Blondie's Big Deal

In the previous film, "Blondie's Secret", his boss admitted that Dagwood was his best and most capable employee. Here in "Blondie's Big Deal", Dagwood invents a fire-proof paint...further proof that the dimwit isn't quite as dumb as he used to be in the earlier Blondie films! The problem, however, is that although not at all dumb, he's not a good judge of character. So, when a guy working for a competitor pretends to be from the insurance industry and is helping them, Dagwood accepts this...not realizing the jerk is only there to make sure the demonstration of the paint is a failure! Can Blondie and Dagwood get to the bottom of this and make the formula a success or will everyone just assume Dagwood is a crackpot?

Apart from featuring Rollo instead of Alvin, Blondie going undercover and Dagwood being smart, this is still a fairly standard series installment. And, considering how likable the characters are, this is not a bad thing in the least. Fun and worth watching.

A bland but watchable entry in the Blondie series, "Blondie's Big Deal" has most of the series' usual features, with a story that includes a couple of interesting ideas.

Dagwood has come up with a brilliant invention, a new kind of paint that renders objects completely fireproof. But he is having trouble convincing his boss that it actually works, and at the same time a rival company is trying to steal his invention. Naturally, Dagwood quickly finds himself in a complicated mess, and Blondie has to try to bail him out. Thus begins a series of entanglements.

After a pretty good start, the plot soon becomes fairly routine, and almost completely predictable. But there are a couple of good scenes, and it is mildly entertaining to see how everything comes out.

BLONDIE'S BIG DEAL (Columbia, 1949), directed by Edward Bernds, is actually a big deal for Blondie's ever loving spouse, Dagwood, considering it is he who comes up with a million dollar experiment that becomes more troublesome for him and his family in this latest theatrical chapter of The Bumstead Family film series based on Chic Young's popular "Blondie" comic strip characters.

After 25 movies in eleven years, the Bumsteads are at it again. Hoping to obtain a business contract from Mr. Forsythe (Stanley Andrews) in building a new school, George M. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) agrees to have employee Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) use his country home as a public demonstration to Dagwood's invention of fireproof paint. After Dagwood spends the entire day painting the cottage, the crowd is gathered together the following morning to witness history in the making. Mayor A.K. Ramsey (Chester Clute) starts off the ceremony by lighting the first match. Poof!!! The house, covered with everything flammable, including gasoline, suddenly goes to blazes, leaving the cottage with nothing more than smoking ashes after its hosed down by the firemen standing by. Naturally Dagwood gets fired (no pun intended), without the notion as to what went wrong. It is later discovered that Dagwood's paint cans were switched with regular paint by a couple of crooks, "Slack" (Ray Walker) and Dillon (Wilton Graff), wanting to take the credit for themselves and make a fortune. With the assistance of Alvin Fuddow's (Danny Mummert) younger cousin, Rollo (Alan Dinehart III), another intellectual, the boy arranges for Blondie (Penny Singleton) to obtain enough evidence against these men by working undercover as their secretary. After Rollo succeeds in having Norma Andrews (Colette Lyons), Dillon's secretary, out of the way by sending her a phony telegram saying that she has won a first prize trip, Blondie steps in and is immediately hired to fill in the vacancy with Rollo, acting as both messenger boy and look-out while standing outside the office window waiting for coded instructions. As Blondie gathers enough evidence needed to clear Dagwood's name, she follows Rollo's plan by switching the paint on them, but in doing that, she is caught in the act, causing Rollo to take the wrong cans back to Dagwood, while the crooks leave Blondie bound, gagged and locked in their office as they go to promote the inflammable paint to Mr. Forsythe, much to the dismay of Mr. Radcliffe.

The writers of BLONDIE'S BIG DEAL make every effort in coming out with something ingenious and original, but while this late entry can be amusing at times, with doses of suspense, the situations, in which the Bumsteads have faced before, are actually recycled and rearranged. Anyone who's come this far viewing this series will notice the similarities. However, this is one of those few instances where Blondie and Dagwood have equal status rather than having much of it going to Dagwood. Blondie takes time away from her household chores to save Dagwood from ridicule at the risk of endangering herself. Rather than having their know-it-all neighbor Alvin Fuddow assisting her, as he has done in the past, the role now given to a boy named Rollo, related to and similar to the likes of Alvin, leaving Alvin to be reduced to a brief scene set in a boys gymnasium. Aside from his ability be show off his smartness, he can defend himself as well, as demonstrated earlier in the gymnasium where Rollo is being taught the method of boxing by none other than Dagwood, with Dagwood returning home with a shiner unwittingly acquired by Rollo.

