Blondie's Hero

The Blondie series of films from Columbia Pictures ran from 1938 to 1950 completely covering the World War II years. Ironic indeed that Dagwood Bumstead who never served in the Armed Services during the war now decides to enlist in the Army Reserve. I guess he did not figure on Korea being close at hand. Of course Dagwood was the sole support of his family which include Blondie, two children and several dogs.

But enlist he does so the Blondie series now has a service comedy among it films. By this time the American movie going public was used to the Bumsteads and Arthur Lake's interpretation of the lovable bumbling Dagwood so little was left to the imagination. Dagwood was to the army as Gomer Pyle was to the Marines. The usual service comedy situations served up nice.

The second plot element in this film involves three confidence people, William Frawley, Frank Jenks, and Iris Adrian who conspire to sell the Bumstead home to some unsuspecting buyers. When Penny Singleton finds a strange couple living at their house after visiting Dagwood in basic training I'd say she was a lot more understanding than most would be.

This is the next to last of the Blondie series and it's a good one.

This is the twenty-seventh and penultimate entry in the Blondie series. While Dag's firm is being reorganized, he finds himself enlisted in weekend army basic training. Also, the house is being paid for a final time. When Dagwood makes that payment, someone overhears him and makes a deal to get him rich. What Mr. Bumstead doesn't know is he's a crook...Arthur Lake gets the lion's share of funny scenes whether trying to get someone sleeping next to him to stop snoring or accidentally driving a tank with his wife in tow. Alyn Lockwood, whose role as Mary the receptionist is usually brief in these movies, has an expanded role as someone driving the rest of the family to Dag's army base and briefly getting involved with a soldier. William Frawley makes a third appearance in the series-having previously been in Blondie in Society and Blondie's Anniversary-with the series entry director being different each time. This was also the third time I've seen Iris Adrian in a movie the past several weeks, the previous ones being Million Dollar Kid and The Stork Club. Anyway, Blondie's Hero was another funny enough entry in the series. One more to go...

Towards the end of the long-running Blondie series, it was obvious that the films had seen much better days. While I am fan of them, I am not blind to the fact that in their last few films the writers simply ran out of ideas and the series had simply jumped the shark, so to speak. Gone were the usual plots and in their place plots that just made no sense. "Blondie's Hero" might just be the worst of these, with a plot that seems as if it was randomly tossed onto the film!

Dagwood decides to join the Army Reserves...which is incredibly odd since he did NOT serve in WWII a decade earlier. Why is he suddenly joining now...now that there is no war (the Korean War was about to begin but it came as a bit of a surprise)?? And, why would they want to take a man nearing 40?! What motivated this sudden change?! Who knows?!

At the same time Dagwood is away at training, a con man (William Frawley) convinced him to sell his house for a huge profit. What he doesn't realize is that the guy is a crook and he sells the house while the family is gone and runs away with the money.

Both of these plots seem awfully far-fetched and strange...and because of that the film never really works. Gone is the normal, lovable and sweet comedy and in its place is something a bit like "Buck Privates"...especially with that stupid runaway tank bit...one, oddly, that had zero repercussions for Dagwood. If you see the film, you'll understand what I mean. Overall, a bad film....no other way to say it. And, it's one that you should never show to people not familiar with the series...lest they refuse to watch any more!!

BLONDIE'S HERO (Columbia, 1950), directed by Edward Bernds, is the next to last chapter in the long running domestic comedy series featuring those comic strip characters, the Bumstead family, as created by Chic Young.

In this 27th installment, BLONDIE'S HERO takes a different turn from the previous entries. This time Dagwood (Arthur Lake) is not at the office nor is he getting fired from his job only to make amends for his blundering with an important client. The office is presently closed and Dagwood is at home trying the patience of ever-patient spouse, Blondie (Penny Singleton). During his time off, Dagwood starts off his day by taking Daisy and the pups out for a walk about the neighborhood. As Daisy starts sniffing some fruit stacked on a stand on the street corner, the angry vendor (Ted Mapes) kicks the pooch and socks Dagwood down as he tries to defend his dog. With the incident witnessed by Sergeant Gateson (Joseph Sawyer), he tells him that an incident like that could have been handled differently had he not been so weak with his fists. The tough sergeant then convinces the out-of-shape Dagwood to enlist in the reserves for the weekend, where he can strengthen himself both physically and mentally. Before taking that advise, Dagwood comes to the bank where he makes his final payment on the house. He is then overheard and approached by Marty Greer (William Frawley), a con man posing as a real estate agent who interests him into selling his home at a profit to him. The ever trusting Dagwood is talked into the idea, and since the home will be empty one day during the weekend, he entrusts him with his house key. After Dagwood goes into the Army reserves, he is guided by Sergeant Gateson's all-knowing pre-teen son, Danny (Teddy Infuhr) who trains him in the correct manner. During the weekend, Blondie (Penny Singleton), along with the children, Alexander (Larry Simms) and Cookie (Marjorie Kent) pay Dagwood a visit at the training camp, with Mary (Alyn Lockwood) of Dagwood's office, as their driver. After they return home, the Bumsteads not only find that their home has been sold while they were away, now with new owners already taking residence, but that Dagwood has been swindled(!).

The supporting players in this production include: Danny Mummert as Alvin Fuddow; Iris Adrian as Mae; Frank Jenks as Tim; Edward Earle and Mary Newton as Richard and Mrs. Rogers; Robert Emmett Keane as Mr. Collins; Jimmy Lloyd as Biff; and Dick Wessel as the Mailman. William Frawley makes his third and final screen appearance in the series. He was previously as Walso Pincus in BLONDIE IN SOCIETY (1941) and as Sharky in BLONDIE'S ANNIVERSARY (1948).

In spite of one realistic unpleasant scene involving the fruit vendor kicking Daisy, who would get what he deserves later on in the story, BLONDIE'S HERO is 68 minutes of standard comedy, funny at times, mediocre in others, which, as always, centers more on Dagwood than on the titled character. And as for the comedy bits, many of it is quite familiar, having been done before, ranging from the military comedies dating back to the silent era, right to the present day. But this time, the comedy is brought up to date and performed Arthur Lake-Dagwood style. One scene finds Dagwood going through basic training and fouling up everything, but makes up for it later, thanks to his young trainer (Infuhr), as well as Dagwood, during chow time, exhausted from all that training, falling asleep with his face landing right on his plate of mashed potatoes. During the visitation scene in which Blondie comes on up with the kids to see how Dagwood is doing, Blondie and Dagwood unwittingly find themselves inside a runaway army tank that goes amok all over the field and heading to a warehouse that supplies dynamite.

BLONDIE'S HERO, along with the other 27 "Blondie" comedies, are not only available on video cassette, but has had a successful four year (1996-2001) run on cable television's American Movie Classics. Next and final chapter: BEWARE OF BLONDIE (1950).(*1/2)