Overrated and overhyped

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Misogynistic mobsters rule Sweden's drug underground with an iron thumb, and when an American reporter (TV veteran Mark Miller) gets wind of it, he's going all over Stockholm to crack the story. The Swedish men here are presented as absolute pigs, forcing their women to become drug-addicted prostitutes and beating them up with any little provocation. Sweet looking Anita Thallaug is first seen singing a really bad song (in English) in a dive joint where creepy looking men ogle her as she strips down to a sequined covered outfit that hides little. Miller somehow knows that she's the key to breaking this story, unaware that her boyfriend (Lars Ekborg) is into something really big and really sinister. Miller travels all over Stockholm in order to crack this case and hopefully rescue Thallaug from a terrible fate, looking for a club called "The Golden Calf" and encountering various types of sinister men and sultry women, including rival prostitutes who fight over him (still hair pulling when he gets fed up and walks away) while he's on the lookout for the Golden Calf.That scene alone gave me the one laugh to put this in the category of fun bad trash, up there with the lowest of the low, a trashy film noir Swedish style that shows the worst of humanity. Thallaug is no Garbo or Bergman, often photographed strangely and reminding me of Vera Hruba Ralston, the Czechoslovakian skating star who became the Queen of Republic studios yet didn't earn her husband/boss Herbert J. Yates a dime. This film is extremely cheap looking, often tedious in the way its plot plods along, yet interesting enough to see from the perspective of how drugs can destroy a person's life. It's obvious that she was forced to become addicted against her will, with the handsome Ekborg chilling in his evil characterization. A finale scene in an amusement park fun house is a nice touch, but the conclusion is so silly and unbelievable that it impacted my rating which had there been something better would have gone up just one notch.

"Blonde in Bondage" is a funny film to watch. Despite the title, the poster featured on IMDb and the little blurb on the package, this is NOT a skin flick or salacious film. Sure, its subject matter was a bit mature for 1957, it just isn't what you'd think! A reporter is sent to Sweden. He notices that the women are extremely beautiful and extremely willing to please. But, no, it is not a sex film! A bit later, he's involved in a car accident. No one is hurt but through it he meets a strange man and his sexy lady friend. It seems she is a performer with a 'hot act' and the reporter goes to see her. She sings a sexy song and takes off some of her clothes--but not much. In fact, women on the beach wear far, far less. Again, it is NOT a sex film. So what about the 'bondage' that's in the title?! No, it's NOT a sex film! It turns out the sexy lady is hooked on drugs and her partner has deliberately gotten her hooked on morphine--seemingly in an attempt to control her! So, if you are looking for a 'dirty movie'--keep looking! Now I am NOT complaining about this misrepresentation. I don't want to see sleazy sex films but I do like an exploitation film--mostly because they are usually unintentionally funny because they are so bad. However, this really isn't even an exploitation film, as the movie is not poorly written, sensationalistic or meant to appeal to our baser interest. It's actually a decent crime drama that talks about a serious problem that few films at the time discussed. Now this is not to say it's a great film--the budget is relatively low and the acting, in a few cases, isn't terrific (a couple of the Swedish actors were very difficult to understand due to the heavy accents--fortunately they were all supporting actors with relatively small roles). But the film is entertaining and competent--and worth viewing. In many ways, it's almost like a Swedish film noir picture.