Blondie Johnson (1933) User Reviews

From Warner Brothers, another Depression Special

[imogensara_smith · 8/10 · 22 December 2007]

It has been said that Joan Blondell's career suffered because she never got "Stanwyck parts." With BLONDIE JOHNSON, she got just that, and not even Stanwyck (before whom I bow down) could have done it better. Blondell is her usual wisecracking, tear-jerking, tough, funny, sexy self, but the film gives her more dramatic scope than usual and an edge of bitterness lacking in her wised-up-but-good-hearted sidekick roles. In the halcyon days of pre-Code Hollywood, it was no big deal for a movie heroine to be much, much smarter and more hard-headed than any of the men around her, as it was no big deal for a Japanese-American actress to a play a role in which—with one humorous exception—no mention is made of her ethnicity. (As part of a con game, Toshia Mori dresses up in a maid's uniform, but she's really a fur-swathed gangster's moll.)

The film opens with a five-minute prologue that sums up the Great Depression with such raw intensity you can practically taste the despair. In a Welfare Office, the bedraggled Blondie Johnson (Blondell, wearing no make-up and a drab suit) pleads for aid. She has been evicted and her mother has pneumonia; she lost her job in a laundry because she resisted her lecherous boss, and her younger sister died after becoming pregnant at fifteen. When her mother dies too, Blondie decides that only one thing matters: "dough—and plenty of it." A priest reminds her that there are two ways of making money. "Yeah," she replies, "The hard way and the easy way."

The next time we see Blondie, she's wearing a snappy velvet suit and conning suckers out of $10 bills by pretending to be a damsel in distress. She's aided by a friendly cabbie (Sterling Holloway); their friendship is sealed when they realize they have both been trying to chisel each other. Though she's not above batting her eyelashes at the chumps, for Blondie the "easy way" has nothing to do with latching onto a sugar daddy. Fiercely protective of her virtue, Blondie is determined to use her brains to get ahead, and while she teams up with a racketeer named Danny (Chester Morris), she holds him at bay (he tends to "talk with his hands") even though she really likes him. It's just that she has big plans, and "the one thing that doesn't fit into them is pants." Her plans involve deviously plotting against the big boss and working some deliciously clever confidence tricks. Ultimately she rises to be head of the "corporation," all the while denying her true feelings for Danny, even to the point of ordering him rubbed out when she thinks he's squealed. You know where this is going, and it goes there, but despite a limp "we've learned our lesson" ending, it's a great ride.

BLONDIE JOHNSON is obviously derivative of the previous year's BLONDE CRAZY, but here is a case where, in the words of Mae West, "too much of a good thing is wonderful." The only flaw is that Chester Morris is no Jimmy Cagney; he is convincing as a rather dim bulb and shares none of the chemistry with Blondell that lit up BLONDE CRAZY. The supporting cast helps fill the breach, with Allen Jenkins earning a laugh at his first appearance just by being Allen Jenkins; Mae Busch as Jenkins's world-weary girlfriend; the lovely and sardonic Toshia Mori; and the inevitable "other woman," Claire Dodd. (Blondell would memorably kick Dodd's butt—literally—in the next year's FOOTLIGHT PARADE.) Blondell effortlessly fills the central role, deepening the mystery of why she didn't get more starring parts. Matthew Kennedy, author of a new biography (I heard him introduce a glistening new print of BLONDIE JOHNSON at the Museum of Modern Art last week) suggests that Blondell was simply too reliable; she was so good at elevating mediocre material that the studio saw no need to give her better scripts.

BLONDIE JOHNSON is a typical assembly-line product, predictable in the best possible way. From the art-deco lettering of the opening credits, so familiar from the Busby Berkeley series, to the courtroom finale, everything is just what you expect from Warner Brothers in the early thirties. The wisecracks go off regularly as popcorn popping. The music is dance-band jazz, the decor is pure deco, and Blondell sports some eyebrow-raising, peek-a-boo lounging pajamas. Society is indited for turning the underprivileged into criminals, and we are invited to enjoy their blithe crimes before they are dealt a half-hearted slap on the wrist. Blondell lends the lightweight yarn a core of gravity. Her wariness and cynicism cut through the fluff, even as her delectable looks, warmth and sly humor provide the necessary fizz. As Danny repeatedly tells Blondie, she's "a fresh dame." Seventy-five years later she's just as fresh, and she'll never go stale.

