[4][5] The dream fantasies prompted comparison to the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty",[fn 1][6] but critics at the time more often suggested the play Lady in the Dark as an influence.
[1][7] Dream Girl was first produced by the Playwrights' Company, of which Rice was a member, with the author directing his then wife Betty Field in the starring role.
Ignoring her mother's calls to get moving, Georgie imagines herself on the radio program, clutching her bedside lamp like a microphone while she reveals her love for her brother-in-law to millions.
Lucy, sneezing from a cold, despairs about both their businesses and that of her hapless son-in-law Jim, who reads manuscripts for thirty dollars a week.
Georgie goes into another fantasy where she lies in a hospital delivery room with twin newborns, while the doctor and nurse (looking a lot like her parents) and Jim Lucas praise her courage.
Clark returns to the bookstore to take Georgie to dinner at Emilio's, a modest "spaghetti and red ink joint", where he has to snap her back to reality from another daydream.
[6] Each mobile platform was concealed by masking curtains or props when in the withdrawn position, but were visible to the audience when slid onto the main stage, though a neutral gray background screen hid the stagehands who propelled them.
They expressed relief that the author eschewed the ideology of his recent plays in favor of "brilliant lines, high comedy, and delicious burlesque", and reported the "satire is delightful, and never malicious".
[27] Local critic Cyrus Durgin was impressed: "The whole production is distinguished by skill, imagination, good casting, and excellent taste.
John Chapman of the Daily News called it "a captivating comedy" and aptly labelled his review a "love letter to the Playwrights' Company... and to Mr. and Mrs.
[6] Syndicated columnist Jack Garver said "Miss Field, who wasn't off the stage five minutes the whole evening, carried off a rather trying role superbly" and complimented the set design: "The many scenes were presented with the precision and quickness of watch ticks through the use of tracked platforms".
Arthur Pollock of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said "It is all rather elaborately and expensively childish, giving Betty Field, the star, a variety of things to do, but otherwise having little to bring it importance of any sort".
[1] The play's demanding toll on its lead actress became apparent after the third night's performance; Betty Field succumbed to "the grippe" and was out for a week.
[31] Thereafter, a permanent understudy, Haila Stoddard, was hired; she subbed for a week when Betty Field was again ill during March 1946, then took over the role in late April.
Also in the cast were William A. Lee, Gaynelle Nixon, and Kevin O'Shea from Broadway, with Ann Andrews and Hayden Rorke from Chicago.
[37] The cavernous City Center main stage meant new set designer Eldon Elder could forego Mielziner's mobile platforms.
[12] A 1948 screen version, directed by Mitchell Leisen, starred Betty Hutton, Macdonald Carey, Peggy Wood, and Walter Abel.