Blondie Johnson (Warner Bros.) (1933)

ADVANC E FEATURES When Petticoats Rule SPECIAL PUBLICITY ART “Blondie Johnson,”’ Latest in the Long Line of Ladies Who Have Held the Whip Hand Over the Gentlemen by Wit, Wiles or Wallop By HARRY LEE (Author of “High Company” and “The Little Poor Man’) F ROM the beginnings of time the masculine portion of humanity has delighted in touting his superiority. He has dubbed his kind lord of creation, the sterner sex, the master mind! the male bragged, the “more deadly of the species” simply laid low | While like Br’er Fox, awaiting the psychological moment to pounce. When she had her man under control, her next operation was to initiate him into the tyrannies of Petticoat Rule! Petticoat Rule, according to popular opinion, was fi. xt instituted in Eden. According to a no less impressive authority than the Talmud, this is questionable. Lilith, so it seems, was an earlier girl friend of the first man. It was after Lilith, weary of the humdrum life, had departed unceremoniously for parts unknown, that Eve arrived, without bag or baggage, at once taking charge of the family budget. Things went well, for a time at least, though the little woman did tire of Adam’s frequent references to his operation. Her least desire became his law. It was after he had been presented with a one-way-ticket-fortwo—the first eviction on record— that Adam uttered the world’s most celebrated apology: “The woman did tempt me and I did eat!” Petticoat Rule! Neither the Pharaohs nor the Caesars had anything on Cleopatra when it came to real makem-and-breakem tactics. When she was finished with an empire—or an emperor—not all the king’s horses nor all the king’s men could put ’em together again! Cleo Ambitious Lady An ambitious lady was Cleo! Aspirations as well as asps must be credited to her. Her real goal, for peeing, was tO make her mark eee 4 ak After making him, family back into power! came her fetish! on her scissors. a short-cut to power. a close shave to Samson, little cared the wily go-gettress! ticoat Rule! is said to have overheard her notorious exclamation: “Out, damned spot!” It is reported, though not on too depend able authority, sotto voce, that he wished his queen |: 1A ew Sh) z SS Ce Te oe, she got busy ! hers breaking him. Mark $Antony’s last words, often attributet: to another, were: “She was a bold bad woman, but she sure was darn good com pany !” Take Salome, for instance, just an other little girl trying to get ahead! History assures us that she did get a head—if rather to the discomfort of the long-haired reformer who criticized her veils. bidding, he also danced at hers. is said to have called her the Court Cut-Up! If she danced at Herod’s He Socrates, though he remained serene through the sharp-tongued Petticoat Rule of Xantippe, “Grass never grows on a busy street!” he often remarked, laconically. did get bald. Delilah was determined:to put her Power be Time hung heavy She decided to take If it did mean Lady Macbeth was no piker at PetHer red-handed hubby that he remarked, n “ $2? HOTS aa D Tae Ses aoe elf-_wished that she ha Prey ik teats She's "Blondie Johnson" It’s a new Joan Blondell the Strand’s offering this week! The picture is “Blondie Johnson’? and—here’s the surprise—the usual jolly Joan is a hard-as-nails shoot-and-never-miss gun gal. You'll recognize her lovable smile and snappy wise-crack—but you'll also discover a more dramatic Joan; and you’ve our word that you'll love her more than ever! Chester Morris is in the picture, too! Mat 10c ae SS ae before she put him on such a “damned oes But what could the poor boy oO? Everybody in the world knows how the stories of Scheherazade made the Sultan sit up and take nourishment. The wily lady, by simply using her own head—saved the heads of a thousand and one veiled sisters »>f the seraglio. Did the Sultan ever dream that he was the slave of Petticoat Rule! Allah forbid! Red-headed Nell Gwyn began by selling oranges before the old Drury Lane Theatre, and ended by selling herself to Charles II! Baby Doe, blonde menace of the mining camps, ruled the Silver King with so high a hand that he gave his wife the Grand Rush—and was proud of himself for doing it! But the high cockalorum of Petticoat Rules—was “Blondie” Johnson, of more or less blessed memory! “Blondie Johnson’’ Blondie Johnson’s sensational life story has at last been brought to the screen by the producers of “Silver Dollar,” “20,000 Years in Sing Sing,” “I Am a Fugitive,’ and so many other recent hits. Joan Blondell, pretty, pert and peppery, appears in the title role—queening it over the shadowy hideaways of racketeerdom, with a verve which makes her worthy of the title “Female Public Enemy Number One!” Blondie Johnson, bereft of all her people, during a _ poverty-stricken childhood, in due time ties up with one “Curley” Jones, for the purpose of putting herself over in a big way. She becomes all powerful, is the bestdressed queen of the underworld—hut —you must see “Blondie Johnson,” which comes to the.... Theatre.... next! It is different—daring—and amazingly human! Others in the big’ cast are Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins, Claire Dodd, Earle Foxe, Mae Busch, Joe Cawthorne, Sterling Holloway, Olin Howland, Arthur Vincent, Donald Kirke, Tom Kennedy, Sam Godfrey and Toshia Mori. The expert direction is by Ray Enright. Blondie Johnson—past mistress of Petticoat Rule! You’ll love her and Joan Blondell, Screen’s Most Courageous Star . Because “Blondie Johnson” Role Is Based Upon Life, She’s Not Afraid to Put Own Sex on “Spot” By Carlisle Jones begin to piece together the picture of our modern times they A HUNDRED years or more from now, when serious historians will give particular thanks to four people, James Cagney, Edward G.-Robinson, Paul Muni and Joan Blondell. These young players, more than any others, are supplying future generations with the true picture of our own hectic current problems by their work on the talking screen. Those future writers may call this the age of rackets, the years when the youth of the world went wild, revolted against law and discipline, or they may refer to it as the gangster era when law enforcement went under an eclipse. Whatever they name it, however they explain it, the truest pictures of all this strange international phenomena will be provided by the then ancient rolls of film known now by such names as “The Public Enemy,” “Little Caesar,” “Scarface” and “Blondie Johnson.” The value of these films now is entertainment. Their priceless ingredients for future historians is their truth. They have dealt honestly with the most modern angle of the world’s eternal battle against crime. Joan Blondell stands almost alone among the women of the screen in her willingness and ability to portray the kind of a role which will preserve for the future an insight into the crime conditions of our day. The woman’s part in the age of rackets is recognized and publicized by the press and the police, but few actresses are courageous enough to portray it on the screen as Joan Blondell has done in “Blondie Johnson,” which opens next...).. at-the.. ..