Blondie's Holiday

This is another entry in the live action comic Blondie...with Blondie, Dagwood, Daisy, etc!

"My Dagwood is pretty smart"-Blondie.

This entry of Blondie is all about their class reunion. Due to a misunderstanding Dagwood is on the hook for paying for the reunion dinner for forty plus guests. At first with his raise it might be possible...but then he looses his job while trying to learn about horse betting. Blondie is making hats...but will this be enough? This is all about pride and his classmates not thinking he will amount to much. Apparently, plucky Blondie told them all they were wrong and that he would be a huge success! That incident is powering them on...to their demise.

Breezy and funny like all Blondie entries...if you are a fan, you will not want to miss this one.

Again a special providence watches out for people named Bumstead in Blondie's Holiday. This Blondie film concerns Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton's 15th high school reunion and we get a flashback to Blondie and Dagwood while in high school

Seeing them in high school makes you wonder why a homecoming queen like Blondie picked class klutz Dagwood to team up with. But as that scene ends Blondie predicts that Dagwood will be the biggest success story in the class of 1932 telling fellow classmates Jody Gilbert and Jeff York the same.

Her bragging gets Dagwood on the hook to pay for the class reunion dinner. And Dagwood once again gets fired for screwing up a deal with Grant Mitchell the town banker to build a new bank.

But the biggest bonehead move is Dagwood seeking quick money paying for an education in handicapping horses by racetrack tout Sid Tomack. When he gets picked up in a raid in a very funny sequence he's going to miss the reunion dinner because he's in the slam.

Still that Bumstead divine providence comes through. One of the better films of the Blondie series.

Some of the best comedies are the older ones, and whether it's in the Comics or in the Movie Screen, Blondie may play to some cultural stereotypes but it's still funny....and in this case, we get to see Blondie's take on gambling and con artists...Might be an old movie but still has some relevance to today...and the actor who plays Dagwood has him nailed to a tee.....as does the Blondie actress.....Watch any of these movies and you will enjoy them..

Very true, there is no holiday here, only more dumb luck for Dagwood, who is the whole show --or rather, Arthur Lake.

This was the final story written by Connie Lee, who had been with the series about five years. It has a very clever twist, which saves the day for Dagwood.

That said, Dagwood easily gets into trouble in just a few minutes. The story is all about a big high school reunion -- which Dagwood gets stuck to pay for. He gets a raise, gets fired by Mr. Radcliffe and caught up with some backroom horse racing gamblers. Arthur Lake's stunned expressions are priceless.

The racing angle is a funny change of pace. Dagwood reads some material on how to pick winners at the race track and he's hooked. He also has an angel on his shoulder, a little old lady better (played by veteran actress Mary Young), who just happens to be the wife of Mr. Radcliffe's new client, Mr. Breckenbridge, played by Grant Mitchell. In short, Mrs. Breckenbridge saves Dagwood BIG time.

Popular supporting cast; Anne Nagel plays Bea and Jody Gilbert as Cynthia, two of the high school renunion alum. Tim Ryan appears as Mike, best known for writing and appearing in many of the BOWERY BOYS films.

Yes, Daisy is not in this episode because she was appearing in another film at the time. Puppy Elmer takes her place, who is growing up fast. Daisy, better known as Spooks (because she was always scared as a puppy), was part cockerspaniel, poodle and terrier, raised by famous dog trainer Rennie Renfro. Renfro had a large kennel and ranch in Van Nuys, CA, where Daisy lived and worked in films into the early 1950s.

10 Stars for goofy Dagwood who crosses the finish line. Remastered episode on dvd, also in box sets which include the entire series. Thanks much to MOVIES Net for running these unforgettable episodes on Saturday mornings.

