movies_creation
American Movie Archives (美國電影檔案)
- Title
- Practical Dreamer
- Year
- 1957
- Abstract
- A fantasy of kitchen planning and modernization. With Augusta Roeland and Rege Cordic. Produced by Haford Kerbawy.
- Notes
-
Produced: Handy (Jam) Organization
Sponsor: U.S. Steel Company
Run Time: 13:17
Audio/Visual: Sd, C - Keyword
- Houses and homes: Kitchens;Occupations: Housework;Occupations: Housework
- Theme
- I dreamed of home improvement!
- Review
-
A very strange film. Poor Edie. Instead of exciting dreams about flying through the air or having passionate sex, Edie dreams about redoing her kitchen. Most of the advice she receives from the disembodied voice in her dream ("it's not really important"?) is sound advice that would be applicable to designing a kitchen today, though many of the steel cabinets and counters would be considered dated. (Of course the counters and cabinets are steel. U.S. Steel is the sponsor.) The fifties-style illustrations are interesting.
The most fascinating aspect of this movie is parade of gender-role expectations that appear in every domestic scene. Edie and her husband Bob sleep in separate beds. While Edie works in the kitchen, Bob and the childen David and Debbie don't contribute at all to the housework. Husband Bob sits there reading a newspaper while Edie scurries around readying a meal and pouring his coffee. The childen are sitting around doing no chores. Not only are Edie's husband and children unhelpful, they even get in the way!
It's a wonder that the Edie's of the era didn't simply murder their families during the 50's. Perhaps the rage that many women probably felt at the time was sublimated into kitchen design.
(Reviewer: K.P. Lee) - Location
- A/V room, 2/F