Arthur Lake Movies
Truly a single-note man, American actor Arthur Lake spent most of his adult life portraying only one screen role: Dagwood Bumstead. The son of circus acrobats and the brother of character actress Florence Lake (famed for her ongoing portrayal of Mrs. Edgar Kennedy in nearly 100 two-reel comedies), Lake began his professional career as one of the "Fox Kiddies" in a series of silent-film takeoffs of famous fairy tales, featuring casts comprised completely of children. Lake graduated to a succession of collegiate and office boy roles in feature films, gaining a degree of stardom in the late 1920s and early 1930s after appearing in the title role of Harold Teen (1928). The actor's high-pitched voice and Mama's boy features were amusing for a while, but audiences became bored with Lake by 1934, and the actor found himself shunted to supporting parts and bits. An amusing role as a flustered bellboy in Topper (1937) rejuvenated his career, but Lake's comeback wouldn't be complete until Columbia Pictures cast him as woebegone suburbanite Dagwood Bumstead in Blondie (1938), based on Chic Young's internationally popular comic strip. The strip's characterizations were altered to fit the personalities of Lake and his costar Penny Singleton; in the films, Dagwood was the dope and Blondie the brains of the family, precisely the opposite of the comic-strip situation. A few scattered "straight" performances aside, Lake was nothing other than Dagwood in films from 1938 through 1950; he not only starred in 28 "Blondie" pictures, but repeated the role on radio and starred in an unsuccessful 1954 TV series based on the property. Not at all the blithering idiot that he played on screen, Lake was a sagacious businessman in real life, his wise investments increasing the fortune he'd already accumulated by playing Dagwood -- and also bolstering the moneys inherited by his socialite wife, Patricia Van Cleve. Though he often remarked that it would be wonderful to play Dagwood forever, Lake parted company with the role in the mid-1950s; when another Blondie TV series appeared briefly in 1968, it starred Will Hutchins. Appearing publicly only rarely in the 1960s and 1970s (usually in summer theatres and revivals of 1920s musicals like No, No Nanette), Lake retired before his 70th birthday, a far more prosperous and secure man than his alter ego Dagwood Bumstead -- who's still being fired regularly by boss Mr. Dithers in the funny papers - ever would be. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1942
An historical entry in Columbia's Blondie series, Blondie's Blessed Event recreates the moment in Chic Young's original comic strip wherein Blondie and Dagwood were blessed with baby daughter Cookie. The first portion of the film involves the tribulations of Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) as he tries to take his wife Blondie (Penny Singleton) and his new daughter (Norma Jean Wayne) home from the hospital. The bulk of the story concerns a get-rich-quick scheme involving Dagwood and an eccentric artist (Hans Conried). There's also a few frantic moments at a convention where Dagwood embarrasses his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale). The eleventh of Columbia's "Blondie" B-pictures, Blondie's Blessed Event is one of the best of the batch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1942
In this war comedy, an army reject becomes a war hero by rounding up a ring of Nazi spies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Blondie in Society is another delightful excursion into comic insanity for Blondie (Penny Singleton), Dagwood (Arthur Lake) and Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms). The trouble begins when Dagwood brings home a huge Great Dane as a favor to an old friend. It turns out that the gigantic hound is a pedigree, and that Waldo Pincus (William Frawley), an important client of Dag's boss Mr. Bumstead (Jonathan Hale) would like to buy the dog. Alas, Blondie has already entered her new pet in a dog show, ultimately winning a $500 prize and beating out the previous champion-which, of course, belongs to Mr. Pincus. On the verge of losing his job, Dagwood is rescued one more by the resourceful Blondie, with the help of irascible veterinarian Edgar Kennedy. Like the previous Blondie Goes Latin, Blondie In Society affords Penny Singleton the opportunity to display her musical skills, as she sings two songs with the Mitchell Boys' Choir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1941
Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) is invited by his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) to accompany Dithers on an ocean cruise to South America. Dagwood's whole family comes along, including wife Blondie (Penny Singleton), son Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and Daisy the dog and her pups. Just before sailing, Dagwood is compelled to stay behind and watch over Dithers' business. Determined to rejoin his family, Dagwood dresses up in drag and joins the ship's all-girl orchestra. The ruse continues all the way to South America, where Dagwood must fume while Blondie is serenaded by dashing Tito Guizar. Blondie Goes Latin is the eighth in the Columbia series based on the comic strip by Chic Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1940
