her native Germany (where she continued to work until 1983) and though she hardly set the screen ablaze she turned in a fairly decent performance and was easy on the eye; she was either a dedicated patriot or else found herself unwelcome in England at a time of political unrest. John Mills had a background in song and dance in the theatre and makes a decent enough fist of a singing Prince Charming in yet another take on the Cinderella story whilst Norah Howard is strong in support. Throw in some half-decent tunes and we're talking pleasant diversion.

Cheerful Bit of Depression Relief

[LeonardKniffel · 4/10 · 6 April 2020]

This obscure bit of romantic silliness stars John Mills, the talented British actor who went on to many great dramatic roles in American films. The plot involves a factory girl (played by Grete Mosheim with her unexplained German accent) who loves to shop and ends up with a free Rolls-Royce. An obscure little gem full of art deco sets, anti--Great Depression optimism, and cheerful tunes, especially "Do a Little Good to Someone."

1935 all over

[Goingbegging · 6/10 · 1 March 2021]

John Mills is a young bachelor, almost ready to give up on women. They know he's due to inherit a trombone factory, and just want him for his money. Then he suddenly becomes infatuated with a girl in the street (Vera), whom he follows into a Rolls-Royce showroom, not realising that she's a penniless fantasy-shopper who likes to act as though she's on a spending spree. Her friend Molly (played by Glennis Lorimer, used for years as the face of Gainsborough Pictures) chides her for her silly habit, and gets her a job working alongside her in the trombone factory.

In the showroom, Mills secretly arranges to buy the latest model and then pretends that it has been gifted to Vera as the lucky 10,000th visitor. But he overdoes the gesture, using his influence as the boss's son to organise a hefty pay-rise for Vera, which the other girls resentfully view as an exchange of favours. (She is the only one who doesn't know Mills' identity.) So everything goes wrong before anything comes right.

You could pin the date 1935 on this film without being told. The showroom manager shows John Mills how to drive a car in just a few brief gestures. (Driving-tests started later that year.) There are unconscious touches of Fred Astaire, with scenes of luxury life as deliberate escapism from the economic depression. Also of Wodehouse, who spent this year in Hollywood, exerting a surprisingly strong influence on screenwriting. Vera is played by a newly-arrived German-Jewish refugee Grete Mosheim, who must have felt at home with the songs by fellow-exile Mischa Spoliansky that pepper the story harmlessly enough. Even the use of back-projection, to provide unrealistic scenes of happy touring in the Rolls, is firmly of its time.

A light snack with no pretensions of being anything more. And good of its kind.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 5/10 · 3 July 2005]

A good tune or two and having Robertson Hare on hand adds some sparks to this otherwise pretty run-of-the-mill production. The film is surprisingly too quickly paced for its own good for the first half hour, but once it stops rushing, it is becomes quite passable stuff, if not much else. There are some pleasant ice-skating sequences added in, probably just to buff up the running time, for they add very little to the story, but neither do they really detract from the story. It is not an awfully funny picture, and Grete Mosheim's airy-fairy performance has a tendency to get on the nerves, but it is rather watchable nevertheless.

cute, happy movie

[skiddoo · 6/10 · 25 February 2017]

I'm not sure all the reviewers paid close attention when they watched. By the way, the couple took a test ride "in the shop," in their imagination only, just as they were imagining they were flying in the car later on, which made it okay that he wasn't looking very carefully where he was going, something that always bothers me in movies and TV shows because you never know if that means there will be a crash.

I enjoyed the protective parents who were nevertheless quite naive, not suspecting, for instance, the sudden upsurge in weddings and christenings wasn't true but let Bob give them some money.

The gossip of the workplace is certainly realistic although following the pair to the ice festival is like something out of an Astaire- Rogers mix up. In fact, the entire movie reminded me of them--silly people in silly situations with lots of singing and a large musical number. "Excuse me, have you seen a white cow lady?" Wonderful! (I have to assume there was a convenient costume rental on site--everyone was getting a room to change in, all of which costs money but by then the family was making more.)