-... Theatre: Women Aiways Involved Yet women have been the motivating power behind much of the crime and lawlessness which has made the past decade a smudge on the face Page Six of civilization Back of every gang, involved in every racket, side by side with every “master mind” of crime there is, and has always been, a woman; not the “gun molls” or the “baby faces,’ but the women with wits and a will to “get theirs” by fair means or foul. Bob-haired bandits, blonde confidence women, soft voiced, law-breaking sirens, beer baronesses gangsterettes, racketeerettes, come and go in the newspaper headlines. Only Joan Blondell has made them live on the screen. With “Blondie Johnson” she takes her rightful place in the limited gallery of players who are making the jobs of future historians easy. Although Joan Blondell has never robbed a bank, nor pulled the trigger on a sawed-off shotgun, she is admirably suited to such roles as that she plays in “Blondie Johnson.” She has courage and she delights in doing what most women on the screen feel endangers their “appeal.” She can be hard as nails, rough of speech, cold as steel and yet never lose the feminine quality in a characterization. She is not afraid of anybody or anything, either in truth or in pictures. Knows No Fear She is the most modern among moderns and had she been unable to get ahead any other way it is not hard to picture her as getting ahead in a gang. That she chose a more difficult road—against much harder competition and succeeded in Hollywood instead of in a metropolitan city—is all to her crit. She has the required wits and the necessary will and she would have succeeded anywhere—in any business. Strong willed women have ruled many “rackets” in the world’s history Their prototypes rule, even now, in various vice-ridden cities of America and the world. For the public to close its eyes and say this is not so is a poor way of remedying the condition. “Blondie Johnson” is a Slice of life, rough, tough and bitter life, but true in every one of its amazing revelations. Only Blondell could bring it to the screen and make it live for the future. Required Courage to Film The courage of the producing company, First National Pictures, in filming “Blondie Johnson” is second only to that displayed by Miss Blondell in agreeing to play such a role. An ostrich-minded public does not always like to have its head jerked out of the concealing sands to face an unpleasant though entertaining truth. But once its eyes were focused on “The Public Enemy,” or “Little Caesar,” or, more recently, on “Scarface,” it found them unusual, daring enough to overcome all preconceived objections. First National believed “Blondie Johnson” would be equally acceptable, once that same public had been jarred out of its lethargy and awakened to the power of its subject and presentation. With Chester Morris, another earnest actor who may, with this and future pictures, earn early admission to the charmed circle of picture racketeers, Joan Blondell and First National studios tackled a_ story others had contemplated and dared not try. “Why shouldn’t I play such a role?” Joan demanded, early in the production of “Blondie Johnson.” “The most notorious underworld character in Hollywood is a woman. I am told, I think reliably, that the biggest speakeasy on Santa Monica boulevard is half owned and altogether managed by a good looking blonde girl. “That’s the way it is here and everywhere. And that’s the way it is in ‘Blondie Johnson,’ too!” Joan Blondell Turns Tables ~On Men in Her Latest Film N her long list of screen successes Joan Blondell has invariably been ruled by men. She’s been slapped and cheated—often she’s been the sacrificing girl who lets “her man” go to another—but throughout the string of pictures in which she has appeared, a man has dominated her. Now along comes “Blondie Johnson,” a First National picture which comes to the .... Theatre role. As “Blondie Johnson” Joan to govern her, but she rules that species with a hand of iron. In “The Crowd Roars” she had no end of difficulty with her sweetie—in “Big City Blues” she sent away the one she loved because she knew he’d be better off without her, but in “Blondie Johnson” she steps in—most decidedly—and takes charge of the situation ! Enacting the role of a girl who has been treated unkindly by fate, she battles her way to the leadership of a powerful gang. She (Joan) likes the role immensely. “It’s different,” she says, “and the idea of a girl controlling a big-city gang isn’t the least implausible. When I was first given the script I thought immediately of a case that interested me considerably a few years ago. The wife of a big racketeer in an Eastern city knew all his business affairs and when he died, ‘on the field of battle,’ so to speak, she carried on without a pause. Stories in this with Joan in the leading feminine not only refuses to allow the male “Later it developed that the woman, all along, had been the brains behind the gang, and took active charge when her husband left the world so suddenly. I rather enjoy imagining myself as ‘Blondie Johnson.’ If the role makes me appear callous and hardboiled, it also reveals me as possessed of a nimble, quick-thinking brain. “So many women have suggested that I play a role in which I get the best of the men that perhaps this will satisfy them.” Chester Morris plays the role of the confidence worker whom she elevates to leadership in his “chosen vocation,” and she pulls him off the pedestal when he becomes too swelled with his own importance. In this picture she makes ’em and breaks ’em. Others in the cast include Allen Jenkins, Earle Foxe, Claire Dodd, Mae Busch, Joe Cawthorne and Toshia Mori. The screen play is by Earl Baldwin and the direction by Ray Enright. section can be used for current publicity with a change in tense and playdate.