"Kiss me, ya lug."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 12 April 2014]

Joan Blondell plays a down-on-her-luck lady who turns to crime. Specifically being a con artist. She hooks up with gangster Chester Morris and before too long she's leading the gang herself. Joan's really the whole show here. She's a big-eyed curvy beauty but she's also smart and tough as nails. She's impossible to dislike and gives an effortless performance. It's a good role for the period, playing a woman who uses her brains instead of her body to get ahead. Chester Morris is good but his part here isn't exactly Boston Blackie. His chemistry with Joan is lacking, as well. Allen Jenkins is fun, which should come as no surprise. Arthur Vinton, who plays a big shot gangster here, sounds just like Ralph Bellamy. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. It's a good little gangster picture. Fans of the terribly underrated Joan Blondell will like it a lot.

"You're a fresh dame"

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 25 June 2014]

In this before the Code drama Joan Blondell steps into Barbara Stanwyck territory playing a woman who we see rise to the top of the rackets and is pretty ruthless about it. As the film shows us Blondell had it pretty rough as a kid and now she's going to acquire the only thing that matters in this life, money.

Along the way she teams up with another racketeer played by Chester Morris on loan from MGM who's also not a squeamish guy, but wants to settle down with Blondell as long as he leads when they dance. Blondell is not about to let anyone else lead in her life.

I'm surprised this film is not better known if for no other reason than the acclaim that Blondell has received for her performances in those Warner Brothers gangster films. Usually she's just a leading lady for James Cagney etc. but her she's the lead, it's her film and she makes a fine job of it.

If TCM ever broadcasts this, don't miss it. A must for Joan Blondell fans.

Snappy script provides a lot of fun

[Sleepy-17 · 21 August 2000]

Even though "Crime Does Not Pay" is the message here, Joan Blondell and Chester Morris play the wisecracks with style. Definitely a feminist slant to a story of a woman crime-boss wannabe who refuses to have sex with her co-workers. Entertaining and involving (I joined the heroine in her desire to save her frontman from the hitmen's bullets), although the ending was a little hard to take. Good stuff from Sterling Holloway as a friendly cab-driver.

The precode gangster pic meets "the age of chiselry"...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 13 August 2023]

... to quote James Cagney from Blonde Crazy as he tries to talk Joan Blondell into joining him in his con artistry. In this film though, Joan is the one who has the big ideas.

The film opens with Blondie Johnson (Joan Blondell) pleading with a relief agency for help. She is jobless - she actually quit her job because the boss kept trying to get physical - and she hasn't been able to find another job in months. She and her mother were kicked out of their apartment and into the rain, mom got sick as a result, and the both of them are living in a spare room in a store, but the department of health may kick them out at any time. The relief agency can't help, and Blondie returns to the store she calls home just in time to see a sheet pulled over mom's face. She gets sappy happy lips service from a priest about her situation, and all of this just makes her decide that from this point forward she is going for money the easy way.

A toughened Blondie pulls a series of cons, each getting successively bigger with bigger payouts. Along the way she meets Danny Jones (Chester Morris) actually somebody she conned who tracks her down. In spite of the initial mutual distrust, they hit it off. Danny works for big time gangster Max Wagner, and she and Danny pull some cons as part of his gang. Max doesn't like Danny's newfound independence - funny that he never realizes Blondie is the real brains and the real threat - and it becomes necessary to eliminate Max if Danny is to continue having a pulse. Blondie is now the actual head of the operation, but makes Danny the titular one, probably because she is a woman and figures nobody will accept that. But the success goes to Danny's head, he takes up with a gold-digging musical comedy actress (Claire Dodd), and thinks he doesn't need the rest of the gang who put him where he is. Complications ensue.

