Blondie Goes Latin

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.

What a musical delight ! I just saw this on the Movies! Cable Chanel, and waited with baited breath to see the credits at the end to find out who these great singing performers were.... I assumed Penny Singleton's singing voice was dubbed by what they used to call a "studio singer", like Marni Nixon...and also, Ruth Terry who I've only known as an actress in the Westerns, never heard she was a singer....but alas, no credits were shown at the end, so I came here in hopes that some of the Reviews would give this info.....and I find out, that both ladies did their own singing! WOW ! Penny has a magnificent operatic voice, and Ruth reminded me very much of Judy Garland! And Arthur Lake is a virtuoso on the drums! Does it get any better? Yes.....because, as usual, the movie was stolen by Baby Dumpling and DAISY! I think Macauley Culkin would have had a run for his money if Larry Simms had shown up for the Home Alone audition....and that DAISY ! DOUBLE WOW ! He would be a winner on " America's Got Talent " for sure !

The plot is really silly, but with all that talent & cuteness, who cares ??

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.

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.

This is the 8th film in the series of 28 (1938-1950). Alvin (Danny Mummert) is nice enough to visit the Bumsteads and give flowers to Blondie. h He has a poem to read titled, "The Bumsteads Go To South America". The Bumstead family gets to go on a six-week cruise to South America thanks to Mr. Dithers. Well, a telegram comes for Mr. Dithers. To close a deal at the office, someone must be at the office Tuesday. This is Mr. Dithers health cruise, so that means Dagwood (Arthur Lake) must leave the ship to be at the office. After all Mr. Dithers is Dagwood's boss. But Dithers insists on Blondie (Penny Singleton), Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and Daisy too to stay on the ship with him with his compliments. Dagwood says a tearful goodbye. Well, as you will see, Dagwood doesn't quite make it ashore. He is still on the boat and trying to hide from Mr. Dithers. Baby Dumpling meets a little girl and they sing a duet. Penny Singleton gets to sing three beautiful songs and dances too. The next film in the series is BLONDIE IN SOCIETY.