''Blondie Johnson'' is a 1933 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
gangster film
A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...
directed by
Ray Enright
Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...
and starring
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
and
Chester Morris
John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...
. It was produced by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Plot
Set during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, Blondie Johnson (Joan Blondell) quits her job after her boss sexually harasses her. She and her sick mother are then evicted from their apartment and are unable to get any government relief funds. After her mother dies, Blondie is determined to become rich. She soon gets involved in a criminal organization and falls in love with Danny, one of its members (Chester Morris). Later she convinces him to take down his boss. Blondie eventually climbs up the criminal ladder, becoming boss to the "little navy" gang before the gang is exposed. Blondie is convicted and sent to prison for six years, but she and Danny promise each other that they will make a fresh start after paying their debts to society.
Cast
*
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
as Blondie Johnson
*
Chester Morris
John Chester Brooks Morris (February 16, 1901 – September 11, 1970) was an American stage, film, television, and radio actor. He had some prestigious film roles early in his career, and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Alibi'' ( ...
as Danny
*
Allen Jenkins
Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television.
Life and career
Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 190 ...
as Louis
*
Earle Foxe
Earle Foxe (born Earl Aldrich Fox; December 25, 1891 – December 10, 1973) was an American actor.
Early years
Foxe was born in Oxford, Ohio, to Charles Aldrich Fox, originally of Flint, Michigan, and Eva May Herron. He was educated at Ohio Sta ...
as Scannel
*
Claire Dodd
Claire Dodd (born Dorothy Arlene Dodd; December 29, 1911 – November 23, 1973) was an American film actress.
Life and work
Dorothy Arlene Dodd was born on December 29, 1911, in Baxter, Iowa, to Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer whose family ...
as Gladys
*
Mae Busch
Mae Busch (born Annie May Busch; 18 June 1891 – 20 April 1946) was an Australian-born actress who worked in both silent and sound films in early Hollywood. In the latter part of her career she appeared in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, frequ ...
as Mae
*
Toshia Mori
Toshia Mori (としあ もり) was a Japanese actress who had a brief career in American films during the late 1920s and 1930s. Born as Toshiye Ichioka (としえ いちおか) in Kyoto, Mori moved to the United States when she was 10.
Early lif ...
as Lulu
*
Joseph Cawthorn
Joseph Bridger Cawthorn (March 29, 1868 – January 21, 1949) was an American stage and film comic actor.
Biography
Born on March 29, 1868, in New York City to a minstrel-show family, Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debu ...
as Manager
*
Olin Howland
Olin Ross Howland (February 10, 1886 – September 20, 1959) was an American film and theatre actor.
Life and career
Howland was born in Denver, Colorado, to Joby A. Howland, one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War, an ...
as Eddie
*
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...
as Red
*
Charles Lane as Cashier (uncredited)
*
Sam McDaniel
Samuel Rufus McDaniel (January 28, 1886September 24, 1962)Tanner, Beccy (November 7, 1991)"McDaniel Opened Doors; 'Gone With the Wind' Was Actress' Most Famous Film" ''The Wichita Eagle''. Retrieved January 3, 2021. was an American actor who ap ...
as Train Porter
Preservation status
*A print is preserved in the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
-
Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation
The National Audiovisual Conservation Center, also known as the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, is the Library of Congress's audiovisual archive located inside Mount Pony in Culpeper, Virginia.
Establishment
From 1969 to 1988, th ...
collection.
[''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title) p.18 c.1978 the American Film Institute]
References
External links
*
*
1933 films
American black-and-white films
1933 crime drama films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Ray Enright
Films about organized crime in the United States
Warner Bros. films
American crime drama films
1930s American films
{{1930s-drama-film-stub