This thing has a totally downbeat ending that it really didn't need to have because the production code is a year away. I'd say don't watch this if you are into Joan Blondell's lighter entries, although it is well done and I always thought that Joan Blondell's best combination of films and performances was during the precode era at Warner Brothers.

67 Minutes of Zippy Pre-Code Gangster Fun

[museumofdave · 6/10 · 18 May 2013]

Character actress/star Joan Blondell makes the most of Blondie Johnson, appearing first as a down-and-outer fired from her previous job because she wouldn't put out for the boss and then developing as an assertive, sassy, gang leader. She's is determined to get ahead in a man's world, and uses her snappy sense of humor, and both her sensitivity and her sensuality to move to the top and earn the respect of her fellow mobsters--simultaneously shooting for romance with (boring) Chester Morris.

After the film is over, it really doesn't seem like we've watched a gangster movie, simply because Warner Brothers knew how to be topical by suggestion, and in the period when this film was made, a good deal could be broadly hinted at that was frowned upon in later years: making money the easy way through prostitution, evoking fear in others through protection rackets, and particularly in this film, making a woman boss of the mob. It all looks like great, harmless fun. But after about 1934 and the Production Code, for most actresses it was back to domesticity and the kitchen for almost thirty years!

It's a zippy 67 minutes with a familiar Warner's cast, including silent star Mae Busch, the ubiquitous comedy relief Allen Jenkins, and as the "other woman," cynical Claire Dodd. Today there's more than enough menace in a gangster film, another brutal murder just around the corner, another bloodbath waiting; if there's any fun to be had, it's happening elsewhere. But once upon a time one could easily sit through an escapist double feature with this, essentially a gangster romp, as a starter, and perhaps an Edward G. Robinson or Cagney film as the longer main feature. Now you can enjoy this whenever you want a little break!

Almost a classic

[1930s_Time_Machine · 7/10 · 25 May 2022]

Almost a typical Warner Brothers gangster film but with an interesting twist. Someone at Warners realised two things: gangster movies made money and 'women's films made money - why not combine these two genres! Essentially this was conceived as a female version of Little Caesar which sounds like a terrible idea. It is however surprisingly not terrible - indeed, it's really quite good.

Although there's no innovative direction, spectacular sets or memorable moments, there's never a dull moment, you can empathise immediately with characters and it's totally engaging and immerses you completely into the depression-soaked urban America of the early thirties. What almost makes this a classic is Joan Blondell. Unlike with most of her films, there's no lingering shots of her rolling up her stockings or slipping into a negligee. Here she is totally believable as the woman who has climbed from absolute poverty to be the strong , respected leader of her organisation. She achieves this not through her sexuality but like Cagney and Robinson did, by her strong will and her brain. She manages to convey virtually every emotion known to man without defaulting into sentimental melodrama. Maybe this is not one of her more well known performances but it's definitely one of her best.

The story of a tough dame who rises to the top of the crime world.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 May 2019]

When the story begins, Blondie Johnson (Joan Blondell) is broke and destitute. However, instead of waiting and hoping things will get better, she decides to take life into her own hands and devote herself to a life of crime. However, she's not looking at any petty crimes but wants to be a crime boss....something pretty much impossible back in 1933. And, after connecting up with Danny (Chester Morris), she begins her rapid ascent to the top. But there's one problem in her future....no matter how she tries to become tough and hard-bitten, she's still a lady.

This is generally a very good film. However, the ending portion disappointed me because up until then, Blondie was a good character...but at the end she inexplicably grows a heart. Inconsistent....but despite this it's still worth your time if you like classic films.

Joan Blondell Shines at Blondie!

