Blondie's Reward

This is the twenty-third in the Blondie movie series. In this one, Dagwood is allowed to stay at home. He wants to relax but Blondie wants him to varnish the floor! Mr. Radcliffe arrives to take Dag to work to purchase a piece of land for him as a "dummy". (No, NOT the kind you usually think of but Mr. Bumstead fits that bill, of course!) There's also a visiting pro football player, some crooks who deal with Dag, and some boxing involved. The second entry in the series written by Edward Bernds, this was another very funny outing for him. And director Abby Berlin does wonders with the material cramming as much action as allowed. This would be his final contribution to the movie series though he'd return to the source material when helming the pilot of the TV version several years later. Bernds takes over with the next entry. So that's a high recommendation for Blondie's Reward. P.S. Eddie Acuff's postman finally gets a name here: He's Mr. Johnson.

While I did enjoy "Blondie's Reward" I am deducting a point for one grotesque scene where Alvin pretends to be mentally deficient. It's terribly acted and just gross.

The rest of the story is quite good. Dagwood is instructed to buy a valuable piece of property for his boss but instead buys some swampland from some crooks. Naturally Radcliffe is angry but instead of his usual (firing Dagwood) he demotes him. But, through a mix-up the demotion doesn't last long. Dagwood is supposed to pick up some papers from a client but a neighbor (a former pro footballer and All-American) does the errand for Dagwood. There, he encounters a brutish jerk who attacks a woman and then him...and the All- American ends up knocking the crap out of the jerk! Now you'd think going to a client's home and hitting someone would be a problem...but the client is thrilled...he hates the jerk and loves that Dagwood (or who he thinks is Dagwood) taught the guy a lesson on manners. What's next? Well, Dagwood has his old job back and all appears to be working out fine...until the ruse is discovered. What's next?? Well, A LOT!!!

Overall, despite the nasty scene I mentioned, a good installment of the series. Worth seeing, though it is certainly insensitive.

Dagwood Bumstead is certainly not getting in solid with his new boss Jerome Cowan in Blondie's Reward. Cowan gives Arthur Lake a rare day off, but it's a working day off. He's sent to act as a dummy for Cowan who wants to buy a parcel of land.

But Lake proves he's a dummy in fact as well as name when he buys the wrong parcel from a pair of sharpies played by Frank Jenks and Chick Chandler. He's stuck with some swamp land that no one has any use for and Cowan has to keep on salary and not fire him in order that he pay back what he gave him to buy.

Young Ross Ford is also mistaken for Dagwood when he goes on an errand for him and punches out Myron Healey who is the prospective son-in-law of Cowan client Paul Harvey. But Cowan's daughter Gay Nelson likes what she sees and Harvey likes what he hears about as he didn't really like Healey anyway.

A combination of the Bumstead kids and neighbor Danny Mummert save the day for the Bumsteads and Penny Singleton puts things right for her man. As Blondie always does.

This is an amusing entry in the Blondie series.

This episode marked the series 10th year, and it was goofy business as usual. Once again, poor Dagwood is played the fool, getting mixed up with two cons (Frank Jenks and Chick Chandler), and buying swamp land for Mr. Radcliffe. Dagwood gets demoted... but there's always some hope.

Ross Ford (as Ted) turns out to be Dagwood's good luck charm, pretending to be him and in a strange turn of events --punching out the no-account future son-in-law of Radcliffe's client, Mr. Dickson (played by Paul Harvey). Dickson takes a liking to Dagwood and the swamp land. In the end, it turns out to be a valuable piece of property.

Written by Ed Bernds, also writing and directing the THREE STOOGES short films at Columbia Pictures. Bernds continued the tradition of giving Dagwood incredible dumb luck. This was a common thread in the series, finding Dagwood in charge of buying something, even animals, like a Great Dane in a previous episode, only discover what he purchased was worth a small fortune. Fun to see Dagwood awkwardly come out on top.

This episode is filled with some fine character actors; Harvey and Chandler, also Frank Jenks as a cop and veteran Chester Clute as Mr. Blodgett. Ross Ford would later appear on the RED SKELTON SHOW.

Classic bit; Dagwood varnishing the dining room floor and painting himself into a corner. Arthur Lake's "HOW did this happen?" looks are priceless.

Final episode directed by Abby Berlin, who was with the series since the beginning, also working as assistant director. An authority on the series. Berlin switched to tv and became director for LIFE OF RILEY and the ANN SOTHERN SHOW.

Always on dvd, either sold separately or in a box set featuring the entire series. Thanks to MOVIES Net for running this classic sitcom Saturday mornings.

This time around, Ed Vance (Frank Jenks) and Bill Cooper (Chick Chandler once again) intercept Dagwood (Arthur Lake) outside of a Realtor's office to attempt to swindle the funds which Mr. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) has entrusted Dagwood to bid a purchase option upon prime acreage, to offer swampland, thus potentially yielding an event which may lead to Dagwood's demotion to office boy.

"Blondie's Reward" (Columbia 1948), Chapter 23 in this series, marks the swan song of Abby Berlin as Director of the Bumstead film family. Written by Edward Bernds, this one is filled with the desires of various characters to achieve a "Reward" of sorts.

Mr. Radcliffe has the notion to impress wealthy industrialist John D. Dickson (Paul Harvey) with plans to construct a potential plant, thereby hoping to procure that cherished prime Real Estate, to cinch a tentative deal.

What Mr. Dickson wants is for his daughter, Alice (Gay Nelson), to dump her opportunist fiancé, for whom he has no use.

What Blondie (Penny Singleton) wants, in the meantime, is for Dagwood to use his days off from the office to varnish the wooden floors at the Bumstead residence. Dagwood obliges and begins in their dining room, inside which he varnishes himself into a corner and must escape through a window, which causes confusion after a police officer observes this.

Alexander (Larry Simms) and Alvin Fuddle (Danny Mummert), passing football with Alvin's college-age cousin Ted Scott (Ross Ford), are asked to vouch for Dagwood's person in a film relying upon a plot of mistaken identity.

What Alexander and Alvin want is a set of mail-order barbells, in order to practice athletics, as cousin Ted.

What Ted wants, when Blondie enlists him to drive to the Dickson estate, to retrieve Radcliffe's blueprints for Dagwood, is to impress Alice Dickson, which he does by putting her fiancé in his place although Ted is identified as Dagwood Bumstead.

When Mr. Radcliffe receives word of the social blunder, he pleads with Blondie to play along with his plan, which does not include that boxing match between Dagwood and Mr. Dickson, an unexpected visit by Alice to thank Dagwood for his "heroics," nor the return of those con artists.

"Blondie" films can serve as gems of escapism from daily life or from heavier fare--or from nonsense fare. Even as this series winds down, its later chapters may seem a bit more relaxed than their predecessors. But "Blondie's Reward" does hold its own, by proving that its creative staff still manages to add fresh ideas to this series.