Blondie for Victory 1942

Blondie Bumstead, Penny Singleton, forms a civilian defense group, the Housewives of America, by gathering her neighbor housewives. The idea starts with good intentions, but it ripples through her home life, turning quiet evenings into meetings and pulling Blondie away from everyday duties. As the group grows, Dagwood Bumstead, Arthur Lake, comes home to find notes left by Blondie about another meeting, leaving him puzzled and frustrated. At the same time, their son, Alexander “Baby” Bumstead, Larry Simms, is left to manage on his own, while the family dog, Daisy, Daisy, roams the house with no one to discipline or feed him properly. The entire block is touched by similar tensions, with other husbands increasingly blaming Blondie for the disruption as they watch their own households wobble.

Dagwood’s boss, J.C. Dithers, Jonathan Hale, is suddenly dethroned from his home to make space for a visiting soldier delegation. He moves to a nearby hotel, then pays a visit to the Bumstead house. A soldier from the delegation, Pvt. Herschel Smith, Stuart Erwin, appears in Dagwood’s life as a catalyst for a proposed fix. Sensing a chance to end the tension, Dithers hatches a plan: Dagwood should borrow the soldier’s uniform and pose as enlisted, traveling to the soldiers’ training camp where Blondie and the Housewives of America are staying, so Blondie will hear that Dagwood has joined the army.

Dagwood travels to the camp in his borrowed uniform, and Blondie is swept up by the image of him in uniform. The sight, combined with the absence of the group’s more disruptive energy, causes Blondie to rethink her role and the situation at home; she recognizes that her true place is by Dagwood’s side, supporting him as he goes off to serve. Herschel Smith, still in need of his own uniform, makes a frantic return to active duty, chasing after Dagwood as he heads back to the house. Dagwood ends up in the hands of the MPs who mistake him for their missing soldier, and a chase ensues through the woods and up to the dam.

On the dam, Dagwood spots a suspicious man creeping up with a parcel. He lunges to stop what he believes is sabotage, wresting the package away just as Blondie, Dithers, and two MPs arrive. When the box is opened, it’s revealed to hold only rationed sugar, not a weapon. The moment proves Dagwood’s heroism to the soldiers, who forgive him for wearing an unauthorized uniform. Reunited with Blondie, Dagwood returns home to resume domestic life, no longer troubled by the Housewives of America.