Blondie Goes Latin

This episode has to be the most original of the entire series, filled to the brim with excellent music and comedy, similar to the type of material ABBOTT & COSTELLO were doing at the time.

Mr. Dithers wants to take a relaxing South American cruise, and Dagwood, Blondie and Baby Dumpling get to come along. So far... so good... UNTIL word comes in at the office that an important client is waiting. Duty calls, so Dithers sends Dagwood back home (leaving Blondie and Baby on the ship) -- but it doesn't quite go that way. Dagwood gets stuck(!) and has to HIDE from everybody.

The best gag is Dagwood posing as a drummer with the ship orchestra, lead by Kirby Grant, later famous for the SKY KING tv show. There's a super number called "You Don't Play a Drum, You Beat It," written by the popular team of Chet Forrest and Bob Wright.

The biggest surprise of all is Penny Singleton showing off her beautiful singing voice, accompanying Grant's (Hal Trent) band. A real unexpected treat. Penny would also sing in the next episode, BLONDIE IN SOCIETY, and with good reason. Also a bit of jealousy and romance at work here; Blondie bumping into handsome Spanish singer Tito Guizar (as Manuel), making Dagwood stand up and take notice! Guizar, born in Guadalajara, Mexico, became a popular singer and composer, later featured in Spanish tv series for years.

For travel buffs, filmed partly at the elite Miradero Estate in Glendale, CA. Miradero was the home of real estate pioneer Leslie Brand, known as the father of Glendale, responsible for mapping out the city in the early 1900s. The estate was later purchased by the city.

A super family episode, not to be missed, applause to the creative direction of Frank Strayer. Always on remastered dvd, either separate episodes or the entire series. Thanks much to MOVIES Net for running this classic Saturday mornings.

Blondie Goes Latin is the episode in the series where we are reminded that pert Penny Singlton got her start in musical comedy. She gets to sing and dance, and very well at that. Plot wise, this entry is standard for the amusing series which ran for 12 years and 28 episodes and made a fortune for Columbia in the process. The series was filmed mostly on Columbia's backlot, which means that if you watch the films, you will see the street and house sets from almost all the 1950s-60s Screen Gems TV shows such as Hazel, The Donna Reed Show, I Dream of Jeannie and Father Knows Best, who used the same house set for it's residence as the Blondie films. The songs employed here are quite melodic and hummable, and actress Ruth Terry (who is still living at this writing) gets a featured part and gets to sing "Don't Cry On My Shoulder" to boot. This tuneful nonsense has a big, patriotic finale which was standard procedure during the time just prior to WW2. I got this film on DVD as part of a 10 film set of Blondie films for $5.00 some years ago at Walmart. I'm not sure if it is still in print, but the quality is pretty good and it is enjoyable to have the first ten films in the series for such a low cost. These are the TV prints which cut off the original opening and closing credits, but add their own King Features credits with a theme song familiar to viewers who watched these films on TV during the 1960s. As such, these films almost play like the first Screen Gems sitcom, with continuity between films that is rare for any film series. To pad out the running time to something uniform on the shorter entries of the series, a scene from the middle of some of the films plays before the opening credits. You can fast forward over them if you don't care to see them. This seems like a review for the Blondie DVD set, yet the musical elements in Blondie Goes Latin makes that entry unique and a treat for musical fans.

Dagwood disguises himself as a drummer in the ship's conga band to sneak aboard a South American cruise ship. Blondie performs several song and dance routines.

Blondie Goes Latin is an odd one out of the Blondie series. On the one hand it has one of the stupidest plots in the entire series. On the other hand it's a nice musical treat with numbers by Tito Guizar, Ruth Terry and Penny Singleton herself. This is the only one of the Blondie series that could qualify as a musical.

