Penny Singleton (Blondie), Arthur Lake (Dagwood), Larry Simms (Baby Dumpling), Danny Mummert (Alvin Fuddle), Donald Meek (Jonathan Gillis), Donald MacBride (Harvey Morton), Thomas W. Ross (Matthew Dickerson), Elizabeth Dunne (Mrs Dickerson), Robert Wilcox (John Larkin), Harlan Briggs (Holden), Irving Bacon (mailman), Milt Kibbee (creditor), Emmett Vogan (conductor), and "Daisy".Director: FRANK R. STRAYER. Screenplay: Richard Flournoy. Story: Karen DeWolf, Robert Chapin, Richard Flournoy. Based on characters created by Chic Young. Photography: Henry Freulich. Art director: Lionel Banks. Gowns designed by Kalloch. Film editor: Viola Lawrence. Music director: Morris W. Stoloff. Producer: Robert Sparks.Copyright 25 July 1939 by Columbia Pictures Corp. No recorded New York presentation. U.S. release: 20 July 1939. Australian release: late 1939. 7 reels. Original running time variously reported as 61, 68 and 71 minutes. Impossible to check of course, as all present prints run 75 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Blondie saves a friendly resort hotel from bankruptcy.NOTES: Number 3 of the 28-picture series. COMMENT: Dagwood's boss, Mr. Dithers, does not come into this one at all — the film seems to improve by his absence and also by the infusion of new writing talent on the story. Karen DeWolf and Robert Chapin collaborated on the story with screenwriter Richard Flournoy.The plot is stronger and much more entertaining than the first films in the series. Also the film's budget is larger (no doubt as a result of the commercial success of the first films). This is reflected not only in the more painstaking direction by Frank R. Strayer, and better film editing by Viola Lawrence, but in the large number of extras, the spectacular fire sequences, and the large number of sets.

In the space of a little over a decade, a couple dozen Blondie and Dagwood films were made. Obviously, they were very popular B-movies and after having seen quite a few of them I can understand why. They were fun little pictures...with likable characters and stories. Plus, they managed to have the same three actors play their roles...and you get to see Baby Dumpling go from early childhood to his teenage years...something very unique for any series of films.Here in "Blondie Takes a Vacation", the story picks up exactly where it left off in the previous film. The Bumsteads FINALLY get to go on the vacation they were supposed to take in "Blondie Meets the Boss". However, as you'd expect, the family's trip turns out to bring all sorts of surprises. First, on the train they meet up with a very nasty guy. And, when they arrive at their hotel, they find this same guy is the owner...Mr. Morton (Donald McBride...who made a career out of playing grouches!). Morton is a spiteful guy and refuses to honor their reservation and so they are forced to stay in the only other hotel...a place that is practically deserted. Why? Because Morton's been working hard to destroy his competition and stands to cheat these nice people out of their hotel. As a result, Blondie and Dagwood promise to help them try to make a go of it.The best part of the film is how Baby Dumpling manages to do so much to help the good guys...and so much to destroy bad Mr. Morton! I especially liked when Baby met up with that bad kitty! Well written and fun...and well worth your time.

The third film of the Blondie series finds Blondie and Dagwood finally on a vacation with Baby Dumpling and Daisy in tow. Unfortunately on the train to the lake resort hotel they've got a reservation for they manage to annoy at every opportunity Donald MacBride the owner of the place. He especially doesn't like dogs and kids.Which is enough to get them tossed from MacBride's place and the only other place is a ramshackle resort owned by kindly elderly couple Thomas Ross and Elizabeth Dunne. Eccentric old Donald Meek who took a liking to the Bumsteads left with them. But these folks are in hock up to their graying hair and to MacBride.Normally either Dagwood stumbles into a solution or Blondie figures a way out of the Bumstead troubles. But in this story, it's not Arthur Lake or Penny Singleton it's their little boy Larry Simms with the help of Daisy and some wood land friends she made who prove to be MacBride's undoing.It's what Bismarck said about the USA, God's got a special providence for the Bumsteads.

The amusements are plenty in this third installment where Blondie, Dagwood, Baby Dumpling (oh that name starts to rake the nerves after a while) and Daisy head to the country, stirring up all sorts of trouble yet saving a failing countryside inn from closing. The chaos begins on a train where, while hiding Daisy, they incur the wrath of a passenger (Donald MacBride) who turns them in for having a dog outside the storage compartment then denies them entry to the lavish country inn he owns. They end up in another nearby inn where the phone is shut off, the electricity is about to be, and one of the guests (a very funny Donald Meek) is a secret pyromaniac.This entry is a bit darker than the rest because it involves a hotel fire and the fear that the lost Baby Dumpling may be inside along with the beloved pooch Daisy. It is also a bit touching as Blondie and Dagwood forsake the fun they intended to have so they can help the elderly couple who own the inn they check into. It turns that MacBride (who actually had my sympathy in the train sequences) is out to foreclose on their loan so he can take over the property and will stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious goals. The lighthearted first third becomes intense towards the ending, and an unlikely hero is revealed. Even though most of the film takes place away from the Bumpstead's house in the city, there are still brief repeats of old gags as the rather adult conversation between tots Larry Simms and Danny Mummert, as well as frazzled postman Irving Bacon's determination to deliver the mail without being knocked over.