Blondie Knows Best

This is funny, largely due to the creative efforts of Edward Bernds, who wrote and directed many of the THREE STOOGES comedy shorts and the BOWERY BOYS.

This episode borrows from the Stooges with lots of wacky stuff happening, especially to Dagwood.

For starters, he meets his no nonsense new neighbor Mr. Conroy, played by Arthur Loft. He gets behind the wheel of his car and wrecks it, prompting Conroy to sue him BIG TIME.

Next, enter Shemp Howard (just before he joined the Three Stooges) playing Jim Gray, a goofy process server who wants to serve Dagwood court papers from Conroy. Shemp steals lots of scenes, without too much surprise. It's a shame he did not return to the series because he and Arthur Lake were a perfect match.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Dithers has a minor fender bender with a guy named Peabody (played by Jerome Cowan) --picks a fight with him --only to discover he's a future client with lots of money. So not to mess things up further, Dithers cleverly arranges for Dagwood to pretend he's him and for Dithers to pretend he's Dagwood? The scene with Shemp trying to figure out WHO to serve the summons to is priceless.

Best comes last...

In an outrageous change of pace, Dagwood becomes a "patient" for two eccentric doctors (Ludwig Donath and Stevan Geray) who are testing out a new truth serum? It pays 500 bucks, which Dagwood needs to pay back Mr. Conroy.

Somehow it all makes sense right to the end, again thanks to Ed Bernds' excellent comedy writing.

Note, Bernds holds the record for being nominated for an Oscar (for best screenplay) which was an absolute mistake. He wrote the Bowery Boys film HIGH SOCIETY, which had the same title of the Grace Kelly film, the latter nominated for an Academy Award. Bernds notified the Academy of the mistake, and was allowed to keep a placque that nominated him for Best Screenwriter. Super trivia question.

Good support from Jerome Cowan, who would replace Jonathan Hale as Dagwood's new boss in the next episode. Hale left the series to move on to other film projects. Also one of the last screen appearances of Arthur Loft, who died suddenly not too long after this film. Loft appeared in a long list of movies, and some classics; THE BLUE DAHLIA and THE GLASS KEY.

10 Stars, especially for Shemp Howard. We love him. Thanks much to MOVIES Net for running this great series Saturday mornings.

Chic Young's very popular comic strip has always been entertaining and was utilized by Columbia Pictures as foundation for the Blondie film series (this one is number 18 of 28!), yet it is puzzling to some as to the cause of the success of these movies as they are shot through with inanity, strongly the case here. In this chapter, Dagwood Bumstead's boss Mr. Dithers is involved in a verbal altercation over a parking space in front of his office, not realizing that the man with whom he is arguing is a person that he hopes to persuade into signing a lucrative contract, and when he discovers the fact, he cajoles Dagwood, whom he has just fired, to masquerade as him in order to complete the business deal. The impersonation entails Dagwood's entertaining the prospective client (with "borrowed" women) at a night club where circumstances prescribe that he be discovered by Blondie and after the expected commotion has simmered down, Dagwood serves as a subject for a team of odd scientists who are testing a truth serum and have offered him $500. The feeblest element within the Blondie films is Dagwood, interpreted by Arthur Lake as an individual who ranks barely above an imbecile with his grating one-note mannerisms quite far removed from Young's original so that chirpy Penny Singleton, as Blondie, seems far more substantive, in comparison, than she should. Some talented actors are wasted in this slapstick episode, including Steven Geray, Jerome Cowan, and Jean Willes, all defeated by their puerile dialogue with only little Marjorie Kent, as Cookie Bumstead, being effective (one of the few appealing elements of the series is the chronologic aging of the children); her winning performance is fitting as the targeted audience apparently is from three to four years of age, and torpid.

"Blondie Knows Best" is among the strangest of the Blondie and Dagwood films. First, the title has absolutely nothing to do with the picture. Second, it ends with brain doctors experimenting on Dagwood (I can only suppose they wanted a brain with little wear)! Odd...but still enjoyable.

The story begins with idiot Dagwood going to meet a neighbor and offer him a helping hand with fixing his car. In the process of providing unwanted help, Dagwood destroys the man's car and garage...and spends the rest of the film running from a process server because this neighbor is suing him...and deservedly so.

Shortly after this, Mr. Dithers gets in a fight with a stranger...only to find out it's a potential client!! So, to get out of insulting the man, he pretends to be Dagwood and begs Dagwood to pretend to be him!! As a result, things get awfully confusing.

The story is wacky and weird...but still fun. Also, while Blondie gets a bit miffed when Dagwood (as Mr. Dithers) is out with the client and some sexy ladies, she's not the green-eyed monster filled with jealousy she was in a few of the other Blondie films...realizing her beloved Dagwood wouldn't cheat on her. Worth seeing...but odd.

