Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

utgard14 Good start to the B series about the fast-talking, gutsy, and snoopy lady reporter, a forerunner to Lois Lane. It has a brisk pace and a fun cast of characters. This first entry deals with the murder of a guy who just bought a popular nightclub. Reporter Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell) and her detective boyfriend Steve McBride (Barton MacLane) set out to solve the case, together and in spite of each other.Farrell and MacLane are both terrific in parts well-suited to their particular talents. Jane Wyman, who would later play the role of Torchy herself, has a small part here as a gabby hatcheck girl. Good support from Addison Richards, Tom Kennedy, Wini Shaw, Robert Paige, Joseph Crehan, and Charlotte Wynters (the future Mrs. Barton MacLane). If you're a fan of B's from back in the day, or just a fan of the great Glenda Farrell, you should find a lot to like here.

gridoon2018 From an era when even the actual name of the detective working on a murder case could make newspaper headlines, comes one of cinema's earliest female amateur sleuths, Torchy Blane. Torchy is not just an independent working woman who is good at her job, she also has a mind (and a hunch) for crime-solving on the side; her persistent snooping annoys, but also aids, her tough cop boyfriend. In "Smart Blonde", they both investigate the shooting of a wealthy investor outside a train station. There is nothing out of (or above) the ordinary in the film's direction or supporting cast (though Tom Kennedy is quite funny as a poetry-loving comic relief cop), but the story is pretty good, and Glenda Farrell is beautiful and energetic as Torchy; you can't take her eyes off her. ** out of 4.

bkoganbing Smart Blonde is the first film of the Torchy Blane series with Glenda Farrell as former showgirl turned reporter with a real keen sense of a scoop. She works the police beat where she constantly runs up against her boyfriend, homicide cop Barton MacLane. Depending on how you view things, Torchy's a help or a hindrance. But in this case she was literally on top of the story. Seconds after being interviewed by her, nightclub impresario Joseph Crehan is shot down in Union Station.Crehan was going to buy a nightclub owned by Addison Richards who was getting out of the business and getting ready to marry Charlotte Wynters and go into the real estate business with her and her brother Robert Paige, leaving his club singer Wini Shaw all in distress. Another one in distress is Max Wagner, Richards's gunsill because there's not much call for his line of work in real estate.One murder later of course Torchy's put it all together for MacLane and gets her paper the scoop. But the plot does take an interesting twist or two, it's not who you think it is.Jane Wyman has a small supporting role as a hatcheck girl with a tendency to gossip which aids Farrell in her story. This was of course at the beginning of Wyman's career which included a film as Torchy Blane herself when Farrell quit the series.Smart Blonde proves how popular the Torchy Blane series was at Warner Brothers and why it was so well received in the late Thirties.

asia1 It was nice seeing Barton MacClane as the good guy. Glenda Farrell and Ginger Rogers are look alikes. At first sight I though it was Ginger. Also got a kick out of seeing a very young Jane Wyman as Dixie. The mystery was a bit contrived but I'd see the movie again.