Blondie for Victory

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.

BLONDIE FOR VICTORY (Columbia, 1942), directed by Frank R. Strayer, finds the Bumstead family doing their part in the war effort. In this 12th installment and nearly a year after America's involvement into the war following its historical attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, this became the first time in the series where even the mention wartime is discussed, placing Blondie and Dagwood in uniform, with amusing results. This is also the entry where Larry Simms officially becomes Alexander Bumstead, by which, according to him, the "Baby Dumpling" name is out.

The time is World War II and Blondie (Penny Singleton) leaves the household chores to her husband, Dagwood (Arthur Lake) while doing her patriotic duty as leader of the American Women's Volunteer Service. With the housewives participating in the war effort (one of them being Dithers' wife, Cora), the husbands are left to tend to the cooking and cleaning at home, causing the men to rebel, electing Dagwood as their leader in hope that he'll lure his wife back to active duty at the home-front so that the others will follow. He does this by borrowing a uniform from a soldier named Herschel Smith (Stuart Erwin), to let Blondie know that he's "enlisted," while Herschel finds himself mistaken for Dagwood while sporting his suit and bow tie.  The plan nearly works until the soldiers are called to report to active duty, causing Dagwood to look for Herschel and switch clothes before being taken to go on the battlefield, leading to a merry chase with Dagwood, a tough sergeant (Edward Gargan), and the military police along with a mysterious individual (Charles Wagenheim) believed to be the one to blow up the local water dam.

Another satisfying episode with numerous comic highlights: Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), Dagwood's boss, having trouble with his eyes, refusing to see an optometrist, involved a slight accident while driving with Dagwood with his car found in a sideway position; Dagwood volunteering as a wounded patient for the volunteering housewives, leaving him bandaged from head to toe; Dagwood having Dithers over to the house for dinner and unwittingly switching canned items leading them to eat dog food instead, resulting to boss and employee literally barking at one another; Dagwood's attempt from getting arrested or taken by the MPs while hiding in the pond of cold water with the assistance of Blondie and Dithers; and Dagwood running through the woods into Bert Crump (Irving Bacon), his former postman now retired, continuously knocking him down as he did during Crump's morning mail delivery.

Adding to the supporting players are Majelle White as Baby Cookie; Don Beddoe in his third and final appearance as Marvin Williams; Eddie Acuff and Dewey Robinson as the husbands; Renie Riano as Miss Cabbler, a snoring baby sitter; Thurston Hall as the captain; Danny Mummert returning as Alvin Fuddow who bribes Dagwood after obtaining his diary with things Blondie shouldn't see; and special guest star, Stuart Erwin, as a country boy raised by his mother and sisters, wanting to break away from his female environment by enlisting as an Army private to feel like a soldier in the company of real men. Being true to his word about avoiding females, he refuses to have his picture taken with the most gorgeous movie starlets, including Rita Hayworth.

While BLONDIE FOR VICTORY might have been handled more seriously due to its wartime theme, it remains relatively amusing throughout until Blondie's patriotic speech followed by the entire Bumstead family standing in front of the waving American flag. As much as this entry in typical situation-comedy, battle of the sexes theme, overall it represents true-to-life Americans doing their part for the good of humanity.

BLONDIE FOR VICTORY, along with 27 others in the series, was formerly distributed on video cassette through King Features, and presented on American Movie Classics from 1996 to 2001. Next in the series: IT'S A GREAT LIFE 1943).(**1/2)

Karen De Wolf, who wrote most of the early series entries, put this funny and original episode together that boasts a large cast of familiar character actors. The best part is spotting the faces.

Since ABBOTT AND COSTELLO and LAUREL AND HARDY at the time made some popular movies about the war, why not join them? It was a smart move that sees Blondie uniting the neighborhood housewives to do their part. Unfortunately, that leaves Dagwood to blame by all the lonely husbands? Watching Arthur Lake is just plain outrageous.

I agree with the last reviewer. There are some wacky situations that may have inspired I LOVE LUCY, and when you come down to it, the BLONDIE series was the grand daddy of sitcoms, albeit on the wide screen. As usual, Dagwood and Mr. Dithers make a genuine Odd Couple, this time having Dithers over for dinner and feasting on a "pot luck" sort of a meal. Daisy's dog food gets mixed in and do the math.

Also a little adventure added, which changes gears to a dramatic finale, all about the town dam -- which could be blown up by saboteurs! Character actor Charles Wagenheim raises suspicion lurking around the place in the dark, and its kind of spooky. Good support from Ed Gargan as a brash sergeant and Stu Erwin as Private Smith. Erwin was a staple in many classic comedies, who had just appeared in THE BRIDE CAME C. O. D., starring Bette Davis.

Also some good bits; stone-face Renie Riano playing Miss Crabber(?), Cookie's babysitter. Sylivia Field ( DENNIS THE MENACE) plays Mrs. Williams.

This episode runs fast because so many goofy scenes are thrown at you. The THREE STOOGES were also filmed at the same studio (Columbia Pictures), so comedy was in the air, and yes, it does have the feel at times of a Stooge movie. Once again, director Frank Strayer has fun with the cast. You really have to love this stuff, and lots of us kids grew up watching it on tv in glorious black and white.

The password is "Tires," uttered by Mr. Dithers, since there was a WWII ration on rubber at the time, also sugar, which plays into the plot.

Thank you to MOVIES Net for rerunning this classic series Saturday mornings, like the old days. Forever on remastered dvd.

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.