Footlight Glamour (1943) User Reviews (9)

Blondie gets into the theatre and Dagwood's in trouble

[vikitoria · 8/10 · 14 October 2000]

This is a pretty good Blondie in the series - it combines life in the Depression era, comedy, and a rare appearance of Mrs. Dithers.

Mr. Dithers has a friend whose daughter is "obsessed" with being in the theatre. Naturally, he volunteers Dagwood to take care of her while he and his friend conduct business. The Bumsteads get involved in her schemes to bring the theatre to their town. Among those involved in her production for the USO is Mr. Crum, and Mrs. Dithers. This is funny and gets you into the theatre production literally.

Blondie gets stage struck

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 30 December 2015]

Once again Dagwood ever anxious to please his boss agrees to let Thurston Hall's daughter Ann Savage stay at the Bumsteads. It is fascinating to me how Jonathan Hale and later Jerome Cowan keep taking advantage of him. It reminds me so much of Jack Lemmon in The Apartment. I wonder if Billy Wilder saw a lot of the Blondie series when he wrote The Apartment.

One thing Hall wants is to get her away from Rafael Storm, a ham actor looking to latch on to a rich meal ticket. He's convinced Savage she has talent. And when he finds her anyway at the Bumsteads he's got Penny Singleton convinced there could be a career for her. One of the few times Blondie isn't behaving levelheaded.

The play as it goes on that Savage wrote and stars in is one of the funniest things since Gracie Allen's production in Here Comes Cookie.

One of the funnier Blondie comedies.

Despite the title, it's still a Blondie & Dagwood film.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 August 2017]

The titles to the Blondie & Dagwood movies usually had the word 'Blondie' in it...but not this one. So, it's easy to not know it's in the series if you casually see it in a programming guide. It's a shame, as it's a very good entry and shouldn't be missed by fans.

When the film begins, Blondie is talking about food shortages, rationing and points used to buy groceries. This is because the film was made during WWII and many foods and consumer items were doled out to the public in small amounts because so much was going to the war effort. This is why, late in the film, the cab drivers refuse to go faster than 35 mph...all to help conserve fuel for the war!

The plot involves Mr. Dithers being stuck with some houses he cannot easily sell. This is because he thought a munitions factory was going to be built nearby and the workers would need homes. But the government changed their mind and built elsewhere. The arrival of one of Dithers' old friends, Mr. Wheeler, looks promising, as Wheeler could build a plant in town for his tool company...so Dithers really is out to impress him. He then enlists the help of Dagwood to take care of Wheeler's daughter, Vicki. Dagwood assumes she's a little girl, but she's actually an attractive young woman who wants to be a movie star. She only agrees to live with the Bumsteads because she incorrectly assumes Dagwood is in the movie business.

Vicki isn't to be deterred once she realizes her mistake and soon enlists Blondie AND Dagwood to appear in the play she's written...and her father HATES that she wants to be an actress. So Dagwood is confused...he wants to make Mr. Wheeler happy AND Vicki. What is he to do? And, what will happen if her father learns that she's putting on a play with the Bumsteads AND Mrs. Dithers in it?!

This is a cute little film...a welcome addition to the series. While it's far from the best, it's still solidly entertaining and worth your time.

Nothing depressing about this non-depression era "Blondie" entry.

[horn-5 · 20 April 2002]

A little bit of Arthur Lake (as Dagwood or anybody else) is more than enough, and usually too much, but this entry, set in mid-WW II,ranks as one of the best in the series, especially in the segments involving the stage play, and more so when Jonathan Withers and Thurston Hall stroll across the stage totally unaware a live play is being presented.

Noises on and off!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 22 November 2018]

The sitcom like structure of the Blondie series never seemed more apparent in this episode of the film series where Blondie and Dagwood become involved in a local community theater's fundraising attempt for the war effort by putting on a serious play. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and the play ends up coming off more like a farcial comedy than the period melodrama it is supposed to be. If you thought the Ricardos and Mertzes working with Tallulah Bankhead for the PTA on The Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour was funny wait till you see the antics that go on in this one!

Future Film Noir femme fatale Ann Savage is the guest star in this entry, playing a serious actress who as the daughter of Jonathan Hale's business client Thurston Hall, creates tension for Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake. In addition, Rafael storm is cast as the apparent Latin lothario whose interest in Savage doesn't seem to be fully romantic. the film hits its height during the on stage and backstage Antics, with trap doors opening unexpectedly, a magician's jacket utilized by Lake instead of the suit jacket he intended to wear, and various other see a trickle disasters such as forgotten lines, wardrobe malfunctions and the presence of dog Daisy on Savage's dress during her dramatic entrance.

This was the last series appearance for Irving Bacon as the long suffering postman, and also features plump Grayce Hale as Mr. Dithers' domineering wife, hysterically cast as the French maid and utilizing a truly outrageous accent. Larry Simms finally gets to be just Alexander with the "Baby Dumpling" moniker thankfully retired. Marjorie Ann Mutchie gets a few good lines as Cookie but will never top Simms' early appearances as far as cuteness and pretentiousness goes. This was supposed to be the last installment but returned two years later due to audience demands.

