1h 8min | Comedy, Music | 27 February 1941
Directors: Frank R. Strayer, Robert Sparks (uncredited)
Stars: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033403/
Watched online, decent print.
My reaction when this was done: now THAT'S a musical. We get enough musical numbers and a fun finale. The plot was simple, but gave the characters a lot of conflict. Penny Singleton can sing and dance, and we have 2 other singers aboard. It's lacking an ensemble piece, and has no fancy choreography, and no fancy tracking or overhead shots, but they did have an interesting moment where the camera was on toe-level as PS danced toward it. If this had an official release, I'd buy it.
The only other Blondie movie tagged as musical was Blondie Meets the Boss (1939), 5 {nm}, and 5 {nm} tells you a lot. I'd seen a clip of PS in the first version of Good News ('30), so I wasn't surprised by her skill.
The plot: Mr. Dithers, Dagwood's boss, is taking the Bumstead family on a cruise to South America for his health (and because his wife can't go.) A business deal intervenes, and Dagwood needs to stay behind. But as he departs the ship, he's caught by a porter trying to bring a base drum up the gangplank. Since they can't pass each other, Dagwood takes the drum up to the ship, and ends up with the band aboard the ship. He needs to hide from Mr. Dithers, and the band's drummer missed the boat, the band will get fired without a drummer, so Dagwood settles in as a very awkward drummer. Of course, a drummer is too conspicuous, so the girl singer dresses him as a woman.
Blondie misses Dagwood, and he wants to tell her he's aboard, so just as Dithers places a phone call to shore, Dagwood calls that phone. The girl singer's room is adjacent to the Dithers/Bumstead suite, and the doors are open. Daisy the dog hears Dagwood's voice, and runs into his room barking. Blondie almost figures out that she's hearing the dog in stereo, but not quite. Because Mr. Dithers is in the room with Blondie, Dagwood does not explain where he is.
The other singer aboard is a businessman traveling by ship, and is indirectly involved in the business deal that should have kept Dagwood at home. Tito Guizar has a lovely tenor voice (he had a specialty in The Big Broadcast of '38), and he sings a love song, which makes her miss Dagwood. He pursues her out to the deck with his guitar, and teaches her the song in English, so we get her lovely soprano blending with his voice.
Because a waiter is carrying one of Dagwood's signature sandwiches back to the kitchen, Blondie discovers Dagwood in the girl singer's room, assumes the worst, but doesn't get loud or hysterical. It's a great scene. She doesn't realize Dagwood was getting his drag costume.
She goes back to her cabin and sings her new song to a sleeping Baby Dumpling (the actor is age 6, but playing younger; Dumpling had a earlier duet of his own with a similar-aged piano player/singer), and finally Blondie cries. But then she goes out, meets TG, and let's him comfort her. When she spots Dagwood in drag behind the drums, she gets mighty steamed (with a cute cartoony thought-montage of heavy equipment that produces steam/smoke), and lays it on thick with TG. This is when we get her singing and dancing.
Eventually things are resolved, including the business deal that should have kept Dagwood home. For the finale, we get a reprise of the song she learned, with her dancing again but now with Dagwood stripped of his dress and wig. Dumpling dances with his little friend, and Daisy dances with the little girl's dog. The End.
I really liked this! It's not high glamour, and not fabulous dancing, but the plot and the music gave us an entertaining B-level musical. And it was really nice to see Blondie away from her apron.
Columbia, dir. Strayer & Sparks; 7-
