Cupido pide socorro

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Charles Lane and Will Wright made a specialty out of playing grouchy supporting characters in movies and television. I loved seeing them as they added a lot of wonderful grouchy color to whatever they were in--no matter how insignificant. Here is one of the few times I can recall BOTH of these men in the same production--too bad they didn't get to act together--though I am not sure if the audience could have stood so much of their acerbic personas--but I loved them.

The film begins with Blondie lecturing Dagwood and Baby Dumpling NOT to use fireworks for the upcoming 4th of July. However, Dagwood is certifiably insane (or stupid) and sees no problem giving a 4 year-old explosives!! So, to get these two away from temptation, Blondie decides they should go visit her aunt and uncle in the country. However, the trip turns out to be anything but exciting, as they blunder into the middle of a feud. Two young people (one is a very young Glenn Ford before he became famous) want to get married but her insanely grumpy father is ready to shoot Ford or anyone who gets in his way. Can the Bumsteads manage to avoid blowing off any limbs as well as help this nice young couple? Despite the use of a silly runaway car sequence near the end, this is a very endearing episode of the series of 28 films Columbia made for the cartoon strip. The best part was Daisy, as her stunts were wonderful. So, as usual the dog is THE star--with Baby Dumpling a close second. Lots of fun...and grouchiness. Oh, and if you are looking for Lane, he's the befuddled conductor on the train. Amazingly, he died only a couple years ago--at 102 years of age!

By the way, if you watch this film you might easily get the impression that it's really cool to let very young children play with firecrackers, dynamite and drive. Oh, those wacky Bumsteads.

It's July 3 and Baby Dumpling wants fireworks for the Fourth of July. Dagwood bought a whole sack full, but Blondie disapproves. They decide to go to the country, but there trip isn't exactly trouble-free. Blondie helps a young Glenn Ford get back with his fiancee. The next film in the series is BLONDIE GOES LATIN.

Long story, why did I watch this? 1) Seinfeld mentions Glengarry Glen Ross in Comedians/Cars 2) Roku shows "Glenn Ford" as choice #1 when I search Glen 3) I investigate Glenn Ford, this movie from 1940 is available on Amazon Prime 4) I watch the entire movie and LOVE IT!!!!!! 5) goodbye and enjoy! =) P.S. Daisy is frickin' awesome! YAY! =D

In this Blondie film, a great effort has been made to expand the repertoire of Daisy the Dog. She performs the most amazing feats, the most spectacular of which is to climb a ladder all the way from ground level to the roof of a house. She also coyly lays her front leg across her eyes to simulate shame. So she has moved far beyond the raised ears and knowing looks of the four previous films. The producers must have realized by now that Daisy was deeply popular with the Blondie audience. The film begins with Daisy stealing a bone and a pack of dogs yapping and running in circles round the inside of the Bumstead household. Blondie scolds Daisy about this afterwards by saying: 'Now, Daisy Bumstead, don't you ever bring people like that into this house again!' At one point, Alvin from next door even sticks his head through the dog flap to speak to Blondie, who has previously removed a Saint Bernard dog from the same flap, in which it had become stuck. This film features Glenn Ford in a supporting role; he had only entered films three years previously, and this was his eighth appearance on screen. It is he and his wife-to-be to whom Blondie 'plays cupid' by facilitating their elopement, and their escape from the girl's father with his shotgun. There are lots of sight gags about fire crackers in this film, because it is the Fourth of July. Poor Irving Bacon, the mailman, gets blown up by one this time. He takes his revenge by throwing a lit firecracker into the Bumsteads' house. Glenn Ford has discovered an oil well but has been prevented from drilling the last portion to achieve a gusher. Baby Dumpling, mistaking a stick of dynamite for a fire cracker, solves that problem. Some of the scenes are a bit long and some of the gags become tedious for this reason, so that the film sags in places. But it always bounces back with the inevitable joie de vivre of the Blondie genre. Larry Simms as Baby Dumpling is now a year older and slightly less cute. He even has a knowing expression from time to time, seemingly having passed into a state of 'old age at the age of five'. Penny Singleton as Blondie has slightly altered her hair style and looks a bit less cute herself. The rather annoying opening song with the word 'Bumsteadable' in the lyrics has been dropped, and the music under the titles is purely orchestral now, but very poorly done, using the song theme. The plot is, as usual, elaborate, and the gags continuous. Arthur Lake as Dagwood continues to shine in glorious 'Bumsteadability'.

The whole cast is back for this installment of Blondie. Dagwood and Baby Dumpling are in rare form as they want to light off fireworks and Blondie is so worried about safety that she has forbidden it! This creates a bit of a three way hide and seek with large firecrackers. And the mailman gag...yep! You guessed it, he gets a lit firework that has been tossed out of the Dagwood household!

In order to avoid fireworks altogether, Blondie plans a nice quiet weekend out of the city at her Aunt Hannah and Uncle Abner's country farm. On the way to the farm they hitch a ride with this lovely couple...a young Glenn Ford plays the groom to be Charlie and Luana Walters the bride to be Millie. The couple runs into trouble by way of her father...and Blondie steps in to help them elope.

Fireworks, Dynamite and Oil oh my!

This was a fun, family friendly installment built around the Fourth of July. Blondie fans will be thrilled and I highly recommend this film as irbid one of the better ones in the series. I also recommend the film to Glenn Ford fans as they will enjoy seeing him as a youngster on the cusp of marriage.