The Bumsteads including Baby Dumpling and Daisy the Dog all go on a cruise courtesy of Mr. Dithers. I can't quite believe that Jonathan Hale craves the Bumstead company more than his wife, but each marriage is surely unique. But then Dagwood has to stay in the office to meet with an important client so Hale takes Penny Singleton, child, and dog without her husband. To top that off Arthur Lake is held up getting off the boat and takes refuge with Kirby Grant's Ship Orchestra and their singer Ruth Terry. Their drummer didn't make it so Lake pitches in on the drums.

These thing usually only happen to the Ricardos. I wonder if they ever ran into the Bumsteads?

The whole thing is too stupid to make this one of the better films in the Blondie series. But the musical numbers are nice and we get to see Arthur Lake in drag.

BLONDIE GOES Latin (Columbia, 1941), directed by Frank R. Strayer, is the eighth entry to the highly popular film series based on the comic strip characters created by Chic Young, and a welcome change of pace from the usual domestic comedy at both home and the office to a shipboard musical. On top of that, it showcases Penny Singleton as Blondie, and Arthur Lake as her husband, Dagwood, in displaying their musical talents without stepping out of character, especially Singleton, who is in fine voice here. Let's not forget that Singleton sang in some early screen musicals (such as the 1930 version of "Good News" for MGM) when she was a young brunette named Dorothy McNulty.

The plot centers on Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), Dagwood's boss, who invites the Bumstead family to accompany him on a cruise to South America for some rest and relaxation. However, before the boat leaves, Dithers receives a telegram to return to the office to meet with a very important client to cover an important business deal. Not wanting to postpone his long awaited vacation, Dithers assigns Dagwood to substitute for him to arrive at the office the following Monday and take care of the business contract deal himself. Reluctantly, Dagwood agrees, having his family remain in the company of Dithers so not to have their vacation spoiled. As Dagwood tries to leave the boat, he gets himself tangled up with a band of musicians trying to get on board. After helping them with their instruments by carrying the drums to the dance hall dining area, Dagwood finds that the boat has already left and is miles away from the port. Feeling he has fumbled again, Dagwood explains his predicament to band vocalist, Lovey Nelson (Ruth Terry), who assists him from being noticed by coming up with the idea of having Dag dress in drag masquerading as a lady drummer.

Set sail now for further misadventures and complications of Dagwood Bumstead, highlighted by some singing and dancing, with music and lyrics by Robert Wright and Chet Forrest. Songs featured include: "You Don't Play the Drum, All You Do is Beat It" (sung by band/ drum playing by Arthur Lake); "I Hate Music Lessons" (sung by Janet Burston and Larry Simms. This little number features Burston's doll on top of the piano with movable eyes as the children sing); "Querida" (sung by Tito Guizar and Penny Singleton); "Cry on My Shoulder" (sung by Penny Singleton); "Brazilian Cotillion" and "Pan American Time." Aside from watching Baby Dumpling (Simms) doing his own vocalizing and dancing as any 7-year-old can do, the Bumstead pooch, Daisy, is a howl standing on "her" hind legs doing a few steps along with another dog "herself."

Also seen in the supporting cast are Kirby Grant as Hal Trent, along with the Kirby Grant Orchestra; Eddie Acuff as The Taxi Driver; Joseph King as the ship's captain; Harry Barris as one of the band musicians; along with series regulars, Danny Mummert as Alvin Fuddow, and Irving Bacon as Mr. Cromp, the neighborhood postman, in smaller roles.

In spite of this being a second feature, then commonly known as a "B" movie, BLONDIE GOES Latin looks more like an "A" film, with glossy sets, along with some South American rhythm to go along, making this segment resemble that of the current trend of 20th Century-Fox Latino musicals, but in this situation, minus Technicolor, Cesar Romero and Carmen Miranda. The comedy situations presented are occasionally juvenile, which is expected in the "Blondie" series. On and all, this one ranks one of the most enjoyable outings in the series, and highly recommended for family viewing.

BLONDIE GOES Latin which had played on the American Movie Classics cable channel from 1996 to 2002, especially on Sunday mornings, can be found either on video or DVD package. (**1/2)