I loved reading comics when I grew up, but I was never a fan of the Blondie series. This is the first time I see the movie version of Blondie, and it's the first of 28 Blondie films made between 1938 and 1950 starring Arthur Lake & Penny Singleton. And my first acquaintance got off on a rough start. Really low production values. Reminded me of those simple Hal Roach Our Gang shorts except with mostly adults, yet with more childish comedy. Though it grew on me. Some sporadic hilarious moments in Dagwood naive world and a rather chaotic climax for the poor man. I'm sure my love will grow along with the series progression.

At times this movie can just be so frustrating! All the guy has to do is open his mouth and explain things! ...but then I guess it would be a very short movie. Oh well, it's still a mostly charming film with a few laughs and a couple of good lines from Baby Dumpling. I think that kid may turn out to be a psychopath when he gets older. Seriously? A brick?????

Blondie is based off a popular comic strip and it clearly expects you to know who these characters are which is a bit of a problem 80 years later. That’s honestly the least of the problems this dreadful film has, annoying characters who act like morons and pointless character interactions that make this feel like an episode of a hokey sitcom. I can’t believe they made 28 of these fucking things or that they treat a kid hitting another kid in the head with a brick as comedy.

This, the very first of the 28 films based on one of my favourite comic strips growing up, IMHO perfectly encapsulated the essential components of the cartoon and mixed the raucous confusion Dagwood has in trying to be the perfect husband and middle-class worker in suburban U.S.A. of that time period. So much fun, and the dog Daisy is priceless.

The first of the long running series of films featuring Blondie and Dagwood.

It is a simple tale of misunderstanding as Dagwood tries to get a promotion to settle a debt while Blondie thinks that he is carrying on with another woman.

A diverting enough way to spend an hour or so, the highlight of which is the implied ultraviolence involving their son Baby Dumpling who goes about settling a dispute with a neighbourhood kid with a brick!

My favourite part was when Baby Dumpling LITERALLY BASHED THE NEIGHBOUR KID'S HEAD IN WITH A FUCKING BRICK.

Someone could probably make a case for the marital turmoil and legal trouble we see here as being part of a hidden agenda throughout the film to provide a pre-American Beauty deconstruction of the concept of the American nuclear family, but that someone sure as hell ain't me.

The characters were pretty endearing, I guess, but overall this felt more like the pilot to a crappy daytime sitcom than an actual movie.

BEST SCENE: A FUCKING BRICK
MVP: Penny Singleton

Dagwood loses his job on the eve of his and Blondie's fifth wedding anniversary.
Likable, but very lightweight comedy that still does manage to entertain.

Odd movie but not too bad, plus very few movies have caused me to laugh in the first few seconds.

How it entered my Flickchart;

Blondie (1938) > The Grinch (2018)
Look Who's Talking > Blondie (1938)
The Simpsons Movie > Blondie (1938)
Blondie (1938) > Tom and Jerry: Santa's Little Helpers
The Mask > Blondie (1938)
Blondie (1938) > IT: Chapter Two
Elf > Blondie (1938)
How To Train Your Dragon > Blondie (1938)
Blondie (1938) > Ant-Man and the Wasp

Overall Ranking: #212 of 506

The first of 28 Blondie moves sees the title character, played by the wholesome Penny Singleton, playing second fiddle to hapless husband Dagwood (Arthur Lake). The plot is straight out of a TV sit-com, but there are quite a few funny lines and situations - particularly when Baby Dumpling or the pet dog are involved.

Blondie was kinda lame. The humor just wasn't there, the acting was fine, but nothing special, and the opening was incredibly confusing. I didn't like this film, it has 27 sequels and I don't know how. I'd honestly recommend getting a newspaper and reading a Blondie comic instead of watching this boring film.

"Sometimes I think it's harder to raise a husband than a baby" kinda sums this movie up. I was never a fan of the Blondie comic strip as a kid. Sometimes it was funny, but it struck me as very outdated and I never cared for Dagwood's character. This movie, unfortunately, is almost entirely about Dagwood. I didn't really care.

There were a few good beats here and there that felt like they were probably word-for-word adaptations of the comic strip, and I appreciated those moments. The scene where Dagwood weighed himself and the scale told him he was a failure sticks out.

Sexist crap. gave child actors too much to do too soon.

One character complained about his pretentious name and made a point of going by the initials "C.P." Perhaps only funny in hindsight and to the immature, but I giggled.

*start time 2:51pm

DVD

A very slow start (is this thing really only an hour long...??!), but it ended up better than it started out. There are some genuinely funny moments ("Daddy! Uppercut!") though there aren't enough of them to make it worthwhile. Also, I think the best actor in the whole thing is the dog, which is not a compliment.

Not a complete waste of time, but time could be better spent.

5/13/2018

The series kickoff was pretty grating. I hope they get better.

[Edit: They don’t.]

Blondie is based off a popular comic strip and it clearly expects you to know who these characters are which is a bit of a problem 80 years later. That’s honestly the least of the problems this dreadful film has, annoying characters who act like morons and pointless character interactions that make this feel like an episode of a hokey sitcom. I can’t believe they made 28 of these fucking things or that they treat a kid hitting another kid in the head with a brick as comedy.