Few of Columbia's "Blondie" films went as far off the beaten path as the bizarre Blondie Has Servant Trouble. Things get under way when Blondie Bumstead (Penny Singleton) demands that her husband Dagwood (Arthur Lake) request a raise from his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale), so that Blondie can afford to hire a maid. But Dithers has no time for any salary disputes: his construction firm is currently stuck with an unsaleable old mansion, which is rumored to be haunted. To disprove this theory, Dithers asks the Bumstead family to spend a night in the crumbling old house, throwing a retinue of servants into the bargain. Unfortunately, the mansion's butler is waylaid and replaced by homicidal maniac Vaughn (Arthur Hohl), who spends the rest of the picture stalking Dagwood, Blondie and Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) with a huge, gleaming knife at the ready! Placing the lovable Bumsteads in dire jeopardy worked rather well in Blondie Has Servant Trouble, but it's just as well that this formula was not repeated too often, as it was in Columbia's Three Stooges and Hugh Herbert 2-reel comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1940
The Bumstead family-Blondie (Penny Singleton), Dagwood (Arthur Lake) and Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms)-embark on a long-delayed vacation in this series entry. While en route to their out-of-town relatives, the Bumsteads are forced to make an emergency stopover in a small town, where they get mixed up in an elopement. By the time Dagwood is through offering his well-intentioned assistance, the elopers are on the verge of a breakup, but Blondie (per the film's title) manages to smooth things out. Blondie Plays Cupid is distinguished by the appearance of Glenn Ford as flustered groom-to-be Charlie (the bride-to-be is Columbia contractee Luana Walters, who later played the title character's mother in the 1948 serial The Adventures of Superman). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1940
This is the celebrated Blondie episode that costars Rita Hayworth, who in 1940 was still just another Columbia contract actress. Hayworth plays an old flame of Dagwood Bumstead's (Arthur Lake), who moves into the Bumstead household when wife Blondie (Penny Singleton) advertises for a boarder. Blondie (Penny Singleton) tries to be civil when she meets Rita, but her true feelings are manifested in a superimposed montage of explosions and gunshots. Innocently caught in a compromising position with Hayworth at a local movie house, Dagwood is shown the door by the heartbroken Blondie. All misunderstandings are swept away by fadeout time in this fifth installment in Columbia's Blondie series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1939
Columbia's new "Blondie" series continued its winning streak with its fourth entry, Blondie Brings Up Baby. So much happens within the film's 67 minutes that it's best to boil things down to the central storyline. Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms), the six-year-old son of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead (Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake) disappears from sight during his first day at school. While Dagwood frantically combs the city in search of the boy, Baby Dumpling spents a nice, safe afternoon with poor little rich girl Melinda Mason (Peggy Ann Garner), who with her new playmate's help arises from her sickbed to walk across the room for the first time in months. Other plot threads include Dagwood's disastrous confrontation with an important business client (Robert Middlemass), and Daisy the Dog's ongoing battle of wits with the local dog-catcher. Like many of the "Blondie" films, Blondie Brings Up Baby serves as a showcase for young talent on the way up: Robert Sterling is seen as one of Dagwood's office buddies, while Bruce Bennett plays a uniformed chauffeur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1939
This third entry in Columbia's "Blondie" series retains the freshness and laugh quotient of the first two, which is more than can be said for the series' later offerings. Taking a well-deserved rest, the Bumstead family-Dagwood (Arthur Lake), Blondie (Penny Singleton), Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) and Daisy the dog-head to a financially strapped mountain resort. Here the family champions the cause of the lodge's owners, who are being victimized by crooked real estate man Harvey Morton (Donald MacBride). Salvation comes from an unexpected corner in the form of cherub pyromaniac Jonathan Gillis (Donald Meek). Though there are slapstick and farcical situations aplenty, Blondie Takes a Vacation has a relaxed, easygoing quality, due in no small part to the warm rapport among the leading players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1939