[glennstenb · 8/10 · 22 March 2021]

"Blondie Johnson" is a marvelous piece of film fun, made just before the era of the speakeasy was to conclude. As recounted in other reviews, the story is engaging and is a so-called "gangster movie" with a difference. The fun dialog goes on relentlessly with generous helpings of stellar interactions. This movie contains, additionally, an eye-boggling march across the screen of sparkling Art-Deco interiors and Depression-era fashions. The cast is comfortably familiar to movie buffs, with Joan Blondell demonstrating that she could do plenty more than just look beckoningly doe-eyed with those expressive eyes of hers. In the early 1930's she was often merely just a bubbly presence, but in this film she skillfully hypnotizes the willing viewer with plenty of varied emotion and determination, demanding recognition as a fine actress. In sum, this film is a treat for us movie fans of early WB and First National pictures, just as the studio began to create films containing confident fluidity of exposition. Highly enjoyable!

1933 Depression movie

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 15 May 2014]

Joan Blondell is poverty stricken, but determined to survive, in "Blondie Johnson," a 1933 Warner Brothers film also starring Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins, and Sterling Holloway.

Blondie (Blondell) and her sick mother are not considered hardship cases. They live in the back of a store, Blondie can't find a job, and her mother is in need of care. After being denied funds, she returns home to find that her mother has died in her absence. She decides she's waited long enough for something good to happen. She's going to make things happen, but she's going to use her brains, not her body, to do it The next time we see Blondie, she's all decked out after working in a dance hall. She takes a cab ride and she and the driver (Holloway) work a scam that nets them a tidy sum at the end of the night. Unfortunately one of the people they worked it on is Danny Jones (Morris), a racketeer, and he catches her in a Chinese restaurant, which is not exactly the hospital she claimed she was headed to for work. They team up, with Blondie having ambitions toward being a crime boss.

Good movie with the always delightful Blondell and likable Chester Morris. The end of the film is jarring; it's abrupt and different in tone from the rest of the movie. Still, it's a quick-paced, well acted film.

Underrated film, underrated actress

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 2 June 2019]

Deserves a higher average rating - this is a very entertaining pre-Code film, with meaningful Depression content, a strong female character in the role of a gangster boss, snappy dialogue, and the effervescent (and underrated!) Joan Blondell.

Blondell is a self-made woman who rises out of poverty through her intelligence and grit, hardened by a boss who harassed her, and after getting no relief for her ailing mother, turns to crime in her desperation. She's tough but she's also playful and has a heart, and Blondell plays the part with great range, elevating the film.

The film has some nice pre-Code elements, the biggest of which is course Blondell at the top of an organized crime operation (just a year later, such a role would not be possible). A gangster (Chester Morris) is drawn to her, and one of her friends bluntly asks her why she doesn't "give him a tumble," but she says "business before pleasure," determined to be a self-made woman. There are also some smaller bits. Blondell alludes to having had a sister who got pregnant as a teenager, and then unable to get a doctor, died, making us think of a back-alley abortion. In supporting roles, there is an interracial couple that is simply accepted, and the Asian-American actress (Toshia Mori) speaks non-stereotypical lines.

The film does not have the same ruthless edge that other gangster films have from the period. Blondell makes it clear she's out to earn money and she doesn't mind conning the system that has betrayed her, revealing the age's deep cynicism. In another one of the film's small moments, however, her character shows an underlying sweetness when Morris gives her an expensive bracelet, and she says that even if it had come from the ten cent store she would have liked it, because of "the fact that you did get it, and were considerate of my feelings." What a lovely little line that is. The film has some silly bits (e.g. how improbably Blondell dupes a jury into getting Allen Jenkins off) and the ending is a little syrupy, but overall it was refreshing to see this take on the genre.

1933 was a great year on average for films, and this was a great period for Joan Blondell as well - the films Blonde Crazy (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), Union Depot (1932), Three on a Match (1932), Footlight Parade (1933), and Gold Diggers of 1933 all come to mind. I don't know if this is better than any of those, but it's in their category, and must-see for Blondell fans.

Atypical Tough "Gal" Gangster Movie

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 12 April 2014]

Here is a Pre-Code Gangster Movie with, wait for it, a Female Mob Boss. There is an Interracial Couple (Japanese/White), a Low-Cut Peek at Joan Blondell, and some Bullet Blood. That's about it for the Pre-Code Highlights although there is some Bedroom Banter that would Later become Taboo. A Friend asks "Blondie, why don't you give him a tumble?" for Example.

