Dreamboat (film)

Plot

The respectable lives of Professor of English literature Thornton Sayre (Clifton Webb) and his daughter Carol (Anne Francis) are severely disrupted when it is revealed that he was once a matinee idol known as "Dreamboat". His films are being shown on a television show hosted by his former costar Gloria Marlowe (Ginger Rogers). The college administrators clamor for his resignation, but President Mathilda May Coffey (Elsa Lanchester) requests and is given discretionary power to decide what to do. In private, she admits to Thornton that she had been one of his biggest fans.

Thornton hastily leaves for New York to get an injunction against the show, taking Carol along. There they meet Sam Levitt (Fred Clark), the man responsible for airing the movies. While Sam and Gloria try to get Thornton to change his mind, Sam has underling Bill Ainslee (Jeffrey Hunter) show Carol the sights. Undaunted, Thornton eventually gets his injunction, but his life is irreparably changed. He is fired after spurning Coffey's advances, and Bill and Carol have fallen in love and are planning to get married.

When Gloria gloats over his setbacks, Thornton reveals that a major movie studio is interested in reviving his film career. Months later, Bill and Carol attend Thornton's premiere in Sitting Pretty - a real film starring Clifton Webb. Gloria then reveals to Thornton that she has bought his contract and is now his boss.

Cast

Music

The film featured the 1936 standard Poinciana (written by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier) subsequently covered by many artists and which went on to feature in the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County.