Footlight Glamour was one of the weaker entries in the Blondie series

[tavm · 4/10 · 6 July 2015]

This is the fourteenth in the Blondie movie series and also the second one without her name in the entry title. It was also originally supposed to be the final one in the series for Columbia Pictures but after popular demand increased during the next year that there were no further adventures of the Bumstead family, it was revived with the cast intact. Anyway, Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake could still be heard as Blondie and Dagwood on live radio during that time. This one has Dag and Blondie entertaining a grown daughter of another of Mr. Dithers' potential clients. Since she's an actress, there's also a play involved. I'll stop there and just say this was amusing in spots but only occasionally becomes a bit hilarious like when Mr. Crumb, the mailman, (Irving Bacon in his final appearance in the series) does an exaggerated English accent when playing the butler. One scene which is now very tasteless is when Dag originally thought this Vicki person he was supposed to pick up was a little girl and initially caused a commotion mistaking just such a child for her. I did like it when Blondie had those thoughts of tanks in battle when she always gets jealous appearing again here before she then takes a shine to Vicki because she thinks Blondie has potential as an actress. Daisy's and her pups reactions when seeing Dagwood make his trademark sandwiches was also good for a laugh. In summary, Footlight Glamour is one of the weaker ones in the series. P.S. This was perhaps the only time Mrs. Cora Dithers was seen on screen. She was portrayed by Grace Hayle. Like I said, Irving Bacon made his final appearance as the mailman character who was initially called Mr. Beasley before becoming Mr. Crump and then the name I mentioned earlier in this review. He continued acting to his final day on February 5, 1965. This was also the final one directed by Frank R. Strayer who continued making movies through the early '50s. He died on February 3, 1964.

Stage Door Bumsteads

[lugonian · 5/10 · 24 May 2001]

FOOTLIGHT GLAMOUR (Columbia, 1943), featuring Blondie and the Bumsteads, directed by Frank R. Strayer, is the 14th chapter in the popular "Blondie" feature film series, the second and last without Blondie's name in the title. It was originally intended as the final installment, however, due to the popularity of the series, Columbia revived the series with 14 more installments to come starting in 1945.

In FOOTLIGHT GLAMOUR, Blondie (Penny Singleton) and her spouse, Dagwood (Arthur Lake) help out a client's daughter by taking part in a dramatic play titled "Mad Moonlight" written by show-biz hopeful Vicki Wheeler (Ann Savage), daughter of Randolph Wheeler (Thurston Hall), a show-business hating client of Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), who has Vicki stay at the Bumstead household in order to keep her away from her no-good boyfriend, Jerry Grant (Rafael Storm). Jerry, however, manages to find her and appear in her play anyway. Also appearing in Vicki's play are Cora Dithers (Grace Hayle) as the maid, and Mr. Crum, the neighborhood postman, (Irving Bacon) playing the English butler, etc., with boy "genius" Alvin Fuddow (Danny Mummert) helping out with the sound effects. But the dramatic play accidentally turns out to be a comedy hit with the audience, thanks to Dagwood's bumbling, which includes him walking on stage only to have a trap door open from under him, and in true silent comedian Harold Lloyd fashion, Dagwood later acquires a dinner jacket belonging to a magician and unwittingly does some magic tricks. The curtain also falls on top of Dagwood moments later to have only his head seen visible below as he calls out for "BLOONDIE!!!" During the course of all this, Dithers tries to prevent Mr. Wheeler from finding out about his daughter's play being in production, but in spite of everything going wrong, things become right again in typical Bumstead fashion.

In smaller roles, Larry Simms and Marjorie Ann Mutchie return as the Bumstead children, Alexander and Cookie, along with Daisy, the Bumstead pooch, up to "her" old tricks again to obtain laughs. Some good humor among the footlights can be had in this average comedy. Formerly shown on the American Movie Classics channel from 1996 to 2001, "Footlight Glamour" can be found on either video cassette or the DVD format.(**)

The Bumsteads do a stage play for the USO.

[james362001 · 4/10 · 18 December 2003]

This is the 14th film in the "Blondie" film series. Alvin (Danny Mummert) comes over to the Bumstead home to ask Dagwood (Arthur Lake) a favor for his mother. His mother wants Dagwood to take the clock in to be repaired. But when Dagwood mistakes the clock for a can of peaches, he destroys the clock with the can opener. Now he owes Alvin five dollars or a new clock. Alexander (Larry Simms) says they were eating applesauce for breakfast. Blondie (Penny Singleton) is trying to find a way to get more ration books. Cookie (Marjorie Ann Mutchie) now answers the phone politely. Ann savage (Detour [1945]) plays "Vicki Wheeler" who gets the Bumsteads and even the postman involved in a stage play for the USO (United Service Organizations). The next film in the series is LEAVE IT TO BLONDIE.

For a B and D It's Mainly a Matter of Taste

[dougdoepke · 17 March 2019]

In an effort to help fund the wartime USO, B and D help put on a stage play that, of course, turns into a crowd pleasing loony-bin.

To me, the entry's mainly a matter of taste, the last part becoming silly slapstick. This, I think, takes away from the priceless D and B characters whose special brand of character comedy distinguishes the series. After all, slapstick trades on pratfalls that require no special acting talent of the sort Lake and Singleton have in abundance. But if you like slapstick, this is your ticket.

(In passing-Oh my gosh, is that really Ann Savage playing the immaculately turned-out Vicki. As a teen, I stayed away from girls for maybe a day after seeing Savage's scary roadside tramp in that classic noir, Detour (1945). I wish they gave Oscars for best vixen of the year, that way she'd have a well-deserved lifetime award.) (Also, with Singleton's re-done hair-do for the play, she could pass for Lucille Ball's double in I Love Lucy. To me, the resemblance is striking. See what you think.)

Anyway, the flick's a good chance to catch some restrictions the war effort (1943) placed on civilians of the time. I recall my parents having to deal with them, especially with gasoline rationing. I'll bet audiences of the time felt a special bond with B and D as they shared in the same sacrifices, even if it was on film. Of course the B and D laughs helped.