Joan Blondell Articles

Joan Blondell. Those who have heard the name will most likely picture either a blowsy, older woman playing the worldwise but warm-hearted saloon owner in the late 1960s television series Here Come the Brides, or a lively, fast-talking, no-nonsense, and unconventionally sexy gold digger in numerous Pre-Code Warner Bros. comedies and musicals of the early 1930s. Matthew Kennedy’s Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes (University [...]

Joan Blondell on TCM: DAMES, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? Schedule (ET) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 AM THE RECKLESS HOUR (1931) A young innocent almost ruins her life for the love of an unfeeling cad. Dir: John Francis Dillon. Cast: Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, H. B. Warner. BW-71 mins. 7:15 AM BIG CITY BLUES (1932) A country boy finds love and heartache [...]

Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Dames Joan Blondell has always been a favorite of mine, much like fellow wisecracking 1930s Warner Bros. players Aline MacMahon and Glenda Farrell. The fact that Blondell never became a top star says more about audiences — who preferred, say, Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney — than about Blondell’s screen presence and acting abilities. As part of its "Summer Under the [...]

Ann Dvorak, Paul Muni, Dr. Socrates Ann Dvorak Pt.3: SCARFACE, Warner Bros. Leading Lady, But Never a Star Ann Dvorak played opposite most big names at Warner Bros. in the 1930s. In addition to the aforementioned Joan Blondell and Bette Davis, there were Warren William, Paul Muni, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., James Cagney, Dick Powell, Pat O’Brien, and Richard Barthelmess, among others. How did she get [...]