Blondie for Victory

It's wartime now and Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead have shifted to wartime priorities. For Dagwood it's not much, he's got a draft exemption as the sole support of a wife, two children, and several dogs courtesy of Daisy. But Blondie wants to do her bit for the country as well. She's organized the housewives of the neighborhood as a kind of female home guard which does first aid. In fact two of the first people that Blondie and her women get to practice first aid on are Dagwood and Mr. Dithers.

Unfortunately work at the Dithers Construction Company has slowed because Arthur Lake is not getting the T/L/C he deserves from Penny Singleton. Lake and Jonathan Hale concoct a Lucy Ricardo like scheme to get Singleton to fold up her little amazon militia involving Stu Erwin, a soldier awaiting orders. Can't tell what it is, but Lucille Ball never thought of anything better.

Dagwood as usual is in hot water this time with our Armed Services, but he gets out at the end of the film none the wiser because you know in the next film it will be something equally bizarre.

Blondie For Victory? Good thing our war effort wasn't dependent on the Bumsteads.

Some ask why Blondie films are not titled instead with Dagwood, who carries much of the action and comedy upon his shoulders throughout this series. Other than finding their root within the Chic Young comic strip bearing her name, these films generally focus upon situations as viewed through Blondie's perspective; it is she who defines each chapter thesis, to provide resolve for the satisfaction of one and all. In this, perhaps the most dated series entry, Blondie's task at hand seems most challenging: to present patriotism on the home front while simultaneously determining responsibility within the roles of lay citizens.

While Hollywood would rise to the occasion of cementing the entertainment industry's roles during the World War II Effort, with actors' enlisting, celebrities' campaigning to sell war bonds, entertainment troupes' traveling to perform with the fox hole circuit, as well as establishing USO Canteen gatherings, "Blondie for Victory" would become this series' opportunity to present a statement for this noble cause.

Here, with a large ensemble of supporting players, we experience a first-hand account of a collection of female military and nursing uniforms exhibited during this chapter's Fashion Show, narrated by Mrs. Holbrook (Nella Walker), and climaxing with Blondie's (Penny Singleton) modeling that of the "Housewives of America." Miss Singleton appears stunning in a dazzling uniform dress, apparently royal blue with red and white accents (although shot in black and white), which she sports throughout this chapter.

"Blondie for Victory" (Columbia 1942) begins its [71 minutes] at the J.C. Dithers Company after most of Mr. Dithers' (Jonathan Hale) office staff has become enlisted and is replaced by members of his elder generation, written--quite unfortunately--as incompetents, whom J.C. cannot readily abide. Because of this and the fact that Mrs. Dithers (even here not yet introduced to the screen) has taken in soldiers as boarders, J.C. enlists Dagwood (Arthur Lake) to conduct business at the Bumstead residence.

Often, we see somewhat implausible events transpiring in Blondie films. Here, in series' installment #12, the Babysitter (Renie Riano) overreacts to Dagwood's returning to assist Cookie (Majelle White). Why wouldn't the Babysitter know that Cookie has a father? Blondie often takes matters into her own hands without consulting Dagwood, while expecting his approval, but would she not have explained anything to the Babysitter?

Meanwhile, Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and Daisy and her pups assist Alvin Fuddle (Danny Mummert) in canvassing the neighborhood to collect for a fund drive.

And the Housewives of America, who elect Blondie, naturally, as their chairwoman, gather at the Bumsteads, to witness Dagwood's treading into hot water with the Babysitter, as well as with Alvin, and also with Mr. Dithers, who expects Dagwood to conduct business matters. Comedy fills the air as Blondie attempts to assemble the Housewives of America into formation. Their purpose, above marching and practicing First Aid on Dagwood, is purportedly to keep watch over the dam by night.

And not only does J.C. Dithers, but also do the husbands of the Housewives of America object to their dismissing domestic tasks in the name of patriotism.

After all, these husbands, Dagwood and J.C. included, are portrayed as ignorant to surviving without spousal assistance. When Dagwood hosts Mr. Dithers for dinner, he fumbles the difficult task of opening one can to share between them, leading J.C. to decide to assemble the husbands, to formulate a plan of action. Watch for a blooper in this scene, by keeping an eye on the calendar, which magically changes months from April to May, upon the wall behind Dagwood.

