Blondie
Director: Frank
Strayer
Year: 1938
Rating: 5.5
I expect everyone is familiar to some degree with
the Blondie comic strip. I mean it has been around since 1930 - 88 years!
Over those years it has chronicled the lives of Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead
from their marriage through having children being born to becoming teenagers.
I don't think they are still aging or they would all be in Elderly Care homes.
It was created by Chic Young who kept it going till his death in 1973 and
then his son took over. The Bumstead's are sort of a typical middle class
family having to deal with work stress, children, budgets and so on. Much
to my amazement I read that for the first few years of the strip until they
married Blondie was a party girl - a flapper and Dagwood was the son of a
wealthy tycoon but when he married Blondie his father disinherited him! Blondie
a flapper. I will have to see if I can find some of those strips online.
In 1938 Columbia began a long running film series starring Arthur Lake and
Penny Singleton who lasted for the entire series. When I say long-running
I mean looong running - from 1938 to 1950 for a total of 28 films. I don't
think I will be seeing them all unless I live much longer than science says
is possible. But this was the first one. A few of the staples are thrown
in - Dagwood running into the postman, the huge sandwich and Dagwood pleading
for a raise from Mr. JC Dithers (Julius Caesar). Dagwood is much more of
a milktoast nitwit than I recall him being in the comics and he gets into
all sorts of situations. But of course all turns out just fine. At this point
they have one child of about three that they call Baby Dumpling. It isn't
particularly ambitious or clever but is has some decent laughs along the
way. I won't watch all 28 films but I will try and get to a few more.
As in many of these low budget studio films - and this one must have been
financed on the proceeds of returned bottles - there are some solid character
actors that you will recognize if unable to put a name to. But beware of
the bit from Willie Best who is the black porter in the hotel. Best was a
comedian showing up for small parts in many films but almost always as a
not very bright racist stereotype. That was simply how it was done back then.
He died at the early age of 45 from cancer.
