At Home With The Makers Of Style

Posted In: Home Improvement Grants

Delphia Ruehlen says...

More than half a century has passed since this little gem appeared, yet it stands the test of time.Why?Like all great humor, this comedy of errors is firmly rooted in reality.Its protagonists stand halfway between hopeand fear as they lunge impulsively into their great American dream--homeownership.Anyone who has owned a home will understand the Blandings'desires, motivations, anxieties--deftly and touchingly portrayed by Grantand Loy.But Hollywood, as is its wont, substantially revised the originalstory.I encourage those who view this movie to follow it by reading EricHodgins' book.Much in the book is lost in the translation to film, yet indeveloping the character of Blandings' lawyer-friend Bill (brilliantlyportrayed by Melvyn Douglas), the movie in some ways improves on the book,in which Bill is a marginal character.This is a movie worth watching oncea year.

Posted on August 10, 2010

Tawanna Cata says...

Coinciding with the start of the baby boom, the years after World War II saw an unprecedented exodus of Americans moving out of their city apartments into the suburbs where they could fulfill their dreams of owning their own homes. Directed by H.C. Potter and co-written by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank (White Christmas), this lightweight but surprisingly observant 1948 screwball comedy captures the feeling of that period very well. Of course, it helps to have a trio of expert farceurs - Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and an especially acerbic Melvyn Douglas - head the proceedings with their natural likeability at odds with the escalating frustrations of home ownership. Even though the film is sixty years old now, there is a timeless quality to the Blandings' dream and the barriers they face in achieving it. Obviously, Hollywood thinks so since it's been remade at least twice - first as a very physical Tom Hanks comedy, 1986's The Money Pit, and again last year with Ice Cube's Are We Done Yet?. One look at HGTV's programming schedule will show you how the situations explored here still resonate today.



The plot begins with ad man Jim Blandings, his wife Muriel and their two daughters cramped into a two bedroom-one bath Manhattan apartment. Rather than pursue Muriel's idea to renovate the apartment for $7,000, Jim sees a photo of a Connecticut house in a magazine and realizes this is where they need to move. With the help of an opportunistic real estate agent and against the advice of their attorney and family friend Bill Cole, the Blandings decide to buy a ramshackle house badly in need of repair. However, the foundation sags so badly that the house needs to be torn down in favor of a new one. This sparks the Blandings to push the architect to design a house so excessive that the second floor is twice as big as the first. Costs rise with each new complication, tempers flare, and even a romantic triangle is imagined among Jim, Muriel and Bill. Priorities finally sort themselves out but not before some funny slapstick scenes and clever dialogue that tweaks the not-so-blissful ignorance of the new homeowners.



With his double takes and flawless line delivery, Grant is infallible in this type of farce, and Jim Blandings epitomizes his more domesticated mid-career characters. In a role originally meant for Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy shows why she was Hollywood's perfect wife. She doesn't get many of the funnier lines, but she combines her special blend of flightiness and sauciness to make Muriel an appealing character on her own. Watch her deftly maneuver the overly agreeable house painter with her absurdly idiosyncratic color palette. As avuncular, pipe-smoking Bill ("Cole...Bill Cole"), Melvyn Douglas shows his natural, easy-going

Posted on August 10, 2010

Emil Mcclenic says...

I love this hammer if I could give it 10 stars I would. I install windows for a living and use a hammer a lot. I was getting sick of my stanley fiberglass standard 16oz curved claw hammer, i call it pinger. The stanley pings really loudly and it is very anoying. Anyway the Estwing hits a lot harder and has better comfort. Even though the Stanley has a "form fitting handle" that gives me a blisted after ten minutes. Estwing is the way to go. I may suggest that you get the 22oz because it is the same size, cheaper and unless you frame for a living you wont need the little extra power the 28 oz has,. Also the 28oz hurts your forarm a l;ittle quicker than the 22oz.

Posted on August 11, 2010

Natalie Robicheau says...

I own one of these and it has built and destroyed many bridges in the Chicago area. Estwing steel framers are THE hammer. They're cheap, virtually indestructible (I've owned several and the only reason I've ever had to buy a new one is when I lose the old one or the one time some oblivious operator set his bucket down on my hammer that was resting on a barrier wall and smooshed the claws together).



