Blondie in Society

The Bumsteads mix with the rich and famous in Blondie In Society courtesy of a large Great Dane that Dagwood that astute businessman takes in lieu of $50.00 from Chick Chandler. Surprisingly enough the Bumstead dog Daisy takes to the large newcomer, but Blondie sure doesn't and that is just one element in this rather crazy Bumstead adventure.

The Blondie series always had some great character players in it and in this one three are present and at their best. Edgar Kennedy does his patented slow burn as the veterinarian the dog is in hock to. William Frawley plays a potential J.C. Dithers client who is a fancier of show dogs and wants this one. And Charles Lane plays a most eager washing machine salesman who tries to sell Penny Singleton a new one when the Bumsteads think they are in the chips.

The problem is that this dog won't strut his stuff until it's discovered by Penny Singleton that music perks him up. Her own singing voice and those of the Mitchell Boys Choir makes the Great Dane start acting like a champion.

Blondie In Society is one of the funnier episodes I've seen in the Blondie series and it also exhibits Penny Singleton's singing quite nicely.

BLONDIE IN SOCIETY (Columbia, 1941), directed by Frank R. Strayer, the ninth feature in the popular comedy series based on the Chic Young comic strip characters, ranks the very best of the entire 28 episodes. This series reached its peak here, and the leading players are at their funniest. At 78 minutes (the longest in the series), it plays fast and furious.

Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) gets himself a great dane named Chin-up to cover a $50 debt, and his wife, Blondie (Penny Singleton) helps out by entering Chin Up in a dog show. Everything goes wrong, of course. While the dog wins the contest, everyone who had disowned him, wants to reclaim him, a fight ensues, causing everyone, including the Bumstead child, Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and his neighbor friend, Alvin (Danny Mummert) to acquire black eyes.

Besides Dagwood running into the neighborhood postman (Irving Bacon) to catch his bus for work, other comedy highlights include Dagwood trying to take his Sunday bath, but never does due to constant interruptions, a gimmick used occasionally in the comic strips, but seen only once in this series. Penny Singleton shows off her singing ability by vocalizing "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and "Trees." Veteran character actors Edgar Kennedy and William Frawley also add to the comic hi-jinx. For animal lovers, the Bumstead dog, Daisy, and Chin-up help provide some memorable highlights as well. And then there's Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) as Dagwood's irritable boss, etc.

Available on video with the 1960s tag-on TV opening and closing credits with vocalists singing the "Blondie" theme song. Thankfully when it was shown on the American Movie Classics cable channel from 1996 to 2000, it was presented with its original opening and closing credits shown in theaters. Later shown on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: November 6, 2021) with sing-along theme song opening. While much of the 28 "Blondie" comedies are quite enjoyable, this one is definitely a first prize winning entry. (***/2)

Columbia pictures made 28 Blondie and Dagwood films from 1939-1950 and they were all rather low-budget but enjoyable family comedies. One of the best things about these films is unlike most B-series, this one had a very stable cast--with Arthur Lake (Dagwood), Penny Singleton (Blondie) and Larry Simms (Baby Dumpling) playing in all the films.

While I have not seen a ton of these films, of the ones I have seen, "Blondie in Society" is so far my favorite. It gets very high marks for its writing and the story made me and my wife laugh repeatedly.

"Blondie in Society" begins with Blondie panicking because she thinks someone has written a forged check on their home account. However, it turns out Dagwood actually loaned a childhood friend the money and never mentioned this to his wife. She is furious and demands he get the money back NOW. However, the old friend is broke and offers to give Dagwood his pedigreed Great Dane instead. Dumb old Dagwood takes the pooch--and it turns out to be nothing but trouble. The animal eats like a herd of elephants, is very destructive and has the neighbors up in arms. What's worse, it also starts problems with his boss as well as a potential client (William Frawley). By the end of the film, everything is a complete mess. Can the Bumsteads, just like in their other films, manage to make this all work out for the best? One of the reasons this film was so much fun was Daisy--the family's adorable mutt. As usual, this trained dog does a HUGE repertoire of wonderful tricks and seemed to show so much great emotion. Additionally, the script really hummed--and the staff seemed to be on top of their game on this one. Fun throughout.

Outrageous. 10 Stars.

Perhaps the BEST entry in the series, and the longest running at 77 minutes. Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake made a heck of a team and played well off each other for years. Both were extremely talented, especially Singleton, who gets to sing again in this episode. Penny did a terrific job singing with a full orchestra in BLONDIE GOES LATIN.

Dagwood brings home a gigantic GREAT DANE, called Champion Chin Up, in exchange to pay off a debt, as usual. He tries to reassure exasperated Blondie, claiming they actually have an extremely valuable dog, and dog nappers may be watching? To which Blondie exclaims, "You don't happen to know any, DO YOU!" In the meantime, frustrated Mr. Dithers is about to wring Dagwood's neck for messing up another deal with a client --or could Chin Up save the day?

Jonathan Hale is a hoot as Dithers, about as crafty as Dagwood was dumb, and both getting into some kind of a mess and blaming the other. William Frawley (before I LOVE LUCY) has a good part as a sly client of Dithers who wants to win a local dog show. Thrown in for good measure is slow burn king Edgar Kennedy, playing Dr Glenn, the outraged vet ready to call the cops on everybody, because his bill hasn't been paid and Chin Up has wrecked his office. "He's a great big, hulking BEAST, who eats, and eats and EATS!" he screams.

Best line by Blondie; "I'm trying to get through the crowd with my CHIN UP!"

To note, Kennedy was starring with Arthur Lake's sister, Florence, at the time in a popular series of short film comedies for RKO Studios. That series was one of the longest running in movie history, next to the THREE STOOGES.

Watch for many familiar faces, fun to spot the veteran actor. Don't miss Mr. Dither's beautiful Woody Ford station wagon, a collector's item today if there ever was. Lots of memories.

Historically, the famous Bumstead house was torn down in 2023, along with other classic movie and tv homes to make way for office buildings and new sound stages at Warner Brothers in Burbank, CA. Gone, but never forgotten. The street the house was located on was later known as Blondie Drive.

About as good as it gets, written by Karen De Wolf. BLONDIE has been released in box sets over the years, the most popular contain the early episodes. Hearst Entertainment, two dvd box sets. Released 2003.

Thanks to MOVIES Network for rerunning the series on Saturday mornings, like the old days.

Dagwood (Arthur Lake) comes home to find the police waiting for him. Someone has forged Dagwood's signature on a check. But as it turns out, Dagwood wrote the check him to get paid back. Now you know why they call him Dagwood. Blondie (Penny Singleton) sure is upset. Alvin (Danny Mummert) drops by and lets Blondie know he heard the argument all the way in his house. Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and Alvin begin to use slang, much to the disapproval of Blondie. Dagwood buys a show dog that causes havoc in the Bumstead house. This film does not use the early previews, but the theme song is used this time. The mailman in the film hides up in the tree and we all know why. William Frawley plays a dog owner. This role was 10 years before the "I Love Lucy" tv series. This film is a bit unpleasant at times. Too much serious Bumstead arguing and yelling. Bad writing and directing. But you might like this one if you are a dog lover. The next film in the series is BLONDIE GOES TO COLLEGE.