Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 14, 2023

Blondie has been such a cultural institution for so long (almost a century as this review is being written), that it may seem a little odd that the franchise never seemed to generate much interest on the small screen, at least insofar as situation comedy series go. The original comic strip debuted in 1930, and some may be unaware that it actually began with Blondie as a single girl and Dagwood as the heir to a considerable fortune. In the early days, Blondie was a typical blonde scatterbrain and Dagwood was the reasonable, responsible and rational one. By the mid-thirties, after some more interstitial changes, including the brief (intentional) removal of Dagwood from the strip, the two were married and soon assumed the character traits most familiar with the comic strip will recognize, with Dagwood becoming a kind of hapless buffoon, and Blondie the perhaps flighty but still competent one in the marriage. Columbia optioned the strip for a series of B movies starting in 1938, which is when Arthur Lake began his long run in the role of Dagwood. Penny Singleton was Blondie herself in the series, which despite a stumble or two managed to last until 1950. Virtually simultaneously to the film series Lake and Singleton essayed their roles on a long running radio edition which also lasted until 1950. With the advent of television, Columbia ultimately started broadcasting the films as part of one of their "packages" of features, but rather interestingly (and perhaps saliently given the relatively short life of the series), the first television version didn't debut until 1957, where despite airing 26 episodes (considered quite a few by modern day standards), it really only limped along for half a season from January until June. Lake once again assumed the role of Dagwood, but now Pamela Britton stepped into the (sensible?) shoes of Blondie.

Of the two television adaptations of Blondie, it's perhaps easy to understand why the second one failed pretty miserably since it came along in 1968, in the wake of the Summer of Love, the "rise of the youth movement", and the fraught sociopolitical dynamic of that particular year, which memorably saw several horrifying assassinations and a lot of unrest. Some at CBS, which aired the 1968 version, may have thought airing Blondie would appeal to the demographic that would soon be labeled "the Silent Majority", but instead the 1968 version just seemed ridiculously old fashioned and completely ill equipped to compete with "family comedies" with a more modern sensibility, and indeed the 1968 Blondie lasted only half as long as the 1957 version. Pamelyn Ferdin, the erstwhile child actress who portrayed daughter Cookie on the series, has a rather active social media presence, and has relayed anecdotes on her Facebook feed, of the cast being made aware of the cancellation actually on a lunch break one day while an episode was being filmed.

As to why the 1957 version never took off, the reasons may be a little less clear, though for anyone who chooses to "binge watch" this version, it may become fairly quickly apparent as to how forced the writing is, and how, well, cartoonish everything often comes off as being, something that may undercut the supposed "realism" of a middle class American family struggling with day to day issues like how many windows Dagwood's office has (evidently a sign of how successful an executive was). Dagwood is such an unabashed oaf in the show that he reigns as a template of sorts for all sorts of addled husbands who populated any number of sitcoms in the 1960s in particular, and he is almost the direct opposite of "head of household" figures like the Robert Young character in Father Knows Best.

That in and of itself puts the character of Blondie in a rather weird, tenuous position. Is she a supposed "dumb blonde" who is really "the brains of the outfit"? Or is she a kind of flibbertigibbet mindless housewife herself who only seems relatively competent when compared to her ineffective husband? If the central relationship in the series is therefore at least subliminally a little "off" for some reasons, the series does a good deal better in some of the supporting cast. Especially enjoyable are good turns by Florenz Ames as a wizened Mr. Dithers, and an unctuous Elvia Allman as a snarky Cora Withers. The kids in this version are pretty much wasted, though Alexander is played by the wonderfully named Stuffy Singer, who it seems (based on the always questionable Wikipedia) went on to some fame as a championship handball player later in life. Some of the best "family moments" in this version come courtesy of family dog Daisy and her adorable puppies. In terms of Blondie's cultural impact, I might note that my own first family dog was named Daisy, something I suspect my parents and elder sisters chose courtesy of the comic strip.

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of ClassicFlix with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.33:1. As with many television series produced before the advent of "modern day" videotape, Blondie was filmed, and that gives this series a rather nice overall quality level. There are some occasional variances in densities (especially in and out of fades and during some optical dissolves), and a few lingering signs of age related wear and tear, but on the whole, this is a very nice looking set of episodes, with generally consistent contrast and some really commendable detail levels on any number of midcentury not exactly modern patterns in costumes in particular. Some moments have a slight downgrade in clarity for no discernable reason, but the bulk of each episode is securely well defined. Grain is not especially prevalent but resolves naturally and there are no overt signs of overly aggressive digital scrubbing.

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtracks. There's a bit of stridency in the opening and closing credits source music, but otherwise this provides capable support for the dialogue driven sitcom, one that is replete per the standard operating procedure of its day, with an at times kind of annoying laugh track. Occasional sound effects are reasonably forceful, and all spoken material is delivered cleanly and clearly throughout.

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Neither of the two discs in this set sport any on disc supplements. The inside of the keepcase insert offers brief summaries of all the episodes.

Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While perhaps not quite as anachronistic as the 1968 television version of Blondie, this 1957 effort itself seems kind of curiously out of date, despite the fact that it premiered during an era of television littered with shows featuring hapless husbands and at times scheming wives. One way or the other, though, this is a veritable time capsule of sorts, offering an obviously idealized version of a "stay at home" wife and busily employed husband toiling as a cog in a veritable industrial wheel. There are some fun guest star bits scattered throughout the episode and some of the recurring supporting characters, notably the two Dithers, are also enjoyable. The series itself is never really laugh out loud hilarious, but is generally genial and agreeable on its own smaller scale merits. ClassicFlix provides a release with generally solid technical merits for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.