It's like a sledge in framing hammer form. The claws are long and sharp. It's balance is dead on. And all the pros use it. I got into a work truck the other day, set my hammer down on the seat and realized I sat it down on top of 3 other steel estwings; Mine, my foreman's and 2 of my other foreman's (A 22oz for driving nail and a 28 oz for demo work). I've seen hundreds of these on job sites being used for everything you can imagine and they hold up like nothing else. I've only seen 2 Stanley antivibe steel framers and of those two, the head broke off on one as a dude was using it to chip some concrete and the hammer was only a couple of weeks old. For shame. I've never seen that happen with an estwing.

Posted on August 11, 2010

Yahaira Perin says...

Cary Grant films are some of my favorites, and this is the favorite of the Cary Grant films. It's got a droll, dry, understated wit and impeccable timing. Some of the scenes are priceless, like the one where they are trying to get an estimate of how to fix up the house, and all they hear is "Tear it down." spoken very matter-of-factly by what seems to be endless construction types. Then there's the one where Myrna Loy (another of my favorite actors) describes in great detail all the various shades of color she wants in the house, only to be recapped by the painting contractor after she leaves as "red, yellow, blue." Priceless.



It's a great movie of how we attempt to move ahead in our lives and all becomes chaos, where we think we have control but it's pointed out to us that we really don't (like the trick closet). And when all seems hopeless and incredibly frustrating, a little ray of hope shines through. Sounds really corny the way I say it, but it really works in this movie. I think it's one of the all-time underrated movies of its era.



If you like Cary Grant, this movie will become a favorite. I adore it.

Posted on August 12, 2010

Nikki Canary says...

There are few things you can count on like an Estwing hammer. After years of service my Estwing is as good as new. The hammer is nearly indestructible - I honestly can not even think of all things and projects I have used this hammer on.



Positives



+ Well weighted it will help you drive a roughly nail in with only a few hits.

+ Well balanced hammer helps reduce fatigue and miss hits

+ The claw portion of the hammer is very effective for both pulling nails and using as a crow bar

+ The nylon synthetic handle rarely slips in your hand



Cons-



- A bit more expensive than othr hammers



Final verdict -



5 Stars buy with confidence.

Posted on August 13, 2010

Monnie Connerley says...

I can't imagine ever owning a different brand of hammer than this Estwing. It's solid, so it'll never break, it fits perfectly in your hand and the balance is superb. It also makes a very impressive pinging sound when youhammer nails, sounding like the Thunder God working at his anvil. Doyourself a favor; if you're buying hammers, buy Estwing.

Posted on August 13, 2010

Renee Santerre says...

I got this hammer when i was doing a lot of framing and demo work.I had just destroyed a fiberglass hammer by using it as a prybar, and didn't want to do the same to my wood handled hammer.I got this specifically for demo work.You can use it as a prybar without risk, and swing wildly at things not having to worry about damaging the handle.I ended up using it as my main hammer for framing, because sometimes you need to adjust something and don't want to grop around for another tool.Shock absorbtion seems as good as any.
good hammer, a little on the light side, but does the job well

Posted on August 16, 2010

Octavio Rode says...

The estwing all steel hammers are nigh on indestructible.When I was a kid I found this hammer submerged in a marsh near a house that had been erected about a year prior.It looked awful, but I brought it home and set it on a shelf where it continued to rust and corrode for a decade or so.As a teen I re-found it and took it to a wire brush on a bench grinder.I have used it ever since.I call it the swamp hammer, and it isn't pretty but it is a really tough tool.Thinking about it i guess its rounding on 20 years old.



For someone like me who doesn't hammer for long stretches of time the all steel estwings are the way to go.You will never have to buy another one or fool with replacing handles.That being said I know pros at habitat for humanity who hammer all day long on framing jobs and they all use wooden handled hammers because it deadens the shock to the elbow.Most of them use Vaughan California Framers / Blue Max which really are nice hammers, but all wood handled tools I've had seem to need a replacement handle after a while.After replacement its just never as good as it was new.I'll stick with the eternal swamp hammer and its kin.

Posted on August 17, 2010

Donnetta Bozzell says...

I've used this hammer for years, to do everything from building a new addition on my house to demo-ing a bunch of old plaster.



Plus, it's the hammer used to bludgeon someone to death by the Trinity Killer in Season Three of 'Dexter' (available from Amazon on DVD!), so that's a third use to which it can be put.Good to know!

Posted on August 20, 2010