Movie Review: Blondes at Work (1938)
Synopsis: While arguing over a parking ticket, reporter Torchy Blane witnesses Bon-Ton department store heir Marvin Spencer being led out of a fashion show by Maitland Greer. Soon after, Spencer is found stabbed to death and Greer is the primary suspect. Torchy believes Greer is innocent but her own investigation into the case is hampered by her fiancé, Lt. Steve McBride, who is under pressure after the police are accused by other newspapers of giving Torchy preferential treatment and goes to great lengths to keep her from getting information.
Who's in it? The movie stars Glenda Farrell, Barton MacLane, Tom Kennedy, Rosella Towne and Donald Briggs.
Review: I had another movie picked out for this morning but had second thoughts about it, so I ended up watching Blondes at Work instead. I always have some doubts by the time a movie series gets into its fourth installment, but this turned out to be a solid choice.
I think the thing I liked best about this film was the way it gave the audience a chance to see Torchy's (Farrell) detective skills bumped up against McBride's (MacLane) while, at the same time, did a good job of demonstrating how they needed each other. Torchy, for example, always seemed one step ahead of McBride when it came to finding people and did a better job interpreting the evidence. However, Torchy also wouldn't have gotten very far had she not been secretly stealing leads from McBride with help from Gahagan's (Kennedy) diary.
I especially liked how the film put McBride's more-than-adequate detective skills on display. This included him tracking down a potential suspect using just a lipstick stain and finding a well-hidden murder weapon. The professional rivalry he has with Torchy means a whole lot more when both are solid detectives.
Another thing I found intriguing was how the movie, at least for a short while made me question if Torchy even loved her fiancé or if she was just pretending to love him to further her career. After all, McBride's job was potentially on the line, and she continued to reveal top secret police information that could hurt his case.
In fact, the more I think about it, I'm still not totally convinced the film ever answered that question. All it did confirm, via a surprisingly romantic ending, was he is in love with her.
As far as the murder mystery was concerned, it proved to be intriguing. As much as I wanted to believe Torchy was right and Greer (Briggs) wasn't a murderer, there weren't exactly a whole lot of other suspects. Plus, when Greer was arrested, he didn't put up much of a fight trying to prove his innocence. Also not helping Torchy's case was her being one of the people who witnessed Greer with an obviously injured Spencer (Kenneth Harlan) shortly before the latter was found dead. I was kind of surprised she wasn't called to testify as a result of that.
Final Opinion: It's a good film with a solid murder mystery, funny comedy and just the right amount of romance. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1938:
Movie Review: Hard to Get (1938)
Movie Review: Wives Under Suspicion (1938)
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