The best Larry Simms’s comedy movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Larry Simms’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Larry Simms.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
8.1/10
Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United States Senate by the puppet governor of his state. He soon discovers, upon going to Washington, many shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss.
Blondie Goes Latin
6.5/10
The 8th film in the Blondie series - Blondie Goes Latin. Mr. Dithers invites the Bumstead's on a South American cruise. Somehow Dagwood winds up as the female drummer in the ship's band, while Penny Singleton gets to show off her Broadway background in some lively musical numbers.
Blondie
6.9/10
Blondie and Dagwood are about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary but this happy occasion is marred when the bumbling Dagwood gets himself involved in a scheme that is promising financial ruin for the Bumstead family.
Blondie Meets the Boss
6.7/10
Dagwood inadvertently gets cornered in to resigning. When his wife Blondie tries to ask Dagwoods boss Mr. Dithers for his job back, he ends up hiring her instead. This doesn't sit too well with Dagwood. Blondie's sister comes to visit, and Dagwood is put in a compromising situation with another woman.
Blondie on a Budget
6.5/10
Dagwood wants to join the trout club and Blondie wants a fur coat. Jealousy reigns when Dag's old girlfriend Joan shows up, but nothing else matters when a drawing at the movie theatre provides money for the coat.
Leave It to Blondie
6.5/10
After a nearly two-year layoff, Columbia revived its moneymaking "Blondie" series with 1945's Leave It to Blondie. Older but no wiser, Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead (Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake) enter a songwriting contest. It's all part of a plan to cover charity checks that they've signed separately but can't cover. Along the way, Blondie's blood boils when Dagwood gets innocently mixed up with beautiful music teacher Rita Rogers (Marjorie Weaver). The best scenes involve Dagwood's misguided efforts to cure a cold, leading to several motheaten but still reliable slapstick setpieces. Leave it to Blondie proved that the series hadn't lost its humor as Dagwood is arrested for murder, obliging our heroine to solve the case herself. Former bandleader Kirby Grant registers well as the nominal hero, while Milburn Stone scores as an imitation Walter Winchell (named "Winchester", no less!)
Blondie's Secret
6.5/10
The 24th entry in the "Blondie" film series begins as Dagwood prepares for a long-delayed vacation with the family. His boss Mr. Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan) has promised the Bumsteads that there'll be no more postponements for their holiday. But when something comes up that requires Dagwood's presence, Radcliffe hires a couple of thugs to steal Blondie and Dagwood's luggage so that they'll have to stay in town. And that's only the beginning of the frantic fun.
It's a Great Life
6.5/10
When the profits of their various film series began slumping in the mid-1940s, Columbia Pictures tried to broaden the appeal of these films by disguing the fact that they were indeed series entries. Thus it was that Columbia's 13th "Blondie" picture was shipped out as It's a Great Life. The comic confusion begins when Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake), intending to buy a house, buys a horse instead. Before the film's 75 minutes have run their course, Dagwood gets mixed up in a fox hunt. But Blondie (Penny Singleton) saves the day as usual, with the help of eccentric millionaire Timothy Brewster (Hugh Herbert). After It's a Great Life and #14 "Footlight Glamour", Columbia restored the name "Blondie" to the titles of all subesequent installments in this long-running comedy series.
Blondie Takes a Vacation
6.8/10
Blondie and Dagwood are in charge of operations at a mountain motel. The elderly owners of the establishment are in danger of losing their life savings. Among other things, arson threatens.
Blondie Goes to College
6.1/10
Number 10 in the Blondie series, Blondie Goes to College is predicated on the notion that Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) must receive a college diploma or lose his job with the Dithers Construction Company. Not wishing to be separated from her husband, Blondie (Penny Singleton) enrolls in college as well. But Leighton College rules stipulate "No Married Couples", forcing Blondie and Dagwood to pretend that they're not married. This causes quite a dilemma when coed Laura Wadsworth (Janet Blair) begins flirting with Dagwood and Rusty Bryant (Larry Parks) does same with Blondie. And Blondie's discovery of a very pleasant secret threatens to expose her and Dagwood's marital status too. The student body at this particular seat of learning is comprised of quite a few familiar faces, including Lloyd Bridges, Sid Melton, and Adele Mara.
Blondie Has Servant Trouble
6.6/10
Things get under way when Blondie Bumstead demands that her husband request a raise from his boss Mr. Dithers, so that she 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 that 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.
Blondie Plays Cupid
6.5/10
The Bumstead family is off to see relatives in the country when Blondie runs into Charlie and Millie, an eloping couple needing her help.
Blondie Knows Best
6.5/10
Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) poses as his boss Mr. Dithers (Jonathan Hale) so that a big business deal can be consummated while Dithers avoids nearsighted process server Jim Gray (Shemp Howard). The upshot of all this is that Dagwood ends up in a lunatic asylum, forcing Blondie (Penny Singleton) to come to the rescue. Number 18 in the long running Blondie series. Blondie Knows Best was writer/director Edward Bernds' first entry in the long-running "Blondie" series, and arguably his funniest. Bernds was a big fan of comedian Shemp Howard (whom he'd directed in several Columbia 2-reelers) and accordingly he gives Shemp free reign in his scenes, resulting in some hystericially funny moments. Blondie Knows Best represented Jonathan Hale's farewell to the series; in the next entry, Blondie's Big Moment, he would be replaced by Jerome Cowan as Mr. Radcliffe
Blondie's Hero
5.9/10
Dagwood enters the Army Reserve and Blondie visits only to discover that he has caused all sorts of problems which lead to numerous conflicts.
Blondie's Anniversary
6.4/10
Blondie (Penny Singleton) finds a valuable watch that has been hidden by hubby Dagwood (Arthur Lake). She assumes that it's a surprise wedding gift, but the truth is that Dagwood has been guarding the watch on behalf of a client who bought the gift for his own wife. The snowballing comedy of errors eventually involves criminals who hope to snatch the watch for themselves. Blondie's Anniversary was the 22nd in Columbia's Blondie series.
Blondie in Society
6.7/10
Dagwood brings home a pedigreed Great Dane which an important company client wants and which Blondie enters in the big dog show. A highlight of this film is the canine burping display.
Beware of Blondie
6/10
After 12 years and 28 films, Columbia's Blondie series came to a close with 1950's Beware of Blondie. Mr. Dithers leaving Dagwood (Arthur Lake) in charge of the office for a short period. Poor old Dagwood manages to gum things up when he falls for a confidence scam engineered by the duplicitous Toby Clifton (Adele Jergens). He even finds himself in a compromising position that seriously endangers his future connubial happiness with wife Blondie (Penny Singleton). Once again, it's up to Blondie to straighten out the mess. Mr. Dithers is played by an uncredited Edward Earle, who is seen only from the back; Earle's voice is dubbed over with an old recording of Jonathan Hale, the series' original Dithers.
Blondie Brings Up Baby
6.8/10
Baby Dumpling, the six-year-old son of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead 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, who with her new playmate's help arises from her sickbed to walk across the room for the first time in months.
Blondie's Blessed Event
6.5/10
Cookie is born, producing unmitigated joy in the Bumstead household. Adding to the chaos a new baby always creates is the appearance of Hans Conried as a cynical author who becomes caught up in the Bumstead lifestyle.
Blondie's Holiday
6.4/10
Dagwood gets a raise due to a new contract with a bank manager. Blondie misunderstanding the amount of the raise pledges more than they can afford to Dagwood's high school reunion organizer who was also Dagwood's high school sweetheart. To make matters worse Dagwood becomes involved with a gang running a gambling establishment.
