Cinema Revisited: Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940)
Directed by Frank Strayer. Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Jonathan Hale, Arthru Hohl, Esther Dale, Ray Turner, Irving Bacon, Danny Mummert, Walter Soderling, Fay Helm.
Released July 25, 1940. Running time: 70 minutes.
Based onthe popular Chic Young comic strip, the Blondie movie series started in 1938 and was an immediate hit with moviegoers. In their 6th of 28 films, the Bumstead family would like to have a housekeeper so Dagwood asks for a raise. Mr. Dithers has a scheme. He asks the Bumsteads to move into an old mansion he owns that he's having trouble unloading because it is rumored to be haunted. They arrive, and find a black man who is being initiated into a fraternity on the condition he stay the night in a haunted house. The Bumsteads are pleased to have the company. Arthur Hohl and Esther Dale are a couple who pretend to be servants, but are actually a serial killer and his frightened wife.
The Blondie films were family movie fodder that ran from the pre-war era, through wartime, and into the post war era. The series finally wrapped in 1950 when television took the place of movie series. They were quick, funny, lighthearted, and wholesome, with children and dogs to attract younger viewers. "Blondie Has Servant Trouble" is certainly the darkest, creepiest entry in the series, with jittery Dagwood and the scare-comedy of black actor Ray Turner to lighten things.
While much of the scare bits are typical mechanical stuff, the overall feel of the movie is delightfully eerie. Columbia used a standing set for this B movie, and director Frank Strayer has fun with the limited effects and the use of darkness and light to enhance the spookier scenes. This blend of haunted house gags and comedy works nicely, making this one of the better efforts among the earlier films.
The Blondie series seemed to improve as it went. The characters were more defined and the comedy richer and more effective. However, in "Blondie Has Servant Trouble," Arthur Lake does a good job of wavering between frightened at the haunted goings-on, and courageous in protecting his family. Arthur Hohl, a veteran who could play creepy with the best, is great as the killer butler while Esther Dale does a fine job as his long suffering wife. And Ray Turner, a black comic who was relegated to stereotypical roles, is quite funny and given a lot more to do than in many other movies from this period. And Daisy the dog provides a good 40 percent of the film's entertainment.
Rights issues with King Features entertainment has kept most of the best Blondie movies away from TV and home video, with only the first nine-or-so in limited circulation (including an occasional run on TCM). Among those few accessible efforts, this is one of the better ones.