Blondie Brings Up Baby

Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939) starring Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms

The fourth in the Blondie series, Blondie Brings Up Baby, Baby Dumpling starts school. Then his dog, Daisy, follows him …. But she’s captured by the dogcatcher! When Baby Dumpling plays hooky to search for her the next day, Blondie and Dagwood fear that he’s been kidnapped!

Editorial review of Blondie Brings up Baby courtesy of Amazon

Baby Dumpling goes to his first day of school… followed by Daisy, who is picked up by the dog catcher and later adopted by the crippled daughter (Peggy Ann Garner) of one of the city’s wealthiest men. Baby Dumpling searches for Daisy in vain. The next day he plays hooky so he can continue his search. Blondie and Dagwood immediately suspect kidnapping. They hear that the rich man’s daughter is also missing. Dagwood decides to pay a visit to his estate, and there he is promptly arrested as a kidnapping suspect. Approximate Run Time: 75 min. / B&W

Cast

• Penny Singleton (Blondie Knows Best) … Blondie Bumstead.
• Arthur Lake (Blondie’s Holiday) … Dagwood Bumstead
• Larry Simms … Alexander ‘Baby Dumpling’ Bumstead
• Daisy … Daisy. The family dog.
• Danny Mummert … Alvin Fuddle. The next door neighbor, and Baby Dumpling’s best friend.
• Jonathan Hale (The Saint’s Double Trouble) … J.C. Dithers. Dagwood’s boss, who fires him yet again. But, goes to the courthouse to bail him out anyway. And punch out Mr. Cartwright while there!
• Robert Middlemass (The Black Raven) … Abner Cartwright. The rich man who causes Dagwood to be fired. Later, Dagwood punches him in the street, after being taunted. Later, at the courthouse, Mr. Dithers punches him as well!
• Fay Helm (Night Monster) … Mrs. Fuddle. Alvin’s mother, and Blondie’s friend. She offers Baby Dumpling a cookie when Daisy’s missing. And later, helps Blondie when he goes missing.
• Peggy Ann Garner (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) … Melinda Mason. The rich, crippled girl, who “adopts” Daisy. Later, Baby Dumpling takes her to his house — without the adults knowledge — to play on his swing. And she walks, for the first time in two years! A sweet, tearjerking incident.
• Roy Gordon (The Unearthly) … Mr. Mason. Melinda’s loving father, overjoyed when Melinda can walk. And he wants to use the “silly” design that Dagwood got fired for, as a place for crippled children to get better. Complete with dogs. And gets Dagwood rehired, with a bonus!

Secondary characters

• Grace Stafford (voice of Woody Woodpecker) … Miss White. Melinda’s nurse, who pushes for Melinda to get a dog. Against Mr. Mason’s orders. Essential to her recovery.
• Helen Jerome Eddy (Stowaway) … Miss Ferguson. School Principal, who calls Blondie about Baby Dumpling’s absence from school.
• Olin Howland (Them!) … Encyclopedia Salesman. The catalyst to have Baby Dumpling start school
• Irving Bacon (Meet John Doe) … Mailman. The running joke of Dagwood plowing over him.

Quotes

Blondie: See what he learns from those older boys?
Baby Dumpling: I learned that from Daddy.

Baby Dumpling: I don’t like girls.
Melinda: Why?
Baby Dumpling:I don’t know – I learned it at school.
Governess: But your mother’s a girl, and your dog’s a girl.
Baby Dumpling:Mother girls and dog girls are all right …