This film might have been the cause for confusion for devoted viewers of Columbia's Blondie series. Jerome Cowan who later played George Radcliffe who bought the Dithers Construction company from Jonathan Hale and became Dagwood Bumstead's boss shows up here cast as a wolfish potential client for J.C. Dithers.

It all starts when Arthur Lake in his usual bumptious way tries to make friends with an irascible neighbor Arthur Loft and wrecks the man's car and garage. More bad luck because Loft is a lawyer who just loves suing people. At the same time Jonathan Hale gets into a fender bender with Cowan before each knows who the other is. Hale and Lake change identities, Dagwood in order to avoid a determined but nearsighted process server played by Shemp Howard. Shemp and Lake have the best scenes in the film.

When all seems lost Dagwood decides to donate his body to scientists Steven Geray and Ludwig Donath who eye him the way Bela Lugosi eyed Lou Costello in Abbott&Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Of course because of the mysterious providence that protects the family Bumstead it all works out in the end. And Dagwood even gets to work for Jerome Cowan in the future.

BLONDIE KNOWS BEST (Columbia, 1946), directed by Abby Berlin, the 18th installment to the popular "Blondie" film series based on Chic Young's comic strip characters, is another winning entry.

First, the domestic standpoint of the story, which starts off quietly for the Bumsteads as Blondie (Penny Singleton), Dagwood (Arthur Lake), Alexander (Larry Simms) and Cookie (Marjorie Kent) are all gathered together at the breakfast table. Alvin Fuddow (Danny Mummert), Alexander's best friend and next door neighbor, arrives with the news that they have a new neighbor, who isn't very nice. Dagwood decides to go over and introduce himself, but the good neighbor policy falls apart as he tries to assist Mr. Conroy (Arthur Loft) by fixing his car parked on the driveway. Dagwood accidentally parks the car on Conroy's foot (ouch!), and as he tries to move it, Dagwood drives the car right through the garage door. Next scene, Dagwood is home with a bruised bump on his head given to him by Conroy with a wrench. Dagwood is later followed by Jim Gray (Shemp Howard), a myopic process server out to deliver a summons for him to appear in court, compliments of Conroy, who is suing Bumstead for damages. As Dagwood makes every effort to hide from Gray, he picks up the summons dropped by Gray, but Alvin tells him that it's not legal until the summons is hand delivered to him personally. So what Dagwood has to do is stay out of his reach, which isn't easy. At the workplace: Because Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) had an argument with another driver for bumping into his car, he discovers too late that the man he had insulted happens to be Charles Peabody (Jerome Cowan), an important client. Wanting the business deal to go through, Dithers has Dagwood assume his identity as boss while Dithers impersonates Bumstead. This trading places situation reaches its high point when situations are turned as Dagwood as Dithers fires "Bumstead," making an impression on Mr. Peabody for being the only way for him to sign a contract. The confusion gets even more complicated when Gray attempts to serve his summons to Dagwood Bumstead or to Mr. Dithers.

In spite of Blondie's name used in the title, BLONDIE KNOWS BEST, is, as usual, Dagwood's film all the way. Blondie may know best, but it is Dagwood who certainly knows how to get into situations leading to his spouse to come to the rescue, especially when Dagwood agrees to become the subject for doctors Schmidt (Steven Geray) and Titus (Ludwig Donath) of a lunatic asylum as a guinea pig to a new truth serum experiment for which Dagwood gets to collect his needed $500. Without such mishaps, there would be no story, in fact, no comedy, nor Daisy, the Bumstead dog, inducing her usual antics ranging from raising her ears with element of surprise or holding her head between her paws whenever situations appear hopeless. And that's the truth.

Alyn Lockwood joins the cast as Mary, the new switchboard operator at the Dithers Construction Company. Others in the cast include Edwin Cooper as David Armstrong; Carol Hughes as Gloria Evans; and Jack Rice as Ollie Merlin, the office trouble maker of Dagwood's.

It should be interesting to note that this was to be Jonathan Hale's 16th and final time as Dithers. Jerome Cowan, who appears as client, Charles Peabody, would become a series regular as well as Dagwood's new boss, George M. Radcliffe in the next entry. In spite that the "Blondie" series was pretty much consistent in keeping the actors and their roles virtually the same, it's not unusual for actors to be seen assuming different characterizations in series films. This would be one of the rare cases in finding the likes of Cowan acting a role in one film and appearing in another.

BLONDIE KNOWS BEST is funny and agreeable family viewing. Formerly distributed on video cassette through King Features, it had a successful run on American Movie Classics from 1996 to 2001, where this, and most of the series had its opening and closing restored to its original theatrical credits. Next installment: BLONDIE'S BIG MOMENT (1947) (***)