July Journeys: Blondie Takes a Vacation (1939)

This month we take a vacation with movies featuring characters doing the same.

SAMANTHA GLASSER: Dagwood (Arthur Lake) and Blondie (Penny Singleton) are on their way to the mountains for some rest and relaxation. They sneak their adorable dog Daisy onto the train and meet a kind older man (Donald Meek). Upon arrival to their destination, they are denied lodging and tramp into the woods in search of another hotel. They find one, but it has seen better days, and many more patrons. The Bumsteads are the only occupants until their friend from the train follows them. The hotel owners are perilously close to losing their business due to bad advice and a mortgage held by the rival hotel. The Bumsteads make it their mission to save the hotel.

RODNEY BOWCOCK: This is the third entry in the Blondie series and the first one that takes them away from their hometown, something that would occasionally happen as the series continued (there were 28 entries in all, making this the most long running series of B films that Columbia would churn out during the golden age). It’s these little touches that break away from the routines that helped keep the series going, and also spawned a radio series that lasted the entire time that the film series was on screens with new adventures.

SG: I've enjoyed hearing the interviews Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton did for SPERDVAC when they were still around. They seemed flattered that people were still interested in their work.

Too bad the family doesn't get the vacation they want, but we do get a lot of entertainment. In one scene, Dagwood attempts to fix the shuttle car whose cylinders are not all firing. The attempt to explain this problem to Blondie sounds like a bit from a Burns and Allen show. In another, we get a great sight gag when the vacuum cleaner floats up to the ceiling and the gang makes their attempts to get it down.

RB: Singleton and Lake are absolutely perfect in their roles in this triple-play threat series (comics to movies to radio). Singleton was pretty and charming and I suppose it’s a toss-up if she’s better known for her role as Blondie or her voicework as Judy Jetson in the original 1962-1963 series and in the new seasons produced from 1985-1987. Arthur Lake was described by Singleton as “Dagwood through and through,” and while he came from a show-biz family and had appeared in dozens of films in the 20’s and 30’s, he certainly didn’t mind being typecast as Dagwood. A fascinating book or article could be written about Lake who was friends with William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies and had married Davies’ niece Patricia (or daughter?). He was bequeathed half of Marion Davies’ fortune when she died in 1961.

SG: It is very clear how much times have changed in the way that Baby Dumpling is treated. With a name like that you'd expect his parents to baby him, but instead they task him with chores a much older kid would perform today, and he is left alone most of the time. There are no other kids to play with, so his only companion is his dog. I was shocked that Blondie and Dagwood took the air on the train after tucking him into bed, a place in a sleeping car surrounded by strangers with only a flimsy curtain protecting him.

RB: I think there are some truths in those statements that kids were raised and treated differently than we do today, but I also kind of think that they just didn’t want the kid in the way while they were creating hi-jinks to propel the story forward. As far as I know, berths on trains only had curtains, and I can certainly imagine parents putting their kids to bed, and heading to the smoking car for a drink and not thinking anything of it. Even when I was a kid, missing children were pasted on milk cartons, but we were expected to get out of the house on summer days and stay gone as long as possible.

SG: Modern Screen's reviewer said, "The rest of the audience will find enough entertainment in Daisy, the pooch, to make up for the less talented contributions of the rest of the cast." Daisy, real name Spooks, is awfully cute, and well-trained. In spite of the character name, he was a boy. He does tricks like flipping over backward, wagging his tail on command to assist Baby Dumpling with drying dishes, and staying in frame throughout the film. He lived a long life, dying at age 17 in 1955. Trainer Rennie Renfro was also responsible for a dog named Buster who performed in the Dogville comedies and Zero, the dog from High Sierra.

RB: He also pops up as the dog in Meet Miss Bobbysocks, a favorite movie of mine that we covered a few years back.

SG: The version I watched had mid-century opening credits created for the television broadcasts.

RB: The Blondie series is absolutely not in the public domain, but King Features, who retain the rights to the series (and the comic strip upon which the movies were based) doesn’t seem to see any commercial value in them. They were released on VHS, and the first 10 packaged in a decent, if barebones, set from Platinum Entertainment (with the cooperation of the rights holders) what must be twenty years ago. When AMC ran these, back when they ran such things, at least some of them had the original Columbia titles. Most everything you can find now has the weird late 60’s opening, along with about 3-5 minutes of scenes from later in the movie to pad the running time. It’s kind of obnoxious.

SG: The General Federation of Women's Clubs called the film, "A most entertaining episode in this interesting series, replete with good wholesome fun and, as usual, adorable Baby Dumpling takes the honors."

Film Bulletin said, "Frank Strayer's direction is speedy and punchy. He delivers laughs at the right spots almost invariably."

Digest magazine wrote, "'Blondie' is in danger of becoming a formula, but we will give the producers one more chance to throw their dice before we become too critical."

Box Office Digest agreed, saying, "One of the things it has, with which it could well dispense, is the company’s idea that scripts of the sort that made two-reel comedies in the silent days will stand up today for feature length attractions... The only thing we don’t like to do is to encourage Columbia to keep traveling down this alley. There may be more skunks at the end of the trail."

Photoplay's reviewer said, "It's all just as amusing as the other films in this comic-strip hit series. The situations worked up (skunks invading hotel resort, as an example) have that fine lack of intelligence and incredible bad taste that make the funnies America's favorite literature."

RB: This was a very popular series of movies, really everywhere, but especially in the small town neighborhood theaters. The only complaint that I found about this entry not being a draw felt that it wasn’t the quality of the double bill (with Fast and Furious), but more that audiences could stay at home and listen to Gulf Screen Guild Theatre, which was having an especially robust roster of guests.

“The Blondie series are a very good bet at the box office. We played all of them to date and they are very good entertainment. Had many comments on this one,” said the folks at the Homer Theatre in Hibbing MN.

Radio wasn’t the issue in Tilbury, Ontario, Canada however. Harland Rankin of the Plaza Theater was less than thrilled with the turnout but felt that it was “No fault of the picture but we had French mission here for a week and they just go to church.”

SG: The film came out in 1939, the year that is considered to be one of the best in Hollywood history. This film does not hold up to that high standard, but it is a pleasant diversion of a movie with likeable characters, a problem to be solved that isn't so big it seems impossible, and various interesting locations. Three stars.

RB: These were likely among the first classic movies that I ever saw and doubtlessly with that in mind, they remain favorites. But the charm is undeniable. Columbia grew tired of the series and cancelled it in 1943, only to bring it back a year later when there was such an audience outcry. Three and a half stars for a solid, better entry in the series.