Blondie Johnson (1933)

Set in the Great Depression, a young woman (Joan Blondell) is without a home and without a job. After her mother dies due to lack of medical care, it hardens her and she is determined to use her brains and not her body to get power and wealth. She rises from con artist to crime boss. Directed by Ray Enright (THE SPOILERS), this pre-code gangster film was a shift in Blondell's career. Up till now, she'd been cast as gangster molls and wisecracking chorus girls. The dramatic impetus of this movie gives her a chance for more serious acting and she's up to it. This quickly moving B movie is her show all the way but as enjoyable as it is, it's really nothing more than a routine programmer. As a pre-code, I expected a bit more and its romantic "crime does not pay" finale seemed rather mundane to me. With Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins, Claire Dodd, Mae Busch and Toshia Mori.