Car of Dreams

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."

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.

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.

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 ?

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.