Design for Dreaming

The male voice/singer in this little film is Howard Keel, a famous movie bass-baritone in such films as "Kiss Me Kate", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Kismet", "Annie Get Your Gun", "Showboat", "Calamity Jane", "Jupiter's Darling" with swimmer/actress Esther Williams (!), and many others. He also had a career on Broadway, and was an 80's TV star, becoming known to new audiences as 'Clayton Farlow' on DALLAS. Ravenscroft is a basso profundo, the deepest, darkest, fullest of the bass voices, and his sound is distinctly different from Keel's, at least to this trained singer! I recognized Keel instantly, and kept expecting to see him on screen; why waste that talent off-screen? I don't recognize the female singer.

Ok, maybe I'm a little bias, but I love every minute of this ten minute commercial (except maybe the minute where they show the cars.)

The reason why I love this short is the cute star, Tad Tadlock. It's fun watching her reactions to the new cars and the Kitchen of Tomorrow. She even gets the opportunity to perform the Dance of Tomorrow. This woman could sell me the goofy looking Firebird 2. It's a real shame that she didn't appear in any feature films at this poin in her career.

The singing is very good in this short. The woman singer has a cute voice and it complements Tad's character.

Some people criticize this short. This film shouldn't be taken so seriously. The story takes place in a dream. It's suppose to be a fantasy! The Highway of Tomorrow is neat, even if you can tell what it is. The film was made to sell cars, but it's a lot of fun to watch.

I recommend this film and the similar yet inferior "A Touch of Magic".

One of my favorite MST3K shorts of all time! The music is bouncy and the color is colory and the gizmos and gadgets are really neat and the cars look cool...still, it was really goofy and MST3K struck gold with this one!

7 stars!

I remember seeing "Design for Dreaming" on an episode of MST3K, and it instantly reminded me of American Sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie", if the staff were using LSD.

The plot has to do with a dancer in a fantasy world whom is invited to a ball by a masked man, and sees every dream car she wants. Plus, watch for the instant light stoves, magical costume changing and cakes that comes out of the oven, with candles and everything!

Design for Dreaming? More like "Design for an Acid Trip".

This is actually one film that airs both on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and on the Arts channel.

It is MST3K material, because this film is indeed goofy. It offers the characters plenty of material to poke fun at. Yet, the Arts channel also shows this film, as (presumably) an example of this genre of film, one that promotes GM products.

Do not take this film seriously. It was produced by GM in 1956 to promote its cars, and it reflects the era in which it was produced. Tad Tadlock is definitely attractive in the fantasy role in which she plays, and it is a shame she did not do more acting assignments.

I also think the production is the star of this show, and I can see where it might have influenced two shows, "The Twilight Zone" and "Batman":

--Tadlock's "Dance of Tomorrow" is very similar to the dance Suzanne Lloyd performed in the 1959 episode of "The Twilight Zone" she appeared in, "Perchance to Dream." Lloyd's character seems to have influenced the character of Catwoman in "Batman," which aired a full decade after "Design for Dreaming."

--Also, the production value and visuals (the rich color and fantasy sequences) remind one of the "Batman" series--as does the masked male figure. Holy tie-in!

Yes, this is a plug for GM cars, but it is fascinating to see what was offered for the future (especially the Impala and Firebird). Even if all of this is a fantasy, so what? This is real eye candy, and a fascinating piece of history that is available both on MST3K and the Arts channel, depending on what you prefer.