In that era, Sonja Henie was hugely popular, so the audiences of the movie would have appreciated seeing skaters who frankly were better spinners than Henie, centered and didn't travel across the ice as badly as she did although it was her trademark. The fellow on stilts was really entertaining. Was he dressed as a character? He looked like a flame. After all, there had to be a reason for those people to meet as they tailed each other and this added a lot of movement and interest to the scenes.

I imagine Grete's family went to Britain to escape the devastation left by WWI. Because she was an immigrant she wasn't handicapped by a lower class accent in passing as higher class.

I don't think it was odd for a young woman to dream of luxury, beauty, and ease. Movies showing millionaire lifestyles were very popular then. It was a way to forget the hardships of the 1930s. Considering how little her father sold and how much the daughter spent to seem well-heeled, her lack of skills--she was even barely adequate at stamping making her getting a huge raise suspicious, and her casual disregard for showing up at work on time which undoubtedly got her fired a lot, the strange part was what they lived on before Bob came into their lives.

For me, almost any John Mills movie is a winner. This was upbeat and he was charming so I enjoyed it.

Creaky romantic comedy with some charm

[huwdj · 5/10 · 20 November 2001]

British attempt at American style romantic comedy. Doesn't really work but fun to watch for an early John Mills and the interesting Grete Mosheim. Ms Mosheim photographs beautifully in some shots and not at all well in others. Perhaps the cameraman or director lost interest at times ?

Goodbye to trouble

[nellybly · 9/10 · 14 March 2006]

For the purist pointer-outer, Molly wasn't Vera's sister, she was her friend so it didn't matter what kind of accent either girl had. "Vera", in point of fact, had an accent that was closely matched by her "father" (a man who reminds me of Felix Bressart).

OK, with that aside. This is a lovely fun movie with no pretenses whatsoever. The music is hummable and sticks with you after the film is over. The dialogue is witty and snappy ("Up goes her money, bang goes her reputation.") John Mills has a nice tenor voice and looks as if he is thoroughly enjoying himself. All the cast looks as if they are having fun and couldn't wait to get to the set each day.

The back-projection is no worse than any other picture of the period.

It has high production values. Very nice costumes and makeup.

The thought of the movie brings a smile to my face even as I'm commenting about it.

A piece of social history

[RobW · 4/10 · 31 March 2002]

Intriguing mild (very mild!) British musical comedy. Noteworthy mainly for the eponymous car (a Rolls Royce Phantom III coupe - those were the days when you get a RR PIII and still get change out of £2,000...) and some Brirish film stalwarts. The hero is a youthful John Mills near the start of his cinematic career; Robertson Hare has a supporting role, both trying to inject some life into a leaden script. The rather clunky back projections give some fascinating glimpses of 1930s London and the Lake District.

(Purists might quibble why the heroine (Grete Mosheim)has a German accent while her "sister" has a "cut glass" English accent) RW

Poor remake

[sb-47-608737 · 3/10 · 22 November 2018]

I wonder why the remakes are almost always a poor copy of the original. This is a remake of Hungarian movie, Meseautó (dream car), an excellent movie, somewhat spoiled in this version.

The spoiling starts from the character of the heroine Vera Kovac (Vera Hart here). Whereas the Kovac was extremely naive, Hart has her 'wants', to satisfy them she goes around not only window, but to the extent of shop un-shopping. The character of Kovac, the unassuming and not-gold-digging girl, is one bordering on opposite here. I am overlooking the looks, Zita had naive and sweet look that Grete Mosheim didn't. One can argue that is not in her control, but the looks could be overcome by acting, which wasn't here, or may be the director didn't want it to be. Kovac was much more diffident (she didn't want to drive her car to the office, but had her dropped a block away, that she was seen by her boss was only a chance. Whereas Hart boldly got herself dropped at the office foot-steps. Naturally these would ring a bell on the suitor, who wanted a girl who wasn't after his gold, in one sweet, in other alarm. One most interesting part was the 10 thousandth customer part. hart specifically tells it to every body, but Kovac stops at a double entendre - I was number 10 thousand - which naturally is interpreted correctly (!) by all, considering the hero there was a known playboy (not here).