This second entry in Columbia's new "Blondie" series is every bit as delightful as the first. When Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) heads off for a long-awaited fishing trip, his loving wife Blondie (Penny Singleton) assumes Dag's duties at the offices of J. C. Dithers (Jonathan Hale). Unfortunately, our hero finds himself in a compromising position with pretty stranger Dottie (Dorothy Moore), endangering both his job and his marriage. The film's highlights include an energetic jitterbug contest and a terrific variation on the old "Any husband who's expected home should leave right now" gag. Blondie Meets the Boss was heralded by a specially filmed trailer in which the Bumstead's son Baby Dumpling (Larry Simms) thanked the audience for the excellent response to the first Blondie picture and inviting the viewers to come back for more (which they did-28 times!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1939
The discovery of a photo of her husband with an unknown woman leads Blondie to think he is having an affair. This movie is one of a series based on characters from the Blondie comic strip. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
A woman is brutally strangled and her body stuffed into a suitcase in this otherwise rather frivolous low-budget thriller. The unfortunate woman is one Myra Duryea (Polly Ann Young), who has discovered that her husband Clark (Theodore von Eltz) and his equally unsavory brother Victor (Edward Emerson) are not the law-abiding jewelry salesmen they present themselves to be, but a couple of crooks. Arriving in San Francisco on the very day of the murder, Myra's sister, Gloria Watkins (Elaine Shepard), is told by Clark that his wife simply upped and left. Gloria's new friend, police officer turned cab driver Eddie Barton (Norman Foster), smells a rat, however, and begins an investigation. In desperation, Clark and Victor frame the nosy cabby in their next heist but Eddie manages to elude the law long enough to rescue an imperiled Gloria and bring the thieves to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Foster, Elaine Shepard, (more)
- 1938
In this comedy, designed to exploit the then current national craze for picture puzzles, an alcoholic advertising exec becomes addicted to inventing puzzles. Trouble ensues when he goes off on a major drunk and forgets to leave the answers to a national breakfast cereal contest. His colleague is assigned to find him. She succeeds and takes him to a rehab farm to sober up. He is kidnapped by gangsters who want those answers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Sally Eilers, (more)
- 1938
When Columbia Pictures secured the movie rights to Chic Young's popular comic strip Blondie, the studio executives probably never imagined that the ensuing "Blondie" series would last for 12 years and 28 episodes! Part of the series' charm was Columbia's wisdom in casting the ideal actors for the leading roles. Penny Singleton dyed her hair blonde to step into the role of Blondie Bumstead (after Shirley Deane bowed out due to prior committments); Arthur Lake landed the role of a lifetime as sensible Blondie's bumbling hubby Dagwood (in the original strip, of course, it was Dagwood who was sensible and Blondie who was scatterbrained); and 5-year-old Larry Simms did a masterful job as the Bumstead's son Baby Dumpling (aka Alexander), literally growing up before our eyes over the next dozen years. Not as farcical as later entries, the initial Blondie film is a gentle, even-keeled situation comedy, aiming for chuckles rather than bellylaughs. It doesn't take long for poor Dagwood to get into trouble with his apoplectic boss J. C. Dithers (wonderfully played by Jonathan Hale), who fires our hero halfway through the second reel. Ruminating over his troubles in a hotel lobby, Dagwood strikes up a friendship with affable C. P. Hazlip (Gene Lockhart), never realizing that this is the same Hazlip whose account the Dithers Construction Company has been trying to land for the past several weeks! But before a happy ending can be realized, Blondie and Dagwood undergo a series of misunderstandings, culminating with Blondie tearfully storming out of the house (which has already been stripped of its furniture by the finance company!) Blondie was an immediate hit with filmgoers and fans of the strip alike, convincing Columbia that it had a winning property on its hands and spawning sequel after sequel after sequel. Available for years only in its TV version, which obliterated the opening credits in favor of a jazzier "sitcom" opening and tacked on a few minutes of "coming attractions", Blondie has recently been restored to its original form on videotape and cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, (more)
- 1938
