Blondie! (1938) starring Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Gene Lockhart
On the eve of their 5th wedding anniversary, Dagwood loses his job – again! It’s Blondie! to the rescue!
Highlights
- Baby Dumpling putting himself in time out … before he’s done anything!
- CP & “Dag” “borrowing” a vacuum cleaner, to take to CP’s hotel room to fix it.
- The running gag with the poor woman leaving & re-entering the optometrist’s office, when she sees/doesn’t see the vacuum cleaner.
- Daisy “stealing” the meat that Dagwood was about to steal
- The Bumsteads waltzing together in the living room, the night before their 5th anniversary.
- Dagwood’s disappearing bedtime sandwich. Courtesy of their dog, Daisy.
- Both parents sneaking in to check on Baby Dumpling. Each trying to not let the other parent know, since they don’t want their spouse to worry. Funny and sweet.
- Dagwood fainting at the sight of the roomful of new furniture. Since he knows it’s about to be repossessed! And Blondie doesn’t …
- Dagwood rear-ending a police car. Leading to his arrest, and the very funny courtroom scene.
- At the very end, where Baby Dumpling is helping a man tinker with a lawn mower. And Dagwood, not having learned his lesson, helps!
Cast
- Penny Singleton (Blondie’s Holiday) … Blondie Bumstead. On the verge of her fifth anniversary, Blondie wants new furniture. So, she’s traded in their current furniture towards the purchase of the new, But Dagwood doesn’t know anything about it. Yet. Later, she wrongly thinks that he’s been cheating on her with Elsie. But it’s a sitcom-style mistake.
- Arthur Lake … Dagwood Bumstead. He’s used their furniture to secure a note for an office friend, Elsie Watson. But she’s skipped town, and the furniture’s going to be repossessed! Unless he can pay over $500 by tomorrow. And, Blondie doesn’t know anything about this.
- Larry Simms … Baby Dumpling. Absolutely adorable as Dagwood & Blondie’s young son!
- Daisy … Daisy. The family dog. Who “helps” Dagwood with his bedtime sandwich.
- Ann Doran (It! The Terror from Beyond Space) … Elsie Hazlip. C. P.’s attractive young daughter. Whom Blondie mistakenly thinks is trying to steal Dagwood! Courtesy of Chester.
- Gene Lockhart (Hangmen Also Die) … C.P. Hazlip. C.P.’s a potential client for Dithers — who hates salesmen. Dagwood’s trying his hand at sales, and goes to Mr. Hazlip’s hotel to sell him on having Dithers Construction create his new building. While waiting for Mr. Hazlip, Dagwood makes friends with “C.P.” and they bond over fixing a broken vacuum cleaner. With “Dag” not connecting that this is the man he’s trying to make the sale to!
Secondary characters
- Jonathan Hale … J.C. Dithers. He fires Dagwood, when the Hazlip deal appears to fall through.
- Gordon Oliver (West of Shanghai) … Chester Franey. Newly promoted person, that Dagwood’s jealous of. He runs into Dagwood in the hotel, where he’s calling on C.P. Elsie answers the door, and Chester assumes the worst!
- Dorothy Moore (Blondie Meets the Boss) … Dorothy. Blondie’s younger sister.
- Danny Mummert … Alvin Fuddle. Baby Dumpling’s playmate.
- Kathleen Lockhart (The Glen Miller Story) … Mrs. Miller. Dagwood’s mother-in-law, who reports her car stolen when Dagwood “borrows” it.
- Willie Best (The Ghost Breakers) … Porter. Who has the vacuum cleaner, that he’s in the middle of repairing, disappear when he goes to get tools.
- Ian Wolfe (The Raven 1935) … Judge. Who understands the man’s desire to “tinker” all too well!
Quotes
[Dagwood has neglected to dry the dishes for 45 minutes]
Dagwood: Time surely flies.
Blondie: It flies faster in the living room than it does in the kitchen.
[reminiscing about their wedding day]
Blondie: You were so scared …
Dagwood: Of course! It was the first time I was ever married.
Blondie: [lovingly] It had better the last, too, young man.
Blondie: Dagwood, you’re going to drop one of those sandwiches on your foot one day, and you’ll be crippled for life.
C.P. Hazlip: [after the “repaired” vacuum cleaner fails miserably] If I were a drinking man, I’d go out and get a drink. I think I will anyhow.
Dagwood: But I can explain!
Blondie: I don’t want explanations, I want alimony. [as they’re walking into the house where her mother and sister are waiting, and she’s trying to put on a happy facade] Smile!
Baby Dumpling: [as Blondie is wiping his face] You’ll wear my face out.
Blondie: Sometimes I think it’s harder to raise a husband than a baby.
Trivia
- The first of 28 Blondie movies, all starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake released by Columbia Pictures from 1938 to 1950.
- Based on the comic strip of the same title by cartoonist Chic Young, first published on September 8, 1930. Since 1973 it has been continued by his son Dean Young and as of 2018 has appeared in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide.
- Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake also repeated their roles on a long-running radio program, Blondie, from 1939 to 1950.
- Three Stooges regular Bud Jamison has an uncredited role as one of the furniture repossessors.
- Character actor Charles Lane appears as the man who sells the new furniture to Blondie.
- The note for $563.80 that Dagwood co-signed would equate to almost $10,000 in 2018.