Blondes at Work (1938)

Just perfect...

Absolutely Brilliant!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is the one that ended the Torchy Blane series for me. It had already gotten ridiculous, but this one is awful. A man who is so stupid he would probably flunk kindergarten is kept on the payroll as a cop? A reporter who lies and cheats and subverts justice to get a scoop? A police detective who lets the reporter get away with it because he is stupid and because he wants to marry her? Give me a break. This is not comedy, it is just dumb. The only good part of this particular movie was the judge putting the reporter in jail. I will never watch another Torchy Blane movie.

SPOILERS --This is one of the "middle" Torchy Blane, reporter at large, stories. When a department store owner disappears, its up to "Torchy" (Glenda Farrell) to figure out what happened. With the usual cast of characters, Barton MacLane and Tom Kennedy, she runs circles around the police. The story is OK... but not much new here. It's the usual conniving and trickery to get the scoop when no-one else can. One interesting note -- Carol Landis is in here, with a speaking part... she was married five times, then committed suicide, and was only 29 years old ! About half of her roles were un-credited. Directed by Frank McDonald, who had directed a bunch of the Torchy Blane films. It's the usual fare, shown on Turner Classics now and then.

Blondes at Work (1938) *** (out of 4) Fun fourth entry to the series has Torchy Blane (Gelnda Farrell) finding news ways to get sources even when her fiancé Lt. McBride (Barton MacLane) has made it clear he won't be giving her any scoops. She gets on a hot murder case and is able to track down the suspect but things don't go as planned. BLONDES AT WORK is another fine film in the series and I'm sure fans are really going to enjoy it even though Blane is actually somewhat a villain here. The film basically has the police trying to keep the case quiet so that they can locate the killer but Torchy, obviously just thinking of her stories, manages to keep messing up the case. I don't think even fans will agree with the way she gets her news here and the ending, which I won't ruin, is actually quite fitting. As with the previous film, this one here benefits from a pretty good story that has a couple nice twists and of course two nice leads to carry us through it. Farrell is certainly at the top of her game here as she perfectly works her comic timing. MacLane is also good in his supporting bit but it's Tom Kennedy who steals the film as the dimwit who wants to be a poet. Rosella Towne is also good in her role. The film runs a fast-paced 63-minutes and contains enough entertainment to keeps fans interesting. Bette Davis fans will probably recognize this story as it borrows quite heavily from FRONT PAGE WOMAN.

After increased pressure from Steve's superior, he and Torchy decide to part ways for a while, professionally speaking: each one will go on doing his job without the other one's help. When a department store owner is found stabbed to death, Steve is doubly puzzled: who killed him, and how does Torchy still manage to get all those inside scoops about the case? Not as fresh as the first two entries, but better than "The Adventurous Blonde", "Blondes At Work" is exceptionally slow-moving (it certainly feels longer than an hour), and not much of a mystery either, but it does have some standout moments of Torchy outwitting her opposition, and an ending that's both unexpected and sweet. ** out of 4.