It's got typical Warner Bros. Snappy Patter and Chester Morris' forever present Dangling Cigarette is Stereotypically "charming". The Script Employs a Clever Con on a Jewelry Store, some Hard-Boiled Inner-Gang Violence and Always has Blondie with the Upper Hand.

Another Highlight in this Atypical Depression Era Movie is when Blondie gets Frisked by a Cop "Woman", She finds a small caliber pistol Tucked Away very close to a Forbidden Location, that even in a Pre-Coder is Rarely Referenced or given any Attention, and the Scene does not Shy away from the Search as the Dyke like Cop has Her Hands right where they don't Belong.

Worth a Watch for its Decisively Differentness and the Always Pleasing to the Eye Joan Blondell, where She, not Only Her Character, more than Holds Her Own with Her Tough Guy Companions.

One for Ran Enright's numerous fans!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 10 November 2017]

Joan Blondell (Blondie Johnson), Chester Morris (Danny), Allen Jenkins (Louis), Earle Foxe (Scannel), Claire Dodd (Gladys), Mae Busch (Mae), Joseph Cawthorn (Lord), Olin Howland (Eddie), Sterling Holloway (Red), Toshia Mori (Lulu), Arthur Vinton (Max Wagner), Donald Kirke (Joe), Tom Kennedy (Hype), Lloyd Ingraham (judge), Maurice Black (Tony), Sam Godfrey (Freddy), Betty Jane Graham (child), Eddie Kane (jewelry assistant), Charles Lane (cashier), Walter Long (Artie), Rolfe Sedan (tailor), Ben Hall (newsboy), Tom Wilson (Swede), Sam McDaniel (porter).

Director: RAY ENRIGHT. Uncredited direction: Lucien Hubbard. Original screenplay: Earl Baldwin. Photography: Tony Gaudio. Film editor: George Marks. Art director: Esdras Hartley. Gowns designed by Orry-Kelly. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein. Dialogue director: Stanley Logan. Associate producer: Lucien Hubbard.

Copyright 13 February 1933 by First National Pictures, Inc. Released through Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 26 February 1933. 67 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: A gangster tries to prevent a female go-getter from muscling in on his rackets.

COMMENT: In this typical Warner Brothers exposé of the depression- ridden early 1930s, the script blames the lack of compassion in society at large and the unwillingness of both church and government to do anything about remedying social conditions, for the rise of organized crime.

The brief portrait of the mealy-mouthed priest is especially telling. No other Hollywood studio would dare paint a cleric in such an unflattering light.

Having set the scene, the rest of the film is fast-paced action, interspersed with a bit of romance, right up to the illogical and somewhat startling cop-out conclusion (which seems to have been added as an afterthought).

All the players impress with their realism, but I was particularly struck by Joan Blondell, Allen Jenkins (in a serious role), Joseph Cawthorn (using his real voice and not the "funny" accent), Claire Dodd (gorgeously gowned by Orry-Kelly), Arthur Vinton (the menacing overlord), and Mae Busch.

Aside from the unexpectedly light conclusion, director Ray Enright doesn't put a foot wrong. Definitely one of his better films!

Ruthless brains

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 6 July 2020]

'Blondie Johnson' appeared as a recommendation here when a while back reviewing another film starring Joan Blondell. It immediately intrigued me as the idea was really intriguing and actually my kind of film, and Blondell was always a delight and worth watching. Especially excelling in wise-cracking roles seen notably in her outings with James Cagney, and one of the best at that type of role at the time and during the pre-code period (rivalled in my opinion only by Jean Harlow).

While it may not be one of her best overall films, 'Blondie Johnson' is still a good deal of fun and definitely shows off how much of a talent Blondell was. It was great too to see more of a grittier, at times more sensitive and not quite as comedic side to her while also still maintaining and not in any way losing what it was that made her so appealing. Which was her sass and sensuality. 'Blondie Johnson' had all the right ingredients to be great and was frequently, but the leading man and ending brought it down a bit.