Heiress Virginia Bruce tries to prove her worth by taking a job as a shopgirl in the store owned by her family. The pampered young lady is given a crash course in pragmatism by her worldly roommates Patsy Kelly and Nancy Carroll. Reporter Fredric March learns of Bruce's ruse and plans to tell all in his newspaper. Thrown together by circumstances, the reporter and the heiress are shipwrecked and end up on a small island. They continue to bicker with one another until the "deus ex machina" arrival of a kindly minister (played by former silent comedy star Harry Langdon) convinces March and Bruce that they truly love one another. More than a little inspired by It Happened One Night, There Goes My Heart is an uneven but pleasant romantic comedy. It was the first Hal Roach Studios production to be released by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fredric March, Virginia Bruce, (more)
- 1938
It's Double Danger for detective-story writer Robert Crane (Preston Foster) whenever he pursues his "secret life" as a suave jewel thief. Eluding police commissioner David Theron (Samuel S. Hinds) at every turn, Crane intends to snatch the famed Konjer diamonds from under the nose of jeweler Gordon Ainsley (Donald Meek). Things take a sinister turn when a humorless professional crook (Paul Guilfoyle) tries to cut himself in for a piece of the action. RKO Radio starlet Whitney Bourne delivers perhaps her best performance as giddy female thief Carolyn Morgan. Had Preston S. Foster been so inclined, RKO could have built a profitable series around the adventures of devil-may-care Robert Crane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Preston S. Foster, Whitney Bourne, (more)
- 1937
Douglas MacLean, who starred in the original 1919 version of this World War I comedy, produced this remake starring James Ellison as Sgt. Gray. One day at training camp, Gray bets his buddies that he'll be having breakfast with the General (Paul Harvey) the next morning. Through a series of comic episodes, Gray accomplishes his goal, surprising his fellow soldiers. Arthur Lake (Dagwood in the Blondie series) co-stars in this average comedy, which is bolstered by some okay songs from Sammy Stept and Ted Koehler. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Terry Walker, (more)
- 1937
Carole Lombard stars as Helen Bartlett, a compulsive liar who always tips the audience to an oncoming whopper by sticking her tongue in her cheek. Helen is married to a Kenneth Bartlett, a scrupulously honest lawyer whose integrity has always held him back professionally. Hoping to help Kenneth get ahead, Helen confesses to a murder she obviously didn't commit, confident that he'll get her off and make his reputation. But things don't go exactly as planned, thanks largely to a mysterious eccentric named Charley (John Barrymore), who assures the heroine over and over that she'll "fry." Once considered a prime example of screwball comedy, True Confession is now regarded by film buffs as one of Carole Lombard's worst pictures: it wasn't much better when remade by Betty Hutton in 1946 as Cross My Heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1937
Annapolis Salute is the 1937 remake of RKO's 1933 film Midshipman Jack. Lensed on location at the Annapolis Naval Academy, the film alternates scenes of cadet training with a sentimental romantic story. Essentially, midshipman James Ellison wants to romance officer's daughter Marsha Hunt. He is discouraged from doing so by his father Harry Carey and his rival Van Heflin. A pre-Blondie Arthur Lake is on hand for klutzy comedy relief. Obvious though the material may be, Annapolis Salute posted a healthy profit for RKO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Ellison, Marsha Hunt, (more)
Exiled to Shanghai uses the then-waging wars in Spain and China as backdrops for a familiar "rival reporters" yarn. Wallace Ford plays Ted Young, a brash newsreel cameraman who is fired by his dyspeptic editor Fred Sears (Dean Jagger) for photographing the wrong general during the Spanish Civil War. Down but not out, Ted embraces a new form of technology, establishing the first television newsreel service (and this was two years before commercial TV made its "official" American debut at the New York World's Fair). As a result, Ted is rehired and promoted to editor, while poor Fred ends up being transferred to China (hence the film's title). While all this is going on, Ted and Fred still find time to battle over heroine Nancy Jones (June Travis). A pretty good film on its own merits, Exiled to Shanghai has gained curiosity value by virtue of its use of TV journalism as a dramatic device. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Ford, June Travis, (more)
- 1937
- NR