These and a lot of small things, which become eyesore, especially if one has seen the original. The music, could be an attraction here - that wasn't musical - but still the repulsion score over attraction.

My recommendation would be to skip this and see the original, that is worth, not this.

An Absolute Must-See!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 25 October 2017]

John Mills (Robert Miller), Greta Mosheim (Vera Hart), Norah Howard (Anne Fisher), John Robertson Hare (Henry Butterworth), Mark Lester (Miller, senior), Jack Hobbs (Peters), Margaret Withers (Mrs Hart), Paul Graetz (Hart), Glennis Lorimer (Molly), Hay Plumb (chauffeur).

Directors: GRAHAM CUTTS, AUSTIN MELFORD. Screenplay: Austin Melford. Adapted by C. Stafford Dickens and R. Benson from a work by V. Miklos and V. Laszlo. Photography: Mutz Greenbaum. Film editor: Charles Frend. Art director: Alfred Junge. Dresses: J. Strassner. Wardrobe: Marianne. Music composed by Mischa Spolianski, directed by Louis Levy. Songs: "Car of Dreams" (Mills, Mosheim, reprized chorus) by Mischa Spolianski (music), Frank Eyton (lyrics), "Goodbye Trouble" (Mills and chorus, reprized Mills, reprized chorus) by M. Sigler, A. Goodhart, A. Hoffman, "Do a Little Good to Someone" (Howard, Hare) by Mischa Spolianski (music), Frank Eyton (lyrics). Sound recording: A.C. O'Donoghue. British Acoustic Film Sound System. Producer: Michael Balcon.

Copyright 1935 by Gaumont-British Picture Corporation, Ltd. Not theatrically released in the U.S.A. Released in the U.K. through Gaumont: December 1935. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: December 1935. 72 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Musical instrument factory heir falls in love with lowly- paid employee.

NOTES: In Hungarian, surnames are put first, first names last. Thus on the Hungarian film Meseauto, of which this movie is a remake, the writers are credited as Vadnay Laszlo and Vitez Miklos. In English, the names have to be transposed, and if you want to use initials these names should then come out as M. Vitez and L. Vadnay. I don't know anything about Mr. Vitez's career, but Vadnay wrote many scripts in Hollywood including some of my favorite films like "Seven Sinners" (1940), "Tales of Manhattan" (1942), "The Great Rupert" (1949), "I Love Melvin" (1953).

VIEWER'S GUIDE: Suitable for all.

COMMENT: One of the great moments in the cinema occurs about ten minutes into this movie when John Mills suddenly, unexpectedly bounces into song-and-dance with an elaborately staged and brilliantly timed production number, "Goodbye Trouble" (directed with breathtaking fluidity).

Admittedly, Mills is no Fred Astaire, but he does have such a surprisingly pleasant singing voice, it's a shame he didn't pursue this facet of his talents. By contrast the title number is also inventively staged, but this time with a completely static camera against an ever-changing process screen, a sparkling idea which is taken one step further at the concluding reprise when the car literally soars into the clouds, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang style.

Miss Mosheim, though hardly your conventional film beauty (she bears a striking resemblance to Barbra Streisand) is also excellently cast, whilst Norah Howard and Robertson Hare make the most of some splendid opportunities served up by the engaging script. Jack Hobbs also shines as the bogus Miller, as does Paul Graetz as the heroine's reluctant dealer father.

Led by the fast-paced direction (a pity it's not all as super- inventively handled as the "Goodbye Trouble" number, though I doubt if the human mind could absorb a whole film of such unrelenting effervescence), technical credits are superb, and production values absolutely first-class.