Leave It to Blondie

This is the 15th "Blondie" film in the series of 28. It has been two years since a new "Blondie" film was released. Larry Simms and Danny Mummert are now 10 years of age. Alexander (Larry Simms) can now wear long pants and Dagwood (Arthur Lake) is now wearing a long tie instead of bow-ties. The newspaper delivery person is a girl which startles Daisy. Alvin (Danny Mummert) comes in singing in fine tune. Just when Blondie (Penny Singleton) thought the budget was fine, she gives Emily $100 for Children's Camp. Alvin's father, Mr. Fuddle (Arthur Space) gets $100 from Dagwood for the Children's Camp. When Blondie and Dagwood both realize the mistake they made together, what will they do now?. A new postman (Eddie Acuff) is determined that Dagwood won't run him down, so he places a bet with Mr. Fuddle. Guess who wins? Dagwood might win a song writing contest thanks to Dagwood's uncle and Alvin. The next film in the series is LIFE WITH BLONDIE.

This film actually marked the return of the series, which had been cancelled by Columbia Pictures in 1944. With many other projects going on, the studio apparently lost interest, and even limited the number of episodes over the last few years. However -- fans -- and lots of them, wrote in and complained and Columbia resumed production, with some changes.

Assistant director Abby Berlin, who had been with the series since the start, took over as director from Frank Strayer, who went on to other film projects. Also, Connie Lee, who wrote many B films in her career, took over for series writer Karen De Wolf. De Wolf moved on to tv in the 50s.

This episode is very lively, much like the early series episodes, and you'll notice that Alexander and Cookie are growing up fast. It also has another "entertainment" theme, this time Dagwood entering a goofy songwriting contest, inspired by an old song his late Uncle Henry wrote. He even gets to sing the song, becoming one of three finalists who appear on a radio show. Kooky stuff, hammed up by Arthur Lake.

In the meanwhile, as can be expected, Blondie gets jealous -- thinking the song was written by Dagwood for somebody else?? -- and Dagwood gets fired by Mr. Dithers (again) for messing up another business deal. Jonathan Hale as Dithers is a hoot to watch, ready to strangle Dagwood at any chance he can get. He and Dagwood make a super team.

Eddie Acuff (who appeared in no less than 300 movies and tv shows), plays the new and flustered mailman, also Jack Rice joins the series as Ollie, Dagwood's wisecracking co-worker. Rice co-starred with Florence Lake (Arthur's sister) for many years as the brother-in-law to Edgar Kennedy in his comedy film series.

Funny support from Chick Chandler as fast-talking Eddie, and veteran Maude Eburne as Magda, the tea leaf reader. Maude has some of the best lines here.

A gem. Always on dvd, either sold separately or in box sets. Thanks to MOVIES Net for running this classic series Saturday mornings.

After a two year hiatus, Blondie & Dagwood have returned in "Leave it to Blondie"...a fair but flawed installment of the series. While I did enjoy it overall, it returns to a plot device that just never felt right for the films...the jealous wife in search of a divorce. After all, Blondie and Dagwood love each other so much and this just doesn't seem to fit the films at all.

The story begins with the couple deciding to give $100 to charity...a huge amount for 1945. But by mistake BOTH Blondie AND Dagwood promise the money...and they cannot possibly afford giving $200. The solution, albeit contrived, is for Dagwood to enter a songwriting contest. But, Dagwood doesn't know about this and Alexander and Alvin enter a song they found for him. It turns out the song was written some time ago by Dagwood's deceased uncle. Cheating? Of course...but that's not the end to it! See the film and find out where this one little lie lands Dagwood and nearly destroys their marriage (mostly because Blondie is, in this one, a complete idiot).

Overall, charming at times and enjoyable...I just wish they'd eliminated the jealous wife bit. It's not very funny AND what woman would be jealous of Dagwood and think he was sleeping around on her?!?!

In Leave It To Blondie both Dagwood and Blondie write out a check for the Bumstead commitment to a new kid's summer camp for $100.00 each. That's twice what they pledged and it's really depleted their checking account balance.

But there's a possibility of ready cash as the head of the summer camp committee Eula Morgan is also sponsoring a local songwriting contest. Arthur Lake goes into the Bumstead family archives and has found an old song that Uncle Henry Bumstead wrote back in the day. Dagwood submits it as his own and he becomes one of three finalists in the contest.

Now personally I think it was a bit unfair for the contest organizers to ask for the songwriters to sing their own material. Dagwood wasn't exactly Crosby or Sinatra to begin with, but that cold he gets really doesn't help. After all did anyone ever ask Jerome Kern to sing his own material?

It all works out in the end and while Lake does not become the new Irving Berlin he closes a nice real estate deal for the J.C. Dithers Construction Company. That's all mixed in with the songwriting contest and you'll have to watch Leave It To Blondie to see how.

It's the usual B&D bounce but with a longer runtime (75-minutes) and more complex plot. Our favorite suburban couple better get more money and quick otherwise it's big trouble. They'll soon be over-drawn at the bank thanks to their generosity for a good cause! But maybe D can win the song contest he's entered, if only that frog will get out of his throat. Meanwhile, he better figure out whether B's eyes are blue or black, otherwise he'll have his own black eye. Good thing Daisy and Alvin are on hand to help out.

Another salute to Lake and Singleton for their unbeatable comedic pairing. The story wanders a bit but their antics carry it along. And what about sexy actress Weaver. No wonder B's jealous. Then too, I hope new mailman Acuff got a bonus for acting like a stampeded floor pad. All in all, the entry's not among the series best, but remains a lively laugher anyway.