richardny4me Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Of all the forgotten actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Joan Blondell is one who deserves to be re-discovered (IMO), and hopefully will be, thanks to the upcoming release from Warners of the Busby Berkely DVD box set and the (just rumored) Pre-Code Hollywood DVD box set. I know she died in 1979, but she is hardly mentioned these days. Joan had a vivacious personality, on-screen charisma with her co-stars, and she even sang (Remember My Forgotten Man). Plus she became a fine character actress in later years (A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Opening Night, Grease) I added her name to the list of stars TCM should devote a month to, but until that time happens, does anyone remember her? And did anyone here ever meet her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeDouglas Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I wish I did know more about one of my all-time favorite actresses Joan Blondell. She was absolutely beautiful and I love to watch her in all those early 1930's Warner Bros. movies she made. She portrayed alot of street-smart yet kind hearted characters, and when you add her big beautiful eyes and over all great looks to that....well to me she stole about every scene she was in. She starred in "Bonde Crazy" with James Cagney in 1931 and it is a treat to watch these two when they were so young and vibrant. And "Blonde Crazy" is just one of dozens. It would be great if TCM had a month for Joan Blondell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vecchiolarry Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Hi Richard, Any movie with Joan Blondell in it is a hit, in my opinion.... She always made the film!! I only know that she was married at one time to Dick Powell and Mike Todd and that James Cagney always said he loved her next to his own wife!! She didn't think that many Hollywood actresses could act or were really stars, saying "Let them hold their own on stage in a dog act and see how great they are!" Larry Message was edited by: vecchiolarry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alix1929 Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 She was full of magnetism! I love her movies with Cagney, especially BLONDE CRAZY. I was also lucky enough to catch PENNY ARCADE, Joan's first movie. She was wonderful, and appears as a brunette. She and Cagney stole the show from the two stars. She is also one of the stars of the legendary CONVENTION CITY from 1933. It has the reputation for being the raunchiest of the raunchy. What a shame it is a lost film, and we won't be able to judge for ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken123 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 She was also excellant in Nightmare Alley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michellej Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Joan Blondell was a piece of gold!!! From A Tree Grows in Bklyn to her films in the 30's to the Cincinnati Kid,she was superb.She had class,talent,humor and she was fun.Another example of a fine talent overlooked and underappreciated.Did hollywood truly know what it had in her??NOPE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackBurley Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Even before A Tree Grows in Brooklyn she was a wise-cracking gal with a heart of gold in many Busy Berkeley musicals. Her work in the 1970's televison series Here Come the Brides is soon to be released on DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 She DEFINITELY should have been nominated for Tree and Nightmare.She was a superb actress and VERY sexy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkMiller Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 I remember her from some television in the 60s and 70s as well. Guest spots on some shows and I think she was a regular on "Here Come the Brides." By then she had lost her looks, but she was good at character parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinMan15 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I found her first from guest spots on TV, but have caught a few of her 30's films on TCM, as well as a little of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and she's definitely very appealing. I've since read her novel, Center Door Fancy, which is said to be based on her vaudeville and Hollywood experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitaphony Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 count me in. i'm new on this board, but i've been a huge HUGE joan blondell fan for many years. I now have nearly all of her Warner Bros-era films from the 30's and have seen a majority of her later ones. here's a few of my favorites of hers: Kansas City Princess - Joan with Robert Armstrong and Glenda Farrell. unusually good script for a WB comedy. possibly her funniest movie. Blonde Crazy - maybe her best cagney film. Miss Pinkerton - kind of confusing whodunit, but joan is in nearly every scene and she is brilliant. The Greeks Had a Word For Them - very good 1932 movie about 3 golddiggers that unfortunately isn't in the TCM vault. Golddiggers of 1933 - 'Remember My Forgotten Man'. enough said. Footlight Parade - her verbal catfight with cagney's girlfriend is the funniest thing i've ever seen. Lawyer Man - an alright William Powell movie, but Joan looks amazing and steals every scene she is in. Havana Widows - only my 2nd favorite comedy she did with Glenda Farrell, but its still very entertaining. Guy Kibbee is great in it. Broadway Gondolier - if you want to see why joan and dick powell got married, you only have to watch them in this 1935 movie. on the surface, its just an average dick powell musical comedy. but it is fun to watch because in every scene joan and dick are in together, the real life chemistry between them is so bleedin' obvious it is almost distracting. after awhile i just want to yell at the screen "get a room already, you two!" Nightmare Alley - by far her best 40's-era film. (and yeah, i've seen A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. yawn.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paramountt Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 I love Joan, she was a wonderful actress. She knew how to play "sassy" characters and not make them bitches or shrews which some actresses do not know how to do. I enjoy those old Warner Bros. films so much. Incidentally, Joan's 60's TV series HERE COME THE BRIDES was recently released on DVD. I have it and I enjoy it as much as her old movies although her part was not usually particularly large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kinston Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 The movie that Joan Blondell is in that I like is Gold Diggers of 1933, especially the Forgotten Man number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsl Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 When i was a kid, I often got her and Ann Sothern mixed up. They were both so vivacious and sexy, and good-hearted (at least the parts they played), plus the same blonde hair, in the same shoulder length style, I often had to look at the credits to see which one it was. I don't have that problem now, but I still think they reesemble each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vecchiolarry Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Hi Anne, Yes, they do resemble each other and had similar acting styles. Ann was at MGM and Joan at Warners for most of their careers. Interestingly, they both starred in "Cry Havoc", which played yesterday on TCM. And, it's a toss-up as to whom was better. Both shone as did everybody else in the picture. This movie is one of the best films ever made, in my opinion...... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdb1 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 > When i was a kid, I often got her and Ann Sothern > mixed up. They were both so vivacious and sexy, and > good-hearted (at least the parts they played), plus > the same blonde hair, in the same shoulder length > style, I often had to look at the credits to see > which one it was. I don't have that problem now, but > I still think they reesemble each other. Hey, mrsl! You are not alone - I always had the same problem, even though I loved both those ladies, I mixed them up, and got confused as to which one I was watching. Part of the problem, as discussed on another thread a while back, is that actresses especially were dressed and made up so similarly - same hair, same makeup, same clothes, same coloring With the same way of speaking, and same types of parts -- any kid would have been confused between these two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxMania Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 I personally prefer brunettes and redheads, but Joan Blondell is a credit to all blondes. She is always a joy to watch, both as an actress and as a lovely, sexy woman. (And I get the sense she would have been a very pleasant person off-camera as well...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitaphony Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 > I personally prefer brunettes and redheads, but Joan > Blondell is a credit to all blondes. joan actually appeared as a brunette in her movies more often than as a blonde. She was a blonde only from 1931 to about early '34, then briefly again in '35. in other times, she was almost always a light brunette. I think because she was blonde during her peak of fame and in many of her best known movies, she is generally thought of today as a blonde. (and her name even has the word "blonde" in it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxMania Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 My comment was meant to refer to both her hair and her name. (I also have a friend who is almost a dead-ringer for Joan Blondell - except my friend is Hawaiian, and has black hair and dark brown skin. But their faces are remarkably similar!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts