Blondie

Chic Young's popular comic strip Blondie made it's debut with this film for Columbia Pictures. For a dozen years Columbia put out the Blondie series of films starring Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton as Dagwood and Blondie. It might have kept going but for television and the fact that Penny Singleton had blacklist problems. Arthur Lake was forever typecast as Dagwood after this series, maybe the worst case of typecasting ever as no one could see him as anything else.

The usual problems of the Bumsteads both domestic and on the job for Dagwood are here from the comic strip. In this film Blondie buys a whole new living room set to surprise Dagwood on their fifth anniversary. In the meantime Dagwood wants to get ahead at the J.C.Dithers construction company and Jonathan Hale as Mr. Dithers tells him to land a big account with Gene Lockhart. Dagwood meets Lockhart without knowing who he is and from these two situations the whole movie develops. It's much too complicated to tell if further.

This was a nice debut for the series which was a money maker for Columbia while it lasted.

During the wee late night hours while watching tv during the 1980's, I discovered the "Blondie" film series. They were so funny that a good laugh could help me sleep. I tried to watch them every week they were on, however a man must have his sleep. I never forgot how much I enjoyed the films I saw, so recently I purchased the first six in the series from Amazon.com. There are 28 films in all spanning from 1938 to 1950. Penny Singleton (as "Blondie Bumstead"), Arthur Lake (as "Dagwood Bumstead") and Larry Simms (as "Baby Dumpling"/Dagwood/"Alexander") were in all the films for 12 years. Larry Simms was in "Blondie" at the age of 3 until he was 15. We literally saw him grow up to be a fine teenage boy. He is retired now and has not been in the acting business for quite some time. Penny Singleton is still alive at the nice age of 94. Her latest project was doing the voice of "Jane Jetson" in Jetsons: The Movie (1990). Arthur Lake however is no longer with us. Each film begins with a short preview of a few scenes in the film, then followed by the hilarious postman mishap which becomes the start of the film. That is Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake singing that catchy tune. The Blondie films are warm to the heart and very enjoyable to see and I highly recommend seeing them. Each film is somewhat a continuation of the prior film. And they are fine for children to see. The next film in the series is BLONDIE MEETS THE BOSS.

With this, the first in a movie series based on Chic Young's comic strip, Blondie has many elements and characters one associates with it like Dagwood often getting himself in hot water which his wife Blondie usually gets him out of though she isn't above some flaws herself when she jumps to conclusions like thinking he's having an affair. There's Dag's boss, J.C. Dithers, who also jumps to conclusions often resulting in him firing him before changing his mind when Dag does something good for the company. And then there's the Bumstead offspring of Baby Dumpling and the family dog, Daisy. Oh, also the mailman, Mr. Beasley who Dag always bumps into when he comes! All characters from the strip. One not from the strip is Alvin Fuddle who's Baby Dumpling's friend. Anyway, Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton are funny enough in their roles, Larry Simms is cute enough as the toddler, Daisy brings the funny with her takes, Jonathan Hale a good straight man for Lake as his boss, and Danny Mummert amusing enough with his exchanges with Simms. Oh, and Irving Bacon suitably flabbergasted as Mr. Beasley! There was one character I didn't like in this entry: Willie Best doing his stereotypical slow-witted Negro at the hotel. Good thing his part was brief. All in all, a fine initial entry for the long-running series. P.S. Since I like to cite when players from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-are in something else, here it's not only Simms (who played the Bailey offspring Pete) and Mummert (who played Little Marty Hatch) but also Charles Lane (who was Potter's associate who told of Bailey Park and said he may work for George someday) who plays the furniture salesman here.

On the day of his fifth wedding anniversary, Dagwood is in trouble needing to raise $563 to pay back on an endorsement check that went sour to a woman named Elsie. Dithers (Dagwood's boss) says he will give Dagwood $600 as a bonus (plus a $10 raise that Blondie has been wanting Dagwood to get) if he can secure the contract from developer C.P. Hazlip. Hazlip, not wanting to see any salesmen such as Dagwood, becomes friends with Dagwood while indulging in one of their hobbies, tinkering (in this case a vacuum). Blondie becomes jealous when a man from the finance company comes to the house about "Elsie's note". Blondie suspects her husband is having an affair and confirms her suspicions when she finds Dagwood at Hazlip's hotel with his daughter Elsie. Dithers believes Dagwood is not getting any headway with the Hazlip deal so he fires him (not the first or last time this will happen) and Dagwood is further in Daisy's doghouse when Blondie, her mother and sister believe he is unfaithful. What is our lovable protagonist to do? I haven't seen any other films in the Blondie series, but it is easy to tell this is a standout film. Singleton and Lake are the perfect people to play the lead roles and Simms is adorable as Baby Dumpling. The script has numerous funny scenes, many of which are humorous touches to the film that don't develop the scenario further, but that is no big deal here. At the beginning of the film, the scenes alternating with Dagwood and Blondie didn't seem that smooth, but that may be the only flaw of the film. Rating, 9.

Singleton and Lake-- a marriage made in comedy heaven. Here they get the movie series off to a rollicking start. Poor Dagwood. He needs a raise from tight-fisted boss Dithers or the Bumstead livingroom will turn into an empty container. Worse, Blondie thinks he's having an affair when all the evidence conspires against innocent hubby. Good thing for Dagwood there's a broken down vacuum cleaner that cleans up the mess. Meanwhile, Baby Dumpling tries to stay out of punishment corner, while four-leg Daisy grabs all the food. Just another week in 1930's white-collar suburbia.

First-rate pacing from director Strayer. The threads never sag, while mild gags combine effortlessly with snappy dialog. It's a delightfully addled Dagwood and a humorously patient Blondie. Amazing how a studio cheapo like this so delightfully out-performs bigger budget comedies of then and now. I guess my only misgiving is with the rather dramatic upshot, but that's just a minor matter of taste. Anyway, kudos all around to a charming 70-minute Columbia production that you might think came out of the 1950's. Uh oh! I better stop now and take out the trash or the wife will have me joining Dumpling in the corner.