By 1937, producer Hal Roach was hoping to wean himself away from the Laurel & Hardy-Our Gang slapstick on which he had built his studio's reputation by delving into the "screwball comedy" genre. Roach selected the racy Thorne Smith fantasy novel Topper for adaptation, and the result was one of the most endearingly funny films of the decade. Constance Bennett and Cary Grant play Marion and George Kerby, a wealthy, freewheeling young married couple whose uninhibited lifestyle is the talk of the town. After a particularly bibulous evening on the town, the Kerbys race homeward in their gleaming new roadster. George fails to negotiate a curve, and the car plows into a tree, killing both its occupants. Seconds later, the ghosts of George and Marion emerge from the wreckage, behaving as frivolously as if nothing had happened. Upon realizing that they're dead, the Kerbys also realize that they haven't been immediately snatched up into Heaven. Determining that they're required to perform one good deed before being allowed past the Pearly Gates, George and Marion set about to "liberate" stuffy, sedate, henpecked banker Cosmo Topper (Roland Young). At first resistant to the charms of his invisible benefactors, Topper begins to loosen up and truly enjoy life for the first time. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Topper's supercilious wife (Billie Burke) nor his long-suffering butler (Alan Mobray), especially during a climactic free-for-all at a vacation resort. Though special effects abound in Topper, most of the humor derives from the embarrassed reactions of Roland Young as he tries to fend off the flirtatious advances of the ghostly Marion and the benignly strongman tactics of the spectral George. Adding to the fun are Eugene Pallette as a flustered house detective and Arthur Lake as a pratfalling bellboy. The musical score by longtime Hal Roach composer Marvin Hatley is perfectly attuned to the zany goings-on (including snatches of background music from Roach's earlier Laurel and Hardy comedies), while Hoagy Carmichael appears briefly on screen to introduce the film's signature tune, "Old Man Moon." Topper proved successful enough to warrant two sequels, as well as a popular TV series of the early 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, (more)
- 1936
It's a Great Life served as a vehicle for once-popular radio singer Joe Morrison (who can also be seen in W.C. Fields' It's the Old Fashioned Way). Morrison plays a young unemployed fellow who joins the Civilian Conservation Corps. Enjoying the twin euphoria of steady work and fresh air, Morrison and his new pal, hobo Paul Kelly, burst into song at the slightest provocation. A rift comes between Morrison and Kelly when Morrison's girl Rosalind Keith falls in love with the tramp, but all differences are swept away during a climactic bursting-dam sequence. It's a Great Life was co-written by future "Dagwood Bumstead" Arthur Lake, who in 1943 would star in a Blondie entry titled...It's a Great Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Morrison, Paul Kelly, (more)
- 1935
A homely woman gets the best kind of revenge upon her philandering husband in this drama. Tired of his constant cheating, the woman puts on make up, takes their daughter, and starts a new, more modern life. She becomes an acclaimed dress designer while her daughter falls in love with a stodgy young doctor. The daughter then gets involved with less reputable types and mayhem ensues until she goes back and settles down with the physician. The wife eventually tires of her own life and decides to go back to her chastened husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Minna Gombell, Gavin Gordon, (more)
- 1935
Long before its "Teen Agers" series of the 1940s, Monogram Pictures went to college in the minor musical Girl of My Dreams. Heading the somewhat over-aged student body are BMOC Larry Haynes (Edward Nugent) and track-star Don Cooper (a handsome young Lon Chaney Jr., here still billed as Creighton Chaney). The story's focal point is a student election, which obliges Larry and Don to neglect their campus sweeties Gwen (Mary Carlisle) and Mary (GiGi Parrish). Comedy relief comes from Sterling Holloway and Arthur Lake, cast respectively as the school newspaper editor and a fresh frosh. One suspects that the people who made such pictures as Girl of My Dreams never set foot in a real college. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Carlisle, Sterling Holloway, (more)
- 1935
The title may be Orchids to You, but the plot is motivated by a camellia -- to be exact, Camelia Rand (Jean Muir). About to be ejected from her thriving flower shop when a developer plans to tear down the building, Camelia confronts Thomas Bentley (John Boles), the lawyer representing the developer. Despite her anger, Camelia can't help but take a liking to Bentley, though she refuses to entertain any romantic notions because the lawyer is already married to Evelyn (Ruthelma Stevens). Later on, a stranger enters Camelia's shop and orders a dozen orchids for Mrs. Bentley. Not wishing to hurt Mr. Bentley, Camelia refuses to mention Mrs. B's name in court when ordered to do so, and as a result spends 10 days in jail on a contempt charge. All-around comedy relief Teddy Stuyvesant (Charles Butterworth) shows up in time to solve everything, and the film ends with the philandering Mrs. Bentley out in the cold and Camelia in Mr. Bentley's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Boles, Jean Muir, (more)