So many great things here. Blondell is wonderful, she commands the screen effortlessly and looks very photogenic. She has her usual sassiness, while also allowing for more vulnerability and grit which helps make her character interesting and easy to invest in. Allen Jenkins is colourful support, while Disney regular Sterling Holloway amuses and endears. Mae Busch and Claire Dodd are good too.

The film looks stylish and is beautifully framed and lit. It also has the right amount and type of atmosphere, not an uncompromising sort of atmosphere but not a too soft-focused one. The script has snap and edge and the story is compelling and intriguing with a good deal of entertainment value and not much predictability. The direction is taut enough while allowing breathing space.

Chester Morris however struck me as rather dull and didn't seem at ease in a part that doesn't have that much meat. His and Blondell's chemistry together doesn't sadly have enough spark, it's functional but that's it.

Also found the ending too abrupt and sappy, tonally jarring with all that came before and like it was lifted out of another film.

Other than those drawbacks, they are outweighed by the numerous things done (very well). Well worth watching. 7/10

C'mon ya can't keep the law waitin forever

[boscofl · 7/10 · 17 April 2020]

A worthy inclusion in Warner Brothers first wave of gangster pictures depicting an ambitious individual going from rags to riches and back to rags via crime, Blondie Johnson is unique because it offers a woman in the lead role. Joan Blondell enacts the title character who, in the fine tradition of these types of films, learns you can't outfox the law forever.

Blondie's mom dies from pneumonia complicated by extreme poverty and Blondie believes the way to square herself with an unforgiving society mired in the Great Depression is to accumulate money. Arriving in the big city armed with an endless list of angles to clip the suckers she soon finds herself in the company of Danny Jones (Chester Morris), the top lieutenant of the biggest racketeer in town. Blondie's ambition wins Danny over and soon they are running a phony insurance racket but emotions eventually undo everything they work for.

Joan Blondell is dynamite as Blondie and has no trouble taking over the picture as surely as her character manipulates the chumps. Her rigid facade erodes over time and by the end she realizes what she really wants is a home and family. Through it all Miss Blondell is absolutely convincing and particularly excels at being ruthless while maintaining her magic with tossing off quips. Chester Morris keeps pace in the acting race as the gum chomping Danny who longs for Blondie's love but must settle for the riches instead. He also rather improbably survives two assassination attempts.

The supporting cast contains some familiar faces of the genre. Allen Jenkins is part of Blondie's mob and has a standout sequence where he sets up his former crew for an impressive rub out scene. Sterling Holloway portrays the young cabbie who gets involved with Blondie's initial scams and ultimately ends up with the life she realizes she should have had. Donald Kirke makes an impression mainly due to his impossible eyebrows and pencil thin mustache but has a memorable scene near the end where he advocates for Danny's murder. Even more unique than his appearance is his interracial affair with Japanese Toshia Mori. Pretty racy stuff for the times.

Director Ray Enright stages some impressive scenes with a "less is more" philosophy although the mechanics behind the two torpedoes botching Danny's second murder attempt are pretty ludicrous; how anyone could survive getting hit by 4 bullets at point blank range strains credulity. Enright also struggles to maintain a consistent tone as the film bounces back and forth between social commentary, comedy, and gangster picture. Fortunately he gets a fantastic star performance from Joan Blondell and good support from Chester Morris to move things along swiftly. Blondie Johnson merits a viewing.

female led gangster flick

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 October 2021]

Blondie Johnson (Joan Blondell) is struggling in the midst of the Great Depression after losing her job. Her beloved mother dies from bad accommodations. She has no options left. She is determined to get lots of money and is willing to get it with her brains in criminal ways. She is approached by gangster Danny Jones (Chester Morris).

This is a female centric gangster flick. It's a minority in that sense. The dame's in charge. That's worth a pretty penny. She does need to do more gun play. Without more action, the tension falters somewhat. It leans a bit too much on the romantic melodrama.