At the meeting of the helpless husbands, a hapless recruit shows to complain about being reared on a farm by aunts and sisters and not receiving male bonding in the service. Pvt. Herschel Smith (Stuart Erwin) gives J.C. an idea, which complicates matters further. Most of the remainder of this film centers around the site of the dam, in the great outdoors, after dark. Mr. Crumb, former Mailman (Irving Bacon), now keeps watch over the water levels, while Blondie and her troops scout an alleged perpetrator (Charles Wagenheim), believed to plan to explode the reservoir.

More trouble ensues when Pvt. Smith's Sergeant (Edward Gargan) arrives to deploy soldiers, causing a chase through the woods.

Ultimately, Blondie and Dagwood gather with representatives of Housewives of America before the Colonel (Russell Hicks), to resolve the roles of--not the woman, not the man, but--the parents of young children with the War Effort.

P.S. "Blondie for Victory" is written by two females, based upon a story by a third, so nobody could blame the actors too much for the use of biased opinion.

So how do you mix tricky wartime stress with B&D's wacky humor. Fortunately, the series writers manage the trick in entertaining fashion. For younger folks, historical glimpses of the war's impact on the homefront are woven in, ordinary things like tires and sugar.

The first part is a hoot as Blondie organizes neighborhood wives into a wartime support group, 'Housewives for Victory'. It's early 1942, just months into the big war. Naturally, B&D have to respond, while even Daisy the dog collects money for bombs. Trouble is the wives now have duties apart from housework, which means husbands have to take up the slack. In short, gender roles get muddied. Of course, for B&D the material is loaded with all kinds of potential laughs. Now if D can only figure out which food goes to people and which goes to puppies. Then too, B needs to learn First Aid without turning D into an American Mummy.

The second half, however, moves into a more conventional slapstick, with everyone racing around in a gloomy forest, including a mysterious character with a loaded sack-- is he a saboteur or what. There's not as much flag-waving as might be expected, though the women show they can march as formidably as men. Emphasis instead is on how suburban couples learn to adjust to the new conditions. For B&D that means a lot of laughs; for contemporary viewers it's an entertaining glimpse of a stressful time.

All in all, the programmer's a humorously revealing 70-minutes with our adorable couple facing up to the demands of a new era. The latter half may be somewhat repetitive, but overall the entry's still worth tuning in.

The quality of "Blondie for Victory" is a notch or two lower than the previous installments of the Blondie and Dagwood series. The writing, this time, disappoints and the film makes a very strange message about WWII and the homefront.

When the story begins, Blondie has organized the housewives in town into a paramilitary sort of group...and the husbands are mad because the wives aren't there to feed them and keep house. When the other fellows learn that Blondie is behind all this, they threaten Dagwood...telling him to stop her...or else. Dagwood comes up with a really stupid plan where he pretends to enlist so that Blondie will come home and give up this organization. The plan not only makes no sense but could get Dagwood in a lot of trouble for impersonating a soldier. Yet, inexplicably, the whole thing ends well...and no one punched in Dagwood's face.

While most wartime Hollywood films are very patriotic, this one is different and seems to tell housewives NOT to do their part and men to do anything (short of joining up) to stop them. Despite this goody message, a sickeningly sweet three cheers for America and the war effort ending is tacked on to the film...leaving me very confused and wondering what happened to the writing with this one!

By the way, after Dagwood wrecks Mr. Dither's car, Dithers asks "Are my tires okay?!"...this is because there was a severe tire shortage during WWII as most all of the rubber went to the war effort.

This is the twelfth in the Blondie movie series. Made at the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, Mrs. Bumstead organizes a Housewives of America meeting to tell her fellow neighbors their duties for help in the war effort. But that means the husbands have to do what their wives normally do when they're not on duty. I'll stop there and just say there are plenty of funny slapstick scenes especially when they involve Dag with his boss, Mr. Dithers. Also, the mailman-Mr. Crump-in this ep is at another job but guess who still bumps into him here? Most of the movie I thought was funny though the chase at the end was a bit too silly for my tastes. So on that note, Blondie for Victory is worth seeing. P.S. This was Don Beddoe's last appearance in the series having previously been in Blondie Meets the Boss and Blondie on a Budget. And the only time Alexander is called by his old name of Baby Dumpling is when his father addresses him as such before quickly changing to the other one. And Majelle White played Cookie in this entry. Also, one of the movie stars mentioned by one of the guest characters was Rita Hayworth, who had appeared in Blondie on a Budget as an old friend of Dag's.