Post by rmichaelpyle on Dec 27, 2010 12:43:08 GMT -6
I watched "Blondie Johnson" (1933), a pre-code starring Joan Blondell as the eponymously titled person - a lady who, during the worst of The Great Depression, is down to the soup line and can't find work, having been laid-off, and is forced to fleece guys for money. She fleeces Chester Morris, part of a local mob, and gets caught, but gets Morris anyway! Then the - well, pre-code - fun begins! It's a romp to the end when both get caught and get their comeuppance. The show is a comedy/drama, but rather the old fashioned definition of comedy: yes, she has to do time, and so does he, but in the end all will work out. They just don't make 'em like this anymore! Loads of watchable nonsense! Irresistable. Only 67 minutes long. Joan Blondell can surely take a lead and hold the film together easily - although Chester Morris shares the lead with her. Also has Allen Jenkins as a partner in the crimes, along with Toshia Mori (wow, was she a beauty, ala Anna Mae Wong! - and, just for the record, the only non-white lady who ever was a Wampus Baby Star - 1932), and Mae Busch. As a foil, there's Claire Dodd - ever so bad. Also, Earle Foxe, Sterling Holloway (who could steal a scene from Olivier), and Olin Howland (nearly as good as Holloway).
This is a new release from the Warner Archive Collection, and it's been re-mastered.
This is a new release from the Warner Archive Collection, and it's been re-mastered.
I read "ala" as "aka."