Blondie Hits the Jackpot

This is the twenty-sixth in the Blondie movie series. Alexander is going on a date with a Louise Hutchins (Ann Carter) because Mr. Radcliffe wants to make a deal with her father, J.B. Hutchins (Lloyd Corrigan). Dagwood appears at his residence in time to see him "hit" his son and give it to him as a result! You can probably guess what happens after that. Anyway, this Louise turns out to be quite a brat especially since she has no mother. Oh, and let me just mention that Dag ends up doing literal construction work that does result in several building disasters but also...oh, watch the movie if you want to find out. Anyway, this was both funny (dig many silent scenes of Dag doing odd jobs with only the score playing) and touching (like when Blondie and Dagwood discuss both Alexander and Cookie out growing them with Blondie wistfully saying "There goes Baby Dumpling". Neither they nor the audience of the time would know that their offspring would never grow past the teen years in the comic strip!) Also hilarious was Dick Wessel as the new postman who's also in a pro football team. So on that note, Blondie Hits the Jackpot is another worthy entry in the series. P.S. This was Jerome Cowan's final stint in the series as Mr. Radcliffe. He'd continue to appear in various movies and TV shows until his death on January 24, 1972. Oh, and the fact that the father and daughter had the surname of Hutchins was amusing to me since a Will Hutchins ended up playing Dagwood in a short-lived TV series version of "Blondie" in the late '60s!

The 26th in a series of 28 Blondie films, based upon the ever-popular Chic Young comic strip and produced by Columbia, any freshness is long spent as this piece displays that familiar puerile scripting, and low level performing by Arthur Lake as Dagwood Bumstead, that characterizes all of the episodes. For this chapter, Alexander Bumstead (Larry Simms) prepares for his first date, arranged by Dagwood's boss, Mr. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) in order to gain a lucrative construction contract for his company because a prospective client, new in town, is seeking an escort for his daughter at her birthday party. Dagwood is persuaded by Blondie to walk his son home from the party so that he may explain the "facts of life" to Alexander, but instead he knocks the girl's father into a swim pool, is fired by Radcliffe and, following a tiresome montage of failed employment efforts, is hired as a construction worker. Ineptly toiling at a construction site, Dagwood finds that faulty girders are intentionally being utilized, and a witless scene occurs when he is chased as a result of his discovery, during which he nonetheless manages to send a plea for aid, as usual, to Blondie. The building location is property of the man whose pool dunking led to his termination, and perplexities ensue, the title's reference to Blondie's attempt at winning a radio contest having but a weak connection to the other plotted activity. As it is directed by Edward Bernds, who wrote and helmed an abundance of Three Stooges inanities, it can be no surprise that this movie falls shy of the comic strip's comedic tone, additionally resultant from Lake's consistently banal interpretation of Dagwood as an utter nincompoop who functions only through Blondie's accordance. Such weak material limits the players to slapstick or hamminess, although reliable Lloyd Corrigan is effective as the wealthy customer wooed by Radcliffe, and the camerawork is top-flight for this effort shot on location in the eastern San Fernando Valley sector of Los Angeles.

BLONDIE HITS THE JACKPOT (Columbia, 1949), directed by Edward Bernds, the 26th installment in the long running "Bumstead family" comedy series, as based on Chic Young's comic strip characters, shows great promise with its title giving indication of a game show story centered upon the title character appearing as a contestant on a quiz show. While Blondie does win a prize, she doesn't get to claim it. That portion, which lasts only a few minutes, is the least important product of the story hence the title. Much of it revolves around husband Dagwood working at a construction site after getting fired from his old job (again). The remaining elements centers upon Alexander having girl troubles after going out on his first date.

Plot summary: As a favor for his boss, George M. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan, in his last appearance in the series), Dagwood (Arthur Lake) agrees to have his son, Alexander (Larry Simms) attend a birthday party hosted by newcomer to the area, Louise (Ann Carter), daughter of Radcliffe's latest client, J.B. Hutchins (Lloyd Ingraham). Due to her demanding personality, Alexander leaves Louise sulking in favor of a better time dancing with the other teenage girls. After discussing Louise with her father, Mr. Hutchins demonstrates to Alexander how not to get pushed around, even by his daughter. At that moment, Dagwood, who has come to escort Alexander back home to discuss the facts of life with him, sees from a distance Hutchins shoving Alexander. Dagwood rushes over to sock the man into the swimming pool, discovering his misinterpretation too late and soon enough to get himself fired after Hutchins notifies Radcliffe. After Alexander tells her off by calling her a spoiled brat, Louise gets even by arranging for Mr. Bumstead to obtain a job at her father's construction site working under Brophy (James Flavin), a tough foreman, doing hard labor. While there, Dagwood encounters a couple of swindlers placing cracked steal beam in a building. As he telephones Blondie (Penny Singleton) to warn Mr. Hutchins, he is overheard by the bad guys (David Sharpe and Ray Teal) who want nothing more than to put Dagwood out of the way, leading to a merry chase around the site while Blondie, breaking away from her housework, acquires a bicycle to ride for help.