Larry Simms and Marjorie Kent as Alexander and Cookie, the Bumstead children, have little to do with scenes to call their own while Daisy, the Bumstead pooch and their pups resume their traditional animal antics. Others in the cast include Jack Rice as Ollie Merlon, Radcliffe's "Yes" man and Dagwood's office rival still out for his job; Alyn Lockwood as Mary, the switchboard operator; Eddie Acuff in his eighth and final appearance in the series as postman Mr. Beasley; and George Lloyd as the Fire Chief.

With familiar routines galore, including Dagwood knocking down the neighborhood postman in order to catch his morning bus to work, there's another run-on gag used throughout the screenplay where Dagwood names every invention mentionable credited to Alexander Graham Bell, and being wrong every time. It is only when Rollo points his finger towards the telephone does Dagwood finally get it right, much to Blondie's surprise.

No home run, no foul on this one, otherwise a good recommendation for die hard Alan Dinehart III fans. Formerly available on video cassette through King Features, BLONDIE'S BIG DEAL was one of many in the series to have its successful run on American Movie Classics (1996-2001). And the series continues with its next installment being BLONDIE HITS THE JACKPOT (1949) (*1/2)

Why the Bumsteads aren't on easy street after Dagwood invents his fireproof paint Blondie's Big Deal fails to answer. But the film does deliver good family humor Bumstead style.

Arthur Lake is always looking to improve himself and it may just have happened. Some chemical experiments of his have resulted in Dagwood inventing a fireproof paint. This could give the Radcliffe Construction Company a leg up on contracts. But Jerome Cowan's unscrupulous rivals Ray Walker and Wilton Graff steal Dagwood's paint and sabotage the experiment conducted on Cowan's fishing cabin. As it burns down Dagwood sees his career go up in flames.

But it's Blondie in this film that is the savior. Penny Singleton and a new genius kid that's moved on the block Mason Alan Dinehart who save the day which includes Dagwood's job, once again in jeopardy.

Funniest bit is the demonstration of the fireproof paint that goes so badly and costs town mayor Chester Clute what we would call a photo op today.

Still this invention should have netted the Bumsteads Gazillions.

There's a bit of scientific history to this episode, all about Dagwood inventing fire-proof paint! About a year earlier, fire-proof paint was, in fact, patented, though it would be many years later before it was commercially available. The paint was probably developed during WW II for the war effort, a time when many new inventions were born.

Mr. Radcliffe and Dagwood have a new client called Mr. Forsythe (played by character actor Stanley Andrews), who is building a new school. To impress him when it comes to safety, Dagwood offers to demonstrate his new invention by painting Radcliffe's vacation cabin --then set the place on fire! In the meanwhile, two of Radcliffe's devious competitors (Wilton Graff and Ray Walker), pull a switch, stealing the paint and replacing it with a phony baloney.

You have to admit, painting a house with gasoline(!) is INSANE, the place burns up and Dagwood is fired in two seconds. Laugh out loud stuff, and watching Arthur Lake's stunned expressions is always a highlight.

In an amazing twist, Dagwood's good luck charm this time around is a kid called Rollo (played by Alan Dinehart III), Alvin's cousin, a young genius who saves the day. Dinehart, the son of the famous actor, later appeared in the tv series WYATT EARP, playing Batt Masterson.

Of COURSE, the BIG inside joke is Dagwood's invention could have made him an instant millionaire! But that's the way it goes. Well written fluff by Lucile Watson Henry, and the only episode she wrote for the series.

Character actress Collette Lyons plays the secretary to one of the bad guys. Lyons became famous a few years later due to her marriage to newspaper publisher George Randolph Hearst.

Good direction by Edward Bernds, writer and director for the Three Stooges, Dagwood --without fail -- the biggest Stooge of 'em all. Why we love Arthur Lake.

Nearing the end of the series. Always available on dvd, separate episodes or the entire series, remastered. Thanks so much to MOVIES Net for running this goofy series on Saturday mornings.