Esposas em Pé de Guerra

This is the twelfth in the Blondie movie series. Made at the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, Mrs. Bumstead organizes a Housewives of America meeting to tell her fellow neighbors their duties for help in the war effort. But that means the husbands have to do what their wives normally do when they're not on duty. I'll stop there and just say there are plenty of funny slapstick scenes especially when they involve Dag with his boss, Mr. Dithers. Also, the mailman-Mr. Crump-in this ep is at another job but guess who still bumps into him here? Most of the movie I thought was funny though the chase at the end was a bit too silly for my tastes. So on that note, Blondie for Victory is worth seeing. P.S. This was Don Beddoe's last appearance in the series having previously been in Blondie Meets the Boss and Blondie on a Budget. And the only time Alexander is called by his old name of Baby Dumpling is when his father addresses him as such before quickly changing to the other one. And Majelle White played Cookie in this entry. Also, one of the movie stars mentioned by one of the guest characters was Rita Hayworth, who had appeared in Blondie on a Budget as an old friend of Dag's.

The quality of "Blondie for Victory" is a notch or two lower than the previous installments of the Blondie and Dagwood series. The writing, this time, disappoints and the film makes a very strange message about WWII and the homefront.

When the story begins, Blondie has organized the housewives in town into a paramilitary sort of group...and the husbands are mad because the wives aren't there to feed them and keep house. When the other fellows learn that Blondie is behind all this, they threaten Dagwood...telling him to stop her...or else. Dagwood comes up with a really stupid plan where he pretends to enlist so that Blondie will come home and give up this organization. The plan not only makes no sense but could get Dagwood in a lot of trouble for impersonating a soldier. Yet, inexplicably, the whole thing ends well...and no one punched in Dagwood's face.

While most wartime Hollywood films are very patriotic, this one is different and seems to tell housewives NOT to do their part and men to do anything (short of joining up) to stop them. Despite this goody message, a sickeningly sweet three cheers for America and the war effort ending is tacked on to the film...leaving me very confused and wondering what happened to the writing with this one!

By the way, after Dagwood wrecks Mr. Dither's car, Dithers asks "Are my tires okay?!"...this is because there was a severe tire shortage during WWII as most all of the rubber went to the war effort.

So how do you mix tricky wartime stress with B&D's wacky humor. Fortunately, the series writers manage the trick in entertaining fashion. For younger folks, historical glimpses of the war's impact on the homefront are woven in, ordinary things like tires and sugar.

The first part is a hoot as Blondie organizes neighborhood wives into a wartime support group, 'Housewives for Victory'. It's early 1942, just months into the big war. Naturally, B&D have to respond, while even Daisy the dog collects money for bombs. Trouble is the wives now have duties apart from housework, which means husbands have to take up the slack. In short, gender roles get muddied. Of course, for B&D the material is loaded with all kinds of potential laughs. Now if D can only figure out which food goes to people and which goes to puppies. Then too, B needs to learn First Aid without turning D into an American Mummy.

The second half, however, moves into a more conventional slapstick, with everyone racing around in a gloomy forest, including a mysterious character with a loaded sack-- is he a saboteur or what. There's not as much flag-waving as might be expected, though the women show they can march as formidably as men. Emphasis instead is on how suburban couples learn to adjust to the new conditions. For B&D that means a lot of laughs; for contemporary viewers it's an entertaining glimpse of a stressful time.

All in all, the programmer's a humorously revealing 70-minutes with our adorable couple facing up to the demands of a new era. The latter half may be somewhat repetitive, but overall the entry's still worth tuning in.

Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers' wife is hosting nine soldiers in their home and the office phone is ringing off the hook! Dagwood takes his work home to work in quiet...only his home is invaded by The Housewives of America.

"Mr. Dithers will understand that our country comes first."-Blondie

And the next thing you know in an act of demonstrating first aid...Dagwood is all trussed up in bandages.

This is a huge add for the war...war bonds, first aid, etc. Released in 1942 at the height of America's involvement in WWII.

"She's devoting her life to the welfare of others."-Dagwood

This is a classic Blondie performance by Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake. Fans from all over will love it!

It's wartime now and Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead have shifted to wartime priorities. For Dagwood it's not much, he's got a draft exemption as the sole support of a wife, two children, and several dogs courtesy of Daisy. But Blondie wants to do her bit for the country as well. She's organized the housewives of the neighborhood as a kind of female home guard which does first aid. In fact two of the first people that Blondie and her women get to practice first aid on are Dagwood and Mr. Dithers.

Unfortunately work at the Dithers Construction Company has slowed because Arthur Lake is not getting the T/L/C he deserves from Penny Singleton. Lake and Jonathan Hale concoct a Lucy Ricardo like scheme to get Singleton to fold up her little amazon militia involving Stu Erwin, a soldier awaiting orders. Can't tell what it is, but Lucille Ball never thought of anything better.

Dagwood as usual is in hot water this time with our Armed Services, but he gets out at the end of the film none the wiser because you know in the next film it will be something equally bizarre.

Blondie For Victory? Good thing our war effort wasn't dependent on the Bumsteads.