Movie Review: Smart Blonde (1937)
Synopsis: After Tiny Torgeson is murdered right in front of her, reporter Torchy Blane joins her boyfriend, Det. Steve McBride, in the investigation. Torgeson, they learn, was going to buy the various businesses owned by former gangster Fitz Mularkey, who is going straight after falling in love with Marcia Friel. Fitz, angry over his friend's murder, vows to take matters into his own hands, putting Torchy and McBride in a race to find the killer before Fitz does.
Who's in it? The movie stars Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Charlotte Wynters, Robert Paige and Tom Kennedy.
Review: I enjoyed The Adventurous Blonde a few days ago and, since that was the third movie in the Torchy Blane series, decided to watch the first one, Smart Blonde, this morning. I wasn't disappointed.
At first, the murder mystery seemed a bit too easy. Torgeson (Joseph Crehan) is murdered with Chuck Cannon (Max Wagner) as the clear an obvious killer and because of that, I figured this would just be Torchy (Farrell) and McBride (MacLane) trying to find clues to Chuck's whereabouts before Fitz (Addison Richards) did something that would put him in prison.
However, as the movie progressed, it became clear it wasn't as simple as it first seemed and, when Chuck is also murdered, there are a variety of possible suspects that pop up. This, in turn, created a fun "frenemy" situation between Torchy and McBride as they both helped each other but also seemed to compete against each other when determining the truth.
The end of the film did a great job wrapping it up in a way that forced me to stay on my toes, with Torchy doing the recap while being held at gunpoint. I knew, based on the fact there are sequels, she would survive but it certainly added an element of danger as certain people grew desperate.
As was the case with The Adventurous Blonde, I did enjoy the interaction between the film's two main protagonists. They worked great together but had just enough differences to create quite a bit of comedy as well, especially since Torchy always seemed to be one step ahead, despite McBride not being a slouch when it came to detective work.
If I had any complaints about this film, it would be the decision to have them already be in a relationship. Because they are so different, it was a bit difficult to figure out how exactly that happened. In fact, other than it being mentioned early on, I probably would never have known they were romantically involved until the very end. It's just one of those things that needed a lot more background information.
Final Opinion: It's a pleasant movie with a good mix of mystery and comedy. I think I liked The Adventurous Blonde more but still enjoyed it.
My Grade: A-
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1937:
Movie Review: It's Love I'm After (1937)
Movie Review: Murder at the Baskervilles (1937)
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