Blondie Johnson / Blonde Crazy / Big City Blues

November 4, 2016 - 7:30 pm

In-person:

author Matthew Kennedy. He will sign copies of Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Please note: Blondie Johnson has been added to this event.

Blondie Johnson (1933)

Three years and two dozen films into her contract at Warner Bros., Blondell landed her first starring role as an orphaned waif made bitter by poverty and indifference who fights her way to the top of an organized crime syndicate. Blondell biographer Matthew Kennedy describes Blondie Johnson as a “female Little Caesar” and the role showcased Blondell’s range, adding dramatic punch to the wised-up wit she was known for.

35mm, b/w, 67 min. DIR: Ray Enright. SCR: Earl Baldwin. CAST: Joan Blondell, Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins.

Blonde Crazy (1931)

Joan Blondell and James Cagney achieve peak sizzle in their fourth outing together at Warner Bros. as a pair of con artists at work in the “age of chiselry.” A hotel maid who throws in with Cagney’s larcenous bellboy, Blondell displays the unique alchemy of her persona, playing the better angel of his nature while confidently taking the world for a ride.

35mm, b/w, 78 min. DIR: Roy Del Ruth. SCR: Kubec Glasmon, John Bright. CAST: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Louis Calhern.

Big City Blues (1932)

On his first wide-eyed night in New York, a small town boy (Eric Linden) falls in with a mob of showgirls and hustlers who leave him to take a murder rap after a wild party. Joan Blondell takes pity on him—or maybe she’s falling in love—and leads him through woods in this pulpy pre-Code quickie.

16mm, b/w, 63 min. DIR: Mervyn LeRoy. SCR: Ward Morehouse, Lillie Hayward. CAST: Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Walter Catlett.

Preceded by

Home Movies No. 5

Digital video (from 16mm), b/w, silent, approx 10 min.

Part of:

Blonde Crazy: Joan Blondell

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