Could this have been a "slight" take-off of the Joan Crawford classic, MILDRED PIERCE? Of course, minus all the high drama. Enter Blondie as the struggling 1940s housewife who, like Mildred, strikes out on her own and starts a very successful cookie business. You have to admit, it's a very inspiring episode and filmed during the post WWII boom in which lots of people were doing their own thing. Kind of a neat time capsule of America.
On the other side, poor Dagwood is at odds with Mr. Radcliffe and a headstrong client called J. T. Thorpe (well played by Clarence Kolb), who wants to enlarge his radio station operations. Things don't go too smoothly with Mr. Thorpe, as can be expected. However, in a rather neat twist, Dagwood begins tinkering with short wave radio (safely back home) and puts together an amateur radio station in his attic. Kind of a clever twist here...
Interestingly, this move was not that far from the truth due to the fact that shart wave radio sets at the time were quite popular. It's also fun to watch Dagwood sort of going into business himself. In the meanwhile, Blondie continues with her cookie business, and quite accidentally, crosses paths with Dagwood's amateur radio station and becomes a star in her own right.
Not done yet. Hilarious Hugh Herbert returns to the series and actually saves the day for everybody. Herbert plays Mr. Simmons, also interested in cookies -- who in reality is very famous -- a big help to both Dagwood and Blondie in the end.
Hugh Herbert steals the show once again, just so much fun, a perfect fit for the series.
Look for popular character actor Gino Corrado as the caterer. Gino appeared with the THREE STOOGES, and reportedly, was cast in over 1000 films in his long career, certainly setting a record.
Excellent writing by Arthur Marx (son of Groucho!). This was Arthur's second film credit, and he hit the bullseye. Unfortunately, it was his only story for the series. Arthur eventually moved to tv and wrote for scores of sitcoms, best known for ALICE in the 70s.
Everything clicks. A memorable episode. Remastered on dvd, both separately and in box sets. Thanks much to MOVIES Net for running this classic series on Saturdays.