BLONDIE'S HOLIDAY (Columbia, 1947), directed by Abby Berlin, the 20th installment to the popular series based on Chic Young's comic strip, is another agreeable programmer revolving around the day and the life of the Bumstead family, particularly Blondie and Dagwood. While Dagwood situations involve him getting fired again (nothing new here), Blondie takes time making arrangements for her upcoming class reunion (a new premise this time) and a thrill of meeting with her former classmates again. With the Bumstead children, Alexander (Larry Simms) and Cookie (Marjorie Kent), still around for moral support, BLONDIE'S HOLIDAY sees the absence of two series regulars: Daisy, the Bumstead dog, replaced temporarily by Elmer and "her" other pups; and next door neighbor, Alvin Fuddow (Danny Mummert),substituted once more by Bobby Larson as Tommy Cooper for the third and final time. As with the Alvin character, Tommy, being Alexander's other close friend, is also an intellectual with bright ideas.

Speaking of bright ideas, the story opens with Mr. Beasley (Eddie Acuff), the neighborhood postman, coming up with a new scheme of avoiding getting run down by Dagwood (Arthur Lake) as he does nearly on a daily basis, by giving the letters to one of Daisy's off-springs, Elmer. The postman lucks out this time around, as Dagwood, late for work as usual, rushes out of the house and into Blondie's former suitor, Paul Madison (Jeff York) whose come over to discuss matters involving the upcoming class reunion, instead. During the meeting with other former classmates, Bea Mason (Anne Nagel) and Cynthia Thompson(Jody Gilbert), all wanting to make this Class of 1932 reunion a success, they appoint Dagwood to pay for dinner arrangements, especially after overhearing Blondie's telephone conversation with her spouse of obtaining a $250 raise (unaware that he meant $2.50). During his day at the office, Dagwood accompanies his boss,George M. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) for an interview with bank president, Samuel Breckenridge (Grant Mitchell), to get his account and hoping to convince him to demolish the existing bank building, erected 1887, for a more modern one. The bank is not only falling apart, but staffed by elderly employees. Although Breckenridge is satisfied in leaving things the way they are, it is Dagwood's insistence by pounding on his desk(causing the ceiling plaster to fall on his head) does Breckenridge readily agrees to come to terms. For a job well done, Radcliffe rewards Dagwood with the raise as previously mentioned. The raise doesn't cut it, since Dagwood is to pay for Blondie's class reunion dinner. To obtain some extra money for the event, Dagwood encounters Pete Brody (Sid Tomack),a bookie, who guides him to an off-track betting facility. Accidentally placing $200 on a horse that hasn't a chance to win, it comes in first place. The very moment Dagwood is to collect his winnings at the window, the police break down the door and raid the place. During the commotion while everyone makes a hasty departure, Dagwood risks getting captured in order to help a sweet little old lady (Mary Young), unable to climb over the counter, to make her escape. Learning of the incident and his arrest, Radcliffe fires Dagwood, leaving Blondie at the class reunion holding the check, waiting for Dagwood to show up with the cash or else face some embarrassment from her classmates.

Aside from being an amusing story, energetic acting by its leading players, along with some good site gags, BLONDIE'S HOLIDAY is also redeemed with the presence of fine character actors, namely Grant Mitchell, a former contract player from Warner Brothers of the 1930s, as the old-fashioned thinking bank president. Others featured in the cast are Alyn Lockwood as Mary, the operator; Jack Rice as Ollie Merlin, Radcliffe's "Yes" man put for Dagwood's job; Tim Ryan as Mike, the bookie, among others.

And what's become of Daisy? According to the scenario, the Bumstead pooch is spending a few days in the kennel for a medical checkup, while in reality, was appearing in a motion picture outside the series titled IT'S A JOKE, SON (Eagle-Lion, 1947) starring Kenny Delmar and Una Merkel. As for Danny Mummert, he was taking time from his Alvin Fuddow role playing a crippled teenager in MAGIC TOWN (RKO Radio, 1947) starring James Stewart and Jane Wyman.

BLONDIE'S HOLIDAY, along with 27 others in the series, formerly distributed on video cassette through King Features, had a successful run on American Movie Classics cable channel (1996-2000). Next installment: BLONDIE IN THE DOUGH (1947) featuring the return of Daisy. (**1/2)