Suckers

[tedg · 15 December 2006]

While most of the movies in this period tried to find some new way of telling the detective story, many worked on the gangster side as well. Today, we don't quite appreciate the cleverness in the variety. I think in part because the things that didn't get embedded in the form just aren't seen even if you watch the movie.

Superficially, this is a story of a poor gal who climbs her way to the top of the gang ladder and falls in love along the way in spite of herself. And it has some snappy dialog of the type common in gangster movies of the era. But it has ambitions beyond that, getting darn close to sex as power, sex as beneficial crime. Blondie not only has to fight male kingpins, but she has to best their molls too.

All the sex is implied here, odd because of the time: before the code was enforced. But it permeates, even in the earliest scenes where Blondie is impoverished because she refused a screwing by the boss.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Blondie Johnson Even Sounds Gangster

[view_and_review · 9/10 · 22 August 2023]

Doesn't "Blondie Johnson" have a nice ring to it. It just sounds gangster like Bumpy Johnson, Pretty Boy Floyd, or Bugsy Siegel.

"Blondie Johnson" was a very different kind of movie for the early '30's. It was a mob/gangster movie in which the main gangster was a woman. No, they didn't refer to her as a gangster because she didn't gun people down, but that's what she was.

Blondie (Joan Blondell) lost her mother to pneumonia when the two of them were put out by their landlord in the middle of winter. She had just left her job and had no money. When asked by the government bureaucrat why she left her job when thousands were looking for work, she said she wasn't going to work anywhere where the boss kept putting his hands all over her.

That's when I knew I liked Blondie.

After Blondie's mother passed she made the solemn determination to get money by any means necessary. If money was what everyone respected and adored, then she'd get it however she could.

In most movies of that era a woman got money by inheriting it or marrying into it. In another movie Blondie would've gone through great lengths to beautify herself to attract a man of wealth to become either his mistress or his wife.

That wasn't the route she was going to take. Nor was she going to become a prostitute. She followed the Rick Ross model of, "Everyday I'm hustling."

Her hustling made her cross paths with Danny Jones (Chester Morris), right-hand man to Max Wagner (Arthur Vinton), the biggest gangster in the city. Blondie and Danny began making moves and took over with Blondie's brains, tenacity, and determination, and Danny's muscle and connections. Blondie was a force to be reckoned with. She was a Frisco Jenny (Ruth Chatterton) without having to be a madame or an escort. She was a Nan Taylor (Barbara Stanwyck), but actually calling the shots. She wasn't going to submit to having to use her body or her beauty to get ahead and she didn't have to. Even at a point in the movie where conventional thinking would've been that she would get married, she side stepped it.

At one point Danny Jones shot his shot and told Blondie how he felt about her. She probably felt the same, but she let Danny know that she had a goal she wanted to reach and a relationship would only hinder her from that goal. Danny was crushed and he let it affect him, but that only showed which of the two was stronger, more determined, and more focused.

Eventually, Blondie had to put Danny in his place. He'd gotten too big for his britches and thought he was in charge. She showed him he wasn't.

After Danny was demoted he sank into obscurity. Things would only get more dire for him when the gang thought he ratted on Louie (Allen Jenkins), one of the gang. And this is where Blondie was really tested. Her gang was fully convinced that Danny was singing to the D. A. and you know what they say about snitches. Blondie had to make the tough decision of "taking care of" Danny or leaving Danny alone but then losing the loyalty of her gang.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, Blondie gave the OK for the hit. It tore her up to do so, but she really had no choice. This was one of those times where her ambivalence and aversion to such a move was wholly understandable and had nothing to do with her gender or her romantic involvement with Danny. She and Danny started together, went through tough times together, and climbed the ranks together. It was only natural for her to not want to harm him.

Shortly after giving the order Blondie found out that it was a janitor, and not Danny, who'd fingered Louie for a crime. Blondie tried her best to stop her boys from gunning down Danny, but she was too late, and it gave us one of the more romantic scenes you'll ever see. As Danny was presumably dying he told Blondie to get going because the cops were coming. He knew she was behind the hit, but it didn't matter by then. All that mattered was that he loved her and she loved him, and all the mistakes they had made to that point were irrelevant. They weren't Bonnie and Clyde, they were Blondie and Dan.

