Blondie Brings Up Baby
Brief Synopsis
Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead lose Baby Dumpling as well as Daisy the dog.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Frank R. Strayer
Director
Penny Singleton
Blondie Bumstead
Arthur Lake
Dagwood Bumstead
Larry Simms
Baby Dumpling Bumstead
Daisy
Himself
Danny Mummert
Alvin Fuddle
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Nov
9,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the comic strip "Blondie" created by Chic Young and owned and copyrighted by King Features Syndicate, Inc. (1930--).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Synopsis
When an encyclopedia salesman convinces Blondie Bumstead that her son, Baby Dumpling, is a certified genius, she rushes to enroll her little prodigy in school. Blondie's motherly concern causes the other kids to taunt Baby Dumpling, and he returns home with a black eye, vowing never to let his mother walk him to school again. Meanwhile, Blondie's husband Dagwood has his own problems at his office when Cartwright, one of his company's clients, refuses to pay for the building that Dagwood has just built for him. Cartwright's chicanery causes Dithers to fire Dagwood once again. The next morning, Dagwood, afraid to tell Blondie that he has been fired, leaves for the office, while family dog Daisy accompanies Baby Dumpling to school. While waiting for her master, Daisy is arrested by the dog catcher, and the next day, Baby Dumpling plays hooky from school to search for his lost dog. When the school principal notifies Blondie of her son's absence, she rushes frantically to the police station, where she meets Dagwood, who has been arrested for slugging Cartwright. Meanwhile, Baby Dumpling finds Daisy at the home of Melinda Mason, a rich crippled girl whose nurse bought the dog at the pound. Befriending Melinda, Baby Dumpling takes her to see his swing, and when Mr. Mason discovers that his daughter is missing, he also goes to the police station and there meets the Bumsteads. Dagwood then returns to the Mason home to look for Baby Dumpling, but the gardner mistakes him for a kidnapper and locks him in the shed. As the police surround the shed, Dagwood surrenders, and later they all converge at the Bumstead house, where they find Melinda walking and playing with Baby Dumpling. Grateful that his daughter is now walking, Mr. Mason buys Dagwood's building to use as a children's home and all ends happily.
Director
Frank R. Strayer
Director
Cast
Penny Singleton
Blondie Bumstead
Arthur Lake
Dagwood Bumstead
Larry Simms
Baby Dumpling Bumstead
Daisy
Himself
Danny Mummert
Alvin Fuddle
Jonathan Hale
J. C. Dithers
Robert Middlemass
Abner Cartwright
Olin Howland
Book agent
Fay Helm
Mrs. Fuddle
Peggy Ann Garner
Melinda Mason
Roy Gordon
Mason
Grace Stafford
Miss White
Helen Jerome Eddy
School principal
Irving Bacon
Mailman
Selmer Jackson
Malcolm
Madelon Grey
Governess
Robert Homans
Police captain
Harry Anderson
Second officer
Walter Sande
Third officer
Stanley Brown
Salesman
Richard Fiske
Salesman
Robert Sterling
Salesman
Bruce Bennett
Chauffeur
John Tyrrell
Dog catcher #1
Joe Palma
Dog catcher #2
Arthur Housman
Inebriated man
Ian Wolfe
Police judge
Betty Roadman
Motherly woman
Vic Potel
Lars
Sally Payne
Young woman
Harry Hayden
Elderly man
Milt Morante
Elderly man
Eugene Anderson Jr.
Newsboy
Mary Jane Carey
Mary
Ed Randolph
Dog catcher #3
Ralph Dunn
Police captain #2
Gayne Whitman
Radio officer
Harry Tyler
Jack Rice
Crew
Lionel Banks
Art Director
Abby Berlin
Assistant Director
Robert Chapin
Story
Lodge Cunningham
Sound Recording
Karen De Wolf
Story
Richard Flournoy
Screenwriter
Richard Flournoy
Story
Henry Freulich
Director of Photography
Kalloch
Gowns
Gladys Lehman
Screenwriter
Otto Meyer
Film Editor
Robert Sparks
Producer
M. W. Stoloff
Music Director
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Nov
9,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the comic strip "Blondie" created by Chic Young and owned and copyrighted by King Features Syndicate, Inc. (1930--).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 7m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7 reels
Articles
Blondie Brings Up Baby
The fourth entry in Columbia's 28 films based on the Chic Young comic book has one of the more complicated plots in the series. At the office, Dagwood (Arthur Lake) is fired by a fuming Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) after a crooked customer uses some minor changes to back out of a construction deal. At home, Blondie (Penny Singleton) decides Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) is a genius and enrolls him in school. This leads to their dogs being picked up by the pound, Simms playing hooky and finding friendship with a rich man's wheelchair bound daughter (Peggy Ann Garner), adding a touch of pathos to the film. Throw in a kidnapping scare and a slapstick fight scene and that's a lot of plot for a 68-minute B movie. The film also has a surprisingly notable supporting cast, headed by future Oscar-winner (for 1945's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) Garner. Olin Howland, later the first victim of The Blob (1958), appears as an encyclopedia salesman. The role of school principal, Miss Ferguson, gave silent star Helen Jerome Eddy on of her last screen credit before she retired to set up a successful career in real estate.
Blondie Brings Up Baby
The fourth entry in Columbia's 28 films based on the Chic Young comic book has one of the more complicated plots in the series. At the office, Dagwood (Arthur Lake) is fired by a fuming Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) after a crooked customer uses some minor changes to back out of a construction deal. At home, Blondie (Penny Singleton) decides Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) is a genius and enrolls him in school. This leads to their dogs being picked up by the pound, Simms playing hooky and finding friendship with a rich man's wheelchair bound daughter (Peggy Ann Garner), adding a touch of pathos to the film. Throw in a kidnapping scare and a slapstick fight scene and that's a lot of plot for a 68-minute B movie. The film also has a surprisingly notable supporting cast, headed by future Oscar-winner (for 1945's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) Garner. Olin Howland, later the first victim of The Blob (1958), appears as an encyclopedia salesman. The role of school principal, Miss Ferguson, gave silent star Helen Jerome Eddy on of her last screen credit before she retired to set up a successful career in real estate.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This picture was the fourth in the Blondie series. For additional information about the series, consult the Series Index and see Blondie! (above).
