Small House of Everything

Small House of Everything

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

OVERLOOKED FILM: BLONDIE MEETS THE BOSS (1939)

ChicYoung's comic strip Blondie began in 1930 and is still running today in more than 2000 newspapers and in 35 languages.  In the beginning, Blondie Boopadoop was a gorgeous showgirl with a knockout figure being wooed by Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling son of a wealthy family.  Even though his family threatened to disinherit him if Dagwood married Blondie, they tied the knot.  Cut off from his inheritance, the two begin domestic life and soon have a son, Alexander (Baby Dumpling), to be joined later by daughter Cookie.  Over the years, they have assembled a solid cast of characters and a series of running gags.

Blondie hit the movie screen with a self-titled B feature from Columbia in 1930 starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake.  Eventually there were 28 Blondie films, ending with Beware of Blondie in 1950.   Singleton and Lake took their characters to the radio in 1939 for an eleven-year run, and Lake reprised his character in the first of two Blondie television series in 1957, with Pamela Britton as blondie; the second series ran for the 1968-1969 season and featured Patricia Harty and Will Hutchins.  Blondie has also appeared in numerous comic books, comic strip collections, animated television shows, and several novels. and has spawned a gazillion merchandising items.  Dean Young (Chic's son, who took over the strip after his father's death) created a chain of Dagwood Sandwich Shop's, which struggled for four or five years before going belly-up with shops nly in five states rather than the proposed 13.000 locations nationwide.

(The official Dagwood sandwich included "three slices of deli bread, hard salami, pepperoni, capicola, mortadella, deli ham, cotto salami, chaddar, provolone, red onion, green leaf lettuce, tomato, fresh and roasted red bell peppers, mayo, mustard, and a secret Italian olive salad oil."  Yum!)

Blondie Meets the Boss was the second movie in the series.  Dagwood's long awaited vacation is postponed by his boss Mr. Dithers and Dagwood quits in frustration.  Blondie pleas with Dithers to give Dagwood his job back and Dithers agrees, providing Blondies runs the office while Dithers nis out of town on business.  Blondie goes back to work while Dagwood stays home with Baby Dumpling.  Complications ensue, including a totally innocent but compromising photo of Dagwood clutching a girl, a land deal that Dithers wants Blondie to close, and Dagwood accidently entering a jitterbug contest. 

It's funny and warm.  You might enjoy this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmMHMsaCAEM

No comments:

Post a Comment