$3.99 on Amazon.

Baby face doesn't mean an innocent mind.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 13 April 2020]

Nobody ever accused depression-era Joan Blondell of looking like a pushover, and as hard-boiled dames in a series of films with Glenda Farrell and major roles in some Busby Berkeley musicals, she was one of the top Warner Brothers stars of the time. Like to Barbara Stanwyck film of the same year "Baby Face", Blondell is a nice girl who, when tired of being pushed around decides to become ruthless to take whatever it makes to score some quick cash. Stanwyck used a bunch of men in an office setting, but Blondell goes a step further. She enters the man's world of organized crime and becomes a racket queen, teaming with rackateer Chester Morris in a fleecing scheme, infuriating Morris's mob boss, Earle Fox. This puts a hit on Morris and threatens to put Blondell behind bars, but the road to true love promises to prevail.

When I think of Joan Blondell as far as 1930s Warner Brothers programmers are concerned, I think of the great wisecracks she was given and the icy way she delivered each one. while she does indeed have some great lines, this film is more character and story based so it has more of a serious premise than the other dozens of films she did per year. The future Winnie the Pooh, Sterling Holloway, gets some really funny lines as a world-weary cab driver who fleeces blond out and becomes her first partner in crime. When asked by Blondell if he's honest, he retorts matter-of-factly, "Sometimes, and mostly by accident". it's a step up for him from being one of the hat delivers in the same year's "Gold Diggers of 1933". Allen Jenkins has a smaller role as one of Fox's gang.

Like "Baby Face", this is a pre-code morality tale that shows what happens when someone doesn't follow the moral rules of making ends meet. Once again, the character is a woman, so she must push off the various lecherous men who try to get fresh with her. it's a bit shocking to see blundell playing such a tough part because her characters usually were easy to spot hiding a heart of gold, and while it is obviously there somewhere, it takes a lot for her to get to show it. So this is a different view at the career of one of the unsung leading ladies of the 1930s, better known for later character parts, yet once one of the great beauties of the silver screen.

Don't Chew Gum

[x519MaLoNeYx · 6/10 · 27 September 2021]

Probably the earliest example of why you shouldn't chew bubblegum, it's incredibly off putting.

Besides that this movie has a fantastic feel and vibe to it. All the characters are believable and over the top at the same time. The story moves quickly but I feel that's how it was back in those days.

blondie johnson

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 18 October 2021]

Joan Blondell, doing what she does best...playing a sassy, sexy, pre code con artist...is the only sensible reason to stay with this cliche ridden, visually undistinguished, Warner Bros. 30s gangster pic. Notice how the scenes without Ms. Blondell simply wither and die and that the not very compelling Chester Morris and. Earle Fox are better when she's around. That's the mark of a good actor and star, both of which Ms. Blondell very much was. C plus.

Ok Warner Bros Gangster Film

[januszlvii · 7/10 · 13 December 2021]

Blondie Johnson is an ok Warner Brothers gangster film. Good not great. The biggest problem is Chester Morris ( Danny). Morris good or bad guy ( and he is a bit of both here) is always meh. That said, this is Joan Blondell's ( Blondie) show all the way. She is a poor woman who goes to the top of the rackets ( and of course falls). It is rare to see a gangster picture headed by a woman ( Big Bad Mama 1 and 2 are exceptions), so that along with the beauty that is Blondell are pluses. One interesting point: More then a couple of posters pointed out the change in Blondie at the very end. Spoilers ahead: Going from hard to nice over Danny. That also happened in Baby Face where Barbara Stanwyck did the same thing for George Brent (although Stanwyck's Lily Powers did not end up doing any jail time ( unlike Blondie doing 6 years oh hard time)) . Oddly enough both Baby Face and Blondie Johnson came out the same year. One more point; Those who think Blondell cannot play mean should see her in Sinners Holiday with James Cagney ( she was nastier there). Anyway 7/10 stars.