Joan Blondell

  • Lowell Sherman – The Greeks Had a Word for Them AKA Three Broadway Girls (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyLowell ShermanUSA

    In this sophisticated Jazz Age comedy, a trio of money-hungry women all have sugar daddies who keep them in the lap of luxury, even as they drive the men crazy. Each woman represents a different personality type, from sensitive, to kind-hearted, to difficult and untrustworthy. The twenties come roaring back with immorality and in-fighting.Read More »

  • James Flood – Off the Record (1939)

    1931-1940CrimeDramaJames FloodUSA

    Two newspaper reporters, Thomas “Breezy” Elliott and Jane Morgan, inadvertently send a boy named Mickey Fallon to reform school after they write an expose of the illegal slot-machine racket the boy was a spotter for. Guilt-ridden, Jane convinces Breezy that they should marry in order to adopt Mickey so they can get him out of reform school.Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – The Perfect Specimen (1937)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyMichael CurtizScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis
    Based on a popular novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, this screwball comedy stars Errol Flynn in the title-role, the heir to an industrial fortune kept hidden from the world by his imperious grandmother (May Robson). Intrigued by the secrecy, peppy Joan Blondell literally crashes the estate to liberate the young man and the two embark on a whirlwind trip through Pennsylvania. Falling in love with the intruder along the way, Flynn learns how life is lived by the other half — or at least by the wacky Warner Bros. stock company — and proves himself to be much more capable than “Grandma” Robson ever imagined. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Leigh Jason – Lady for a Night (1942)

    Drama1941-1950ComedyLeigh JasonUSA

    Jenny Blake (Blondell) is the beautiful owner of a riverboat casino, but she aspires to a life in high society. Jack Morgan (Wayne) is her business partner and influential political boss – the two are in love, but Jenny decides to leave him and the business so she could marry socialite Alan Alderson (Ray Middleton) for prestige and in return she forgives Alan’s gambling debts and pays off the back taxes of his family’s once-grand mansion and plantation. Her new in-laws are infuriated by this marriage of convenience, and do everything in their power to ruin Jenny in the eyes of society.Read More »

  • William Keighley – Kansas City Princess (1934)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyUSAWilliam Keighley

    Synopsis:
    Rosie and Marie are wisecracking Kansas City manicurists. Marie is an unabashed golddigger but Rosie would like to marry her gangster boyfriend Dynamite, who’s given her an expensive ring. When she loses the ring, both friends have to flee Dynamite’s wrath; their adventures include masquerading as girl scouts and taking an ocean voyage to Paris.Read More »

  • William Keighley – Bullets or Ballots (1936)

    1931-1940CrimeThrillerUSAWilliam Keighley

    Synopsis:
    Two-fisted New York police detective Edward G. Robinson is so volatile that he manages to get himself thrown off the force in disgrace. The local gangsters are delighted, in that Robinson had been breathing down their necks. When Robinson goes to crime boss Barton MacLaine insisting that he’s through with law enforcement and wants to switch to the other side, MacLaine’s chief henchmen Humphrey Bogart doesn’t buy the story, but has to go along since he doesn’t want to incur the wrath of MacLaine.Read More »

  • Tay Garnett – Stand-In (1937)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyScrewball ComedyTay GarnettUSA

    Synopsis:
    Atterbury Dodd is an efficiency expert who believes everything can be reduced to mathematics. He is sent to Hollywood to see whether Colossal Pictures is a good investment. He soon learns that movie production doesn’t fit his formulaic mindset.Read More »

  • Ray Enright – Havana Widows (1933)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyRay EnrightUSA

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    The wonderful Warner Bros. stock company goes through its customarily breezy paces in Havana Widows. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell star as Mae and Sadie, a couple of hard-boiled dames who support themselves by shaking down wealthy and susceptible older men in Havana. Their current target is Deacon Jones (Guy Kibbee), a self-appointed moralist whose rock-ribbed values disappear after the third drink. But Blondell spoils the scam when she falls in love with the Deacon’s son Bob (Lyle Talbot). Less than a month after the release of Havana Widows, many of the same cast members were back to their old tricks in Convention City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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  • Ray Enright – I’ve Got Your Number (1934)

    1931-1940ComedyRay EnrightRomanceUSA

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Plot:
    The adventures of wisecracking telephone repairmen Terry and Johnny are by turns comic, risque, and heroic. Terry pursues Marie, a hotel switchboard operator, who loses her job when she innocently does a favor for gangster Nicky. Terry gets Marie a job with financier Schuyler; but Nicky has new plans for her. Read More »

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