I Dream Too Much (1935 film)

I Dream Too Much is a 1935 American romantic comedy film directed by John Cromwell. It stars Henry Fonda and Lily Pons, as well as Lucille Ball in an early supporting role. It has been described as a "somewhat wispy operetta."^[2] Songs are by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording (Carl Dreher).^[3]

I Dream Too Much
Theatrical poster
Directed by	John Cromwell
Written by	Elsie Finn David G. Wittels
Screenplay by	James Gow Edmund H. North
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Starring	Lily Pons Henry Fonda Eric Blore Lucille Ball
Cinematography	David Abel
Edited by	William Morgan
Music by	Jerome Kern Dorothy Fields Max Steiner (incidental)
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	November 27, 1935 (1935-11-27)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$627,000[1]
Box office	$640,000[1]

Plot

Annette Monard Street is an aspiring singer, who falls in love with and marries Jonathan Street, a struggling young composer.

Jonathan pushes her into a singing career, and she soon becomes a star. Meanwhile, Jonathan is unable to sell his music, and he finds himself jealous of his wife's success.

Concerned about their relationship, Annette uses her influence to get Jonathan's work turned into a musical comedy. Once she achieves this, she then retires from public life in order to raise a family.

Cast

• Lily Pons as Annette Monard Street
• Henry Fonda as Jonathan 'Johnny' Street
• Eric Blore as Roger Briggs
• Osgood Perkins as Paul Darcy
• Lucien Littlefield as Hubert Dilley, Tourist
• Lucille Ball as Gwendolyn Dilley, Tourist
• Mischa Auer as Darcy's Pianist
• Paul Porcasi as Uncle Tito
• Scotty Beckett as Boy on Merry-Go-Round

Reception

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review. Greene criticized Jerome Kern's musical score as "pompous and middle-aged" in contrast to the times, which were more in line with fresh musicians like Cole Porter. He did compare Pons favorably to Grace Moore, describing her personality as "less ponderous". The only portion of the film that Greene found to provide a light touch was that of the performing seal.^[4]

The film recorded a loss of $350,000.^[1]