The Amazing Mr. Williams
The Amazing Mr. Williams is a very different, very good detective film, with ongoing romantic complications. Which does he love more – his fiancé or his work as a homicide detective?
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Joan Blondell
Three Broadway Girls
Three Broadway Girls – a comedy about a trio of money hungry women who 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. Set in the age of jazz, the twenties come roaring back with immorality and in-fighting.
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The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy (1931), starring James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke
Synopsis of The Public Enemy
In The Public Enemy, Oscar-winner James Cagney (“Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Angels with Dirty Faces“) became a superstar with his gritty performance as a prohibition-era Irish-American street punk who tries to make it big in Chicago’s organized crime world. Features the famous grapefruit-in-your-face scene with co-star Mae Clark (“Frankenstein“). Co-starring the original Blonde Bombshell, Jean Harlow (“Dinner at Eight“). Recently selected by the prestigious American Film Institute as one of the 400 greatest American films of all time. Inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
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Topper Returns
Topper Returns (1941), starring Joan Blondell, Roland Young, Carole Landis, Billie Burke, George Zucco, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
Synopsis of Topper Returns
Topper Returns is possibly the best of the Topper trilogy. Thanks to the sassy presence of Joan Blondell. Hollywood’s favorite wisecracker who plays Gail Richards. She’s a woman accidentally murdered while staying at the home of her friend, Ann Carrington (Carole Landis). Enlisting the help of Cosmo Topper (Roland Young) Gail’s ghost sets out to find her killer.
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The Office Wife [Lewis Stone]
The Office Wife (1930) starring Dorothy Mackaill, Lewis Stone, Natalie Moorhead, Joan Blondell
The Office Wife is a drama about a married executive, who shortly after his marriage to a younger woman, hires a new secretary. The secretary is determined to be all business … But she unexpectedly falls in love with the older man anyway.
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The Cincinnati Kid
The Cincinnati Kid, starring Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Rip Torn, Joan Blondell
Synopsis of The Cincinnati Kid
The Cincinnati Kid is to poker what The Hustler was to pool, a fascinating suspense study of masters at work. Steve McQueen brings his cool fire to the role of Cincinnati Kid, a small-timer eager to take his chance in high-stakes poker. He gets his chance. Regal, ruthless, Lancey Howard (Edward G. Robinson), the elite gambler called the Man, accepts the Kids’s challenge. Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck) directs this taut exploration of back-room gaming, building suspense with each turn of a card. Ann-Margaret, Karl Malden, Rip Torn, Joan Blondell round out a stellar cast.
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Bullets or Ballots
Bullets or Ballots, starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh
Synopsis of Bullets or Ballots
A tough New York cop goes undercover to crack an influential crime ring in this well-done gangster movie starring Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart.
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Nightmare Alley
Nightmare Alley (1947), starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray
Movie review of the classic film noir, Nightmare Alley, possibly Tyrone Power’s best role as a carny hustler who becomes a mentalist, then a spiritualist, then begins his downfall as guilt eats away at him
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