Blondie in Society

Outrageous. 10 Stars.

Perhaps the BEST entry in the series, and the longest running at 77 minutes. Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake made a heck of a team and played well off each other for years. Both were extremely talented, especially Singleton, who gets to sing again in this episode. Penny did a terrific job singing with a full orchestra in BLONDIE GOES LATIN.

Dagwood brings home a gigantic GREAT DANE, called Champion Chin Up, in exchange to pay off a debt, as usual. He tries to reassure exasperated Blondie, claiming they actually have an extremely valuable dog, and dog nappers may be watching? To which Blondie exclaims, "You don't happen to know any, DO YOU!" In the meantime, frustrated Mr. Dithers is about to wring Dagwood's neck for messing up another deal with a client --or could Chin Up save the day?

Jonathan Hale is a hoot as Dithers, about as crafty as Dagwood was dumb, and both getting into some kind of a mess and blaming the other. William Frawley (before I LOVE LUCY) has a good part as a sly client of Dithers who wants to win a local dog show. Thrown in for good measure is slow burn king Edgar Kennedy, playing Dr Glenn, the outraged vet ready to call the cops on everybody, because his bill hasn't been paid and Chin Up has wrecked his office. "He's a great big, hulking BEAST, who eats, and eats and EATS!" he screams.

Best line by Blondie; "I'm trying to get through the crowd with my CHIN UP!"

To note, Kennedy was starring with Arthur Lake's sister, Florence, at the time in a popular series of short film comedies for RKO Studios. That series was one of the longest running in movie history, next to the THREE STOOGES.

Watch for many familiar faces, fun to spot the veteran actor. Don't miss Mr. Dither's beautiful Woody Ford station wagon, a collector's item today if there ever was. Lots of memories.

Historically, the famous Bumstead house was torn down in 2023, along with other classic movie and tv homes to make way for office buildings and new sound stages at Warner Brothers in Burbank, CA. Gone, but never forgotten. The street the house was located on was later known as Blondie Drive.

About as good as it gets, written by Karen De Wolf. BLONDIE has been released in box sets over the years, the most popular contain the early episodes. Hearst Entertainment, two dvd box sets. Released 2003.

Thanks to MOVIES Network for rerunning the series on Saturday mornings, like the old days.

The Bumsteads mix with the rich and famous in Blondie In Society courtesy of a large Great Dane that Dagwood that astute businessman takes in lieu of $50.00 from Chick Chandler. Surprisingly enough the Bumstead dog Daisy takes to the large newcomer, but Blondie sure doesn't and that is just one element in this rather crazy Bumstead adventure.

The Blondie series always had some great character players in it and in this one three are present and at their best. Edgar Kennedy does his patented slow burn as the veterinarian the dog is in hock to. William Frawley plays a potential J.C. Dithers client who is a fancier of show dogs and wants this one. And Charles Lane plays a most eager washing machine salesman who tries to sell Penny Singleton a new one when the Bumsteads think they are in the chips.

The problem is that this dog won't strut his stuff until it's discovered by Penny Singleton that music perks him up. Her own singing voice and those of the Mitchell Boys Choir makes the Great Dane start acting like a champion.

Blondie In Society is one of the funnier episodes I've seen in the Blondie series and it also exhibits Penny Singleton's singing quite nicely.

So what happened with the title. I must have missed the 'society' that Blondie is supposedly in. Instead the title should be something like Daisy Gets a Big Brother. But whatever the brand, it's still typical Bumstead fun. This time B&D get caught up in a fancy dog show where they all argue over who owns Chin-Up the Great Dane. Is the lucky one Mr. Dithers, Blondie, Dagwood, or about twenty other guys. Everyone's got his cash interest since the dog's a shoo-in for the big purse. Plus B has run-up big debts back when 50-bucks was real money. Nostalgia-wise, I love the 1941 bouncy washing machine that half drowns the Bumstead kitchen. Good thing my mom's worked better.

It's the usual great family antics, including Daisy and the boys. But I miss Dagwood in the latter part when the dog show takes over. His comic interactions with a stern Blondie are, I think, the heart of series success. Anyway, I expect that's Singleton doing her own singing since she started out as a singer. At the same time, I now know why I didn't become a mailman, especially when not even being a tree climber helps. And here's hoping Daisy got extra kibbles and Chin-Up got an extra cattle herd for their expert acting. So, all in all, don't let title expectations deter you. The entry may not be the best, but it's still a Blondie fun-fest.

This is the ninth in the Blondie movie series. The Bumsteads acquire another dog, a Great Dane. How, I don't feel like getting into. Let's just say it has to do with Dagwood having to get back 50 dollars and leave it at that. Anyway, this was another hilarious entry in the series especially when a blowhard like Edgar Kennedy shows up as a veterinarian! There's also William Frawley-years before his iconic role as Fred Mertz on "I Love Lucy"-on hand as another potential client for Mr. J. C. Dithers. Also appearing are The Robert Mitchell Boys Choir-a musical chorus who would eventually also appear in the Oscar-winning Going My Way. Yes, Ms. Singleton sings a song with them and yes, they're beautiful when they do. Oh, and among the returning players are Grady Sutton-previously the photo salesman in Blondie Meets the Boss-as the dog kennel sales man here and Charles Lane-the furniture salesman in the first Blondie and the train conductor in Blondie Plays Cupid-playing the washing machine salesman here. Wait till you see what happens to him in this one! So on that note, I very much recommend Blondie in Society. P. S. The announcer of the dog show is Bill Goodwin, who was the announcer of The Bob Hope Show and would also do the same on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on both radio and TV.

Columbia pictures made 28 Blondie and Dagwood films from 1939-1950 and they were all rather low-budget but enjoyable family comedies. One of the best things about these films is unlike most B-series, this one had a very stable cast--with Arthur Lake (Dagwood), Penny Singleton (Blondie) and Larry Simms (Baby Dumpling) playing in all the films.

While I have not seen a ton of these films, of the ones I have seen, "Blondie in Society" is so far my favorite. It gets very high marks for its writing and the story made me and my wife laugh repeatedly.

"Blondie in Society" begins with Blondie panicking because she thinks someone has written a forged check on their home account. However, it turns out Dagwood actually loaned a childhood friend the money and never mentioned this to his wife. She is furious and demands he get the money back NOW. However, the old friend is broke and offers to give Dagwood his pedigreed Great Dane instead. Dumb old Dagwood takes the pooch--and it turns out to be nothing but trouble. The animal eats like a herd of elephants, is very destructive and has the neighbors up in arms. What's worse, it also starts problems with his boss as well as a potential client (William Frawley). By the end of the film, everything is a complete mess. Can the Bumsteads, just like in their other films, manage to make this all work out for the best? One of the reasons this film was so much fun was Daisy--the family's adorable mutt. As usual, this trained dog does a HUGE repertoire of wonderful tricks and seemed to show so much great emotion. Additionally, the script really hummed--and the staff seemed to be on top of their game on this one. Fun throughout.