Some time ago, I bought a collection of all of the Blondie and Dagwood films. For the most part, they are a fun series of pictures...with a nice cast and dependable writing. However, with 27 films in total, there are bound to be a few klunkers...and "Blondie Hits the Jackpot" is clearly a klunker. First, the title has nothing to do with the film...but that is forgivable. Second, the plot just seemed far-fetched...like the writers had run out of ideas. Considering it's the 25th film, I guess they just couldn't think of anything better!
The film begins with a new client meeting with Mr. Radcliffe. He tells Radcliffe that he's having a birthday party for his teenage daughter and wonders if Radcliffe knows a boy her age who could be her date. Without asking first, Radcliffe promises Alexander Bumstead will be that date! Alexander is excited but the party turns out to be a bust...and he spends little time with the surly young lady. So, the brat decides to make life hard on the Bumsteads by having her father hire Dagwood and instead of doing it for his architectural skills, she has him sent to work in the construction business...and has the foreman give him the most god-awful jobs. Later, Dagwood learns that the foreman is cutting corners...so many that the building would be an accident waiting to happen. Then, after working all this out and getting his old job back, Blondie wins a prize that simply defies my understanding.
To say this was a poorly written episode is to the point and accurate. One reviewer called it fatuous...and, after looking it up in the dictionary, I would agree that the film was generally silly and pointless...so why didn't they just say that?! Overall, a big letdown for the series and hopefully the final two will be better...it's hard to imagine them being much worse.
