This was the line blurted out at the beginning of every opening segment from Columbia Pictures most successful film series ever. Of course the series was called Blondie too, which was based on the popular comic strip by Chic Young (who first came up with the idea in 1930). Twenty-eight feature films- all one hour and ten minutes long- were produced: the 1st installment in 1938 called "Blondie", and the last in 1950 called "Beware of Blondie."
The stories in each movie were based on the lives of an all-American family called the Bumsteads: Dagwood the father, Blondie the mother, Alexander the adorable son (Baby Dumpling in the early years), Cookie the younger daughter, and of course Daisy the wonder dog. Daisy was so intelligent she could almost talk. She did the most incredible tricks. On one occasion she even cried with real human-like tears. The interplay between her and Baby Dumpling was priceless.
Blondie (played by Penny Singleton) was the beautiful, neighbourly housewife who wore the pants in the household; which was a rarity on film in those days. She was often seen going to Dagwood's office at the JC Dithers Contruction Company to either ask for a raise for her husband, or to get his job back. Dagwood usually got fired about 2 times an episode.
Blondie was extremely jealous. Anytime Dagwood was out with a female client she would become overly suspicious- especially in one segment where he befriends future, movie-star beauty Rita Hayworth.
The main character however, was not Blondie, but instead her loveable, bumbling idiot husband Dagwood. Dagwood (played by Arthur Lake) was always getting into trouble with either Blondie or his boss JC Dithers. He was best known for building those double-decker sandwich monstrosities that no human being could possibly get his mouth around. His funniest traits, though, were his mannerisms: the way he always shook his head saying no when Mr. Dithers would blame him for something; or the way he always opened his mouth real wide, lifting his finger to say something of importance only to come out with an "HUH?" when he realized he had no idea what was really going on.
Arthur Lake loved his role as Dagwood so much in fact that he once remarked how he wished he could play the role forever.
The funniest part from each episode was when the poor mailman came to the Bumstead's front yard to bring the mail. Dagwood would always be eating breakfast and then look at his watch, jump up and yell, "I'm late!" He'd quickly gobble down some burnt toast, chug some coffee, and head full throttle towards the front door where Blondie and the kids would be waiting for him with his hat. Daisy and her offspring would be barking madly, while Dagwood kept running out through the door, and then 'POW' right into the mailman. All you could see were hundreds of letters flying through the air, while the dazed carrier was left flattened on the front steps.
Over the years, the mailman devised new ways to miss Dagwood in the morning. It didn't make a difference though because he always managed to get creamed. Once he tried to deliver mail at the side window- only to have Dagwood accidentally blow him down with a firecracker. He even got a new route on the other side of town and Dagwood still managed to bowl him over. The odd time Dag would miss the mailman, so instead, Blondie or Alexander would do some ploughing of their own. The best was when Dagwood bought a horse for his boss, and it too sent the mailman flying- to which he replied in a daze, "I could have sworn I just got hit by a horse!" When he bent over to pick up the mail all you could see were the horseshoe marks on the back of his uniform.
The movie series and comic strip were very popular, so when the show moved to CBS radio in 1939, it was also a hit. Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton kept their roles there too. The radio show lasted almost as long as the movie series and ended in 1950. Mr. Lake got to keep the role in another Blondie reprise on CBS TV in 1957 with Blondie played by Pamela Britton. Unfortunately the show only lasted for nine months before being cancelled. Arthur's wish to play Dagwood forever had come to an end for him at age 52.
After all these years, Blondie still has a special place in many a heart. Penny Singleton, who became active in the American Guild of Variety Artists, passed away in Nov. 2003 at age 95. Still, the films live on- thanks to King Features, who own the rights, and who also set the Blondie theme song to music in the 1960's.
*Newsflash- I have been in touch with Larry Simms. He now lives in Thailand with his beautiful wife Mali and he has sent me two photos of himself nowadays. Photo 1. Photo2.
