Blondie Johnson

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.

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.

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 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.

... 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.