The Boss Said 'No' (1942)
"Blondie Goes to College" (original title)

Dagwood decides to go to college. Blondie goes along with him, keeping their marriage a secret. They send Baby Dumpling off to military school where he becomes top sergeant. Blondie is ... See full summary »

Director:

Frank R. Strayer

Writers:

Chic Young (based upon the comic strip created by), Lou Breslow (screenplay),

Stars:

Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Penny Singleton	...	Blondie Bumstead, aka Blondie Smith
Arthur Lake	...	Dagwood Bumstead
Larry Simms	...	Alexander 'Baby Dumpling' Bumstead
Daisy	...	Daisy
Janet Blair	...	Laura Wadsworth
Jonathan Hale	...	J.C. Dithers
Adele Mara	...	Babs Connelly
Danny Mummert	...	Alvin Fuddle
Larry Parks	...	Rusty Bryant
Lloyd Bridges	...	Ben Dixon
Andrew Tombes	...	J.J 'Snookie' Wadsworth
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry C. Bradley	...	Professor
Bill Goodwin	...	Announcer at Shell Race
Harrison Greene	...	Mailman
J. Anthony Hughes	...	Baseball Coach

Storyline

Dagwood decides to go to college. Blondie goes along with him, keeping their marriage a secret. They send Baby Dumpling off to military school where he becomes top sergeant. Blondie is hounded by the campus stud and Dagwood makes the rowing team. It is revealed that a new child is on the way.

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Plot Keywords:

rowing | college | military school | kidnapping | jealousy | 

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Taglines:

The BUMSTEADS Are Going To College... So Folks Will Stop Calling Them The DUMBSTEADS!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Boss Said 'No'

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min 72 min (original US 16 mm television syndication prints)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The tenth of twenty-eight Blondie movies starring Penny Singleton as Blondie Bumstead and Arthur Lake as Dagwood Bumstead.

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Quotes

J.C. Dithers: [to Blondie] Dagwood will probably come back from college smart as a whip.
[closes door]
J.C. Dithers: ...but I doubt it.

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Connections

Followed by Hitting the Jackpot (1949)

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Soundtracks

"As If You Didn't Know"
Written by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin

User Reviews

Blondie and Dagwood prove they are god-awful parents... and you wonder who thought this plot made any sense!

The setup for this installment of Columbia's Blondie and Dagwood series is REALLY contrived--so much that you wonder who thought this would be a good idea for a film. Inexplicably, Dagwood insists he MUST go to college (despite having a wife, a kid, a job and a home) and so they put Baby Dumpling (who is practically a baby) in military school and the couple go to college--SEPARATELY. They agree to not tell anyone they are married and take up separate housing on campus and even begin dating other people!! None of this makes sense and it sounds more like the plot of a bad porno than a family comedy. All I know is that I really, really like the Blondie & Dagwood films and hated that this one was such a disappointment. The bottom line is that this episode of the series made no sense nor was it particularly funny. All in all, there isn't much to like about this one--and it's amazing, as the previous film, "Blondie in Society" was among the very best. What happened? Did the producer let his cat write this one?!

By the way, the double-talk bit was never funny, though, inexplicably, they used it twice in this film. Lame. And the "I want my mommy" segment was REAAAALLY creepy, as it made the normally lovable Dagwood seem like a child molester!! Yikes.

Keep an eye out for a young Lloyd Bridges who plays one of the students. Fortunately he was able to get past this minor hiccup in his career.