Series regulars include Marjorie Kent as Cookie; Danny Mummert as Alvin Fuddow; Alyn Lockwood as Mary, the Operator; and Dick Wessel as the Mailman, all with limited screen time. Ann Carter, best known for her substantial role in Val Lewton's THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (RKO, 1944), in which she played a troubled yet likable child, assumes her role here as an unruly motherless rich girl who gets her well-deserved, old-fashioned spanking for what she's done by none-other than Blondie herself. She asked for it, literally. Could this be Blondie hitting the jackpot? While BLONDIE HITS THE JACKPOT has been listed as the weakest in the entire series, it has some things worth noting, such as the sentimental elements that focus upon the Bumstead son. Those who have come this far in viewing this series from its humble beginning will take notice how age has caught up to its leading characters, gags included. Alexander is a teenager now, is seen shaving with his Dad's electric razor and imitating his father's unusual laugh. As he walks out the door all dressed up carrying a corsage for his first date, Blondie sadly tells Dagwood, "There goes Baby Dumpling." It is Dagwood who comforts Blondie to the reality that their little boy is now a young man, even after Alexander assures his Mom that she is still his best girl. Alexander, is seen earning some extra money for the family by delivering newspapers, with the help of his dog, Daisy.

As for comedy, there's slapstick, and plenty of it, much of it to the liking of children considering its cartoon-style situations, notably Dagwood, at the wrong place at the wrong time in the construction site, getting himself all plastered as cement gets poured all over him from above, to be returned home lying on the back of a pick-up truck nearly stiff as a board, but able to walk to the front door like a robot. Although gags like this are normally found in cartoons, it should be noted that since "Blondie" originated from the "funny papers," it would be natural for comic strip characters to find themselves in these type of situations. The sequence where Dagwood is pursued by the bad guys is amusing yet overly familiar, particularly when they all run take turns running into a cement tray being prepared by a harassed cement mixer (wonderfully played by Emil Sitka of "Three Stooges" comedy shorts fame).

Formerly available on video cassette through King Features, BLONDIE HITS THE JACKPOT, along with 27 others in the series, had a successful run (1996-2001) on American Movie Classics cable television. Next installment: BLONDIE'S HERO (1949) (**)

Yet another goofy episode that finds Dagwood getting fired again, however this time going to work for a construction company that has some real nasty folks.

Mr. Radcliffe's latest client is JB Hutchins, played by Lloyd Corrigan. In an interesting turn of events, Alexander -- who is growing up fast! -- is used by Radcliffe to go on a date with his spoiled young daughter, Louise (Ann Carter), hoping that may improve their business relationship. Things go haywire, not due to Alexander, but Dagwood messes things up and winds up working (at hard labor) at Hutchins construction company.

Here's the catch; Dagwood soon discovers Hutchin's "trusted" foreman and his crew are using cracked steel in his buildings which could lead to some deadly consequences. Dagwood to the rescue!

Edward Bernds directs this funny episode with his usual style, of course Arthur Lake outrageous no matter what he gets himself into. Note, pretty Ann Carter was a very famous child actress at the time, co-starring in I MARRIED A WITCH opposite Veronica Lake -- all because she bore a striking resemblence to her.

Fun to watch Lloyd Corrigan, great in character roles as bumblers, and look for veteran actor Maurice Cass as Pierre. This would be the final appearance of Jerome Cowan, who like Jonathan Hale, would leave the series to go on to other projects. Curiously, Mr. Dither's character would be re-written into the series, and I have often wondered if the producers didn't ask Hale to return. Obviously, he didn't and was not in the radio series either. The role of Dithers was played by Hanley Stafford, who would have been fun in the later movie episodes, but either declined or was not asked.

Written by comedy writer Jack Henley, who would later write scripts for the MA AND PA KETTLE movie series.

Dedicated to all us Arthur Lake fans, a lovable stooge. Remastered on dvd, episodes sold separately or the entire series in select box sets.

Thanks much to MOVIES Net for running this classic series on Saturday mornings.

Some time ago, I bought a collection of all of the Blondie and Dagwood films. For the most part, they are a fun series of pictures...with a nice cast and dependable writing. However, with 27 films in total, there are bound to be a few klunkers...and "Blondie Hits the Jackpot" is clearly a klunker. First, the title has nothing to do with the film...but that is forgivable. Second, the plot just seemed far-fetched...like the writers had run out of ideas. Considering it's the 25th film, I guess they just couldn't think of anything better!

The film begins with a new client meeting with Mr. Radcliffe. He tells Radcliffe that he's having a birthday party for his teenage daughter and wonders if Radcliffe knows a boy her age who could be her date. Without asking first, Radcliffe promises Alexander Bumstead will be that date! Alexander is excited but the party turns out to be a bust...and he spends little time with the surly young lady. So, the brat decides to make life hard on the Bumsteads by having her father hire Dagwood and instead of doing it for his architectural skills, she has him sent to work in the construction business...and has the foreman give him the most god-awful jobs. Later, Dagwood learns that the foreman is cutting corners...so many that the building would be an accident waiting to happen. Then, after working all this out and getting his old job back, Blondie wins a prize that simply defies my understanding.

To say this was a poorly written episode is to the point and accurate. One reviewer called it fatuous...and, after looking it up in the dictionary, I would agree that the film was generally silly and pointless...so why didn't they just say that?! Overall, a big letdown for the series and hopefully the final two will be better...it's hard to imagine them being much worse.