Just so...so bad

Excellent, a Must See

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Entertaining entry in Warner Bros. "Torchy Blane" series. In fact, it's very entertaining, with all the usual trimmings of the series and with a good, solid mystery to boot. The best murder mysteries are the ones that keep you guessing right up to the end, and this one delivers.There is the usual back story, the relationship between Torchy (Glenda Farrell), the reporter/ sleuth, and Det. Steve McBride (Barton MacLane); are they an item or not? The role of Torchy is tailor-made for Glenda Farrell, the prototypical wisecracking blonde of 30's movies, and she doesn't disappoint.For Golden Age movie fans, there is another wisecracking blonde in the supporting cast who is tough to recognize - none other than Jane Wyman, who most of us remember as a brunette. Maltin says this is the only entry in the series taken from material from its author, Frederick Nebel, which could account for the better storyline than most of the other entries.

A taxi races along beside a moving train. The passenger leans forward: "Driver, let me off at the next crossing, will you?" She hops out, takes a few running steps, then leaps aboard the very last car as the train rolls by. –That's our first glimpse of Torchy Blane, ace reporter. This snappy opening is a good introduction to our heroine: fast talking, quick witted, and pretty much fearless. Boarding a moving train is typical of Torchy's style—she simply wants to snag an interview with an incoming businessman before his arrival in town, so she hops the train he's on. Sure enough, she gets the interview…and gets herself a mystery along with her scoop when the man is murdered a few hours later. Glenda Farrell is just about perfect as Torchy—sweet smile, rapid fire delivery, irrepressible charm. Also on the case is Barton McLane as Torchy's boyfriend, Lieutenant Steve McBride. Torchy appreciates his manliness ("All he needs is a leopard skin"), but she is consistently a step or two ahead of him in the investigation—which fact he grudgingly admires but finds annoying as well. Tom Kennedy is wonderfully goofy as an assisting cop named Gahagan who loves life and composes poetry ("I love the night!" he exclaims, more or less at random). And a young Jane Wyman is hilarious in a small role as a hat check girl who, among other adventures, comes home from a party with a St. Bernard: "I wish I knew where I got that dog," she muses.A nice plot keeps us guessing and ties up neatly; likable characters and lively dialog add up to a very entertaining quickie. My favorite exchange comes when Torchy is trying to talk her way into a murder scene. (She's there well ahead of Steve, naturally.) "I'm from the Herald," she argues to the cop guarding the door, "I'm Torchy Blane." His deadpan response: "I don't care if you're Flaming Youth, you can't go in there."

....that's Glenda Farrell!! Who would have thought, seeing her in "Little Caesar", that only a few years later she would be wise cracking with the best (hey! she was the best!!) in a series of snappy Warners comedies - even when they weren't that snappy she was out there giving her best!! When she was given the role of Torchy Blane in "Smart Blonde" she was determined to make her characterization real and not an exaggerated comedy type. So she started to observe women reporters and found them "young, intelligent and refined" and succeeded in bringing those qualities to her role.After getting the scoop about a sporting takeover by "Tiny" Torgenson, Torchy Blane, ace reporter for "The Morning Herald" is an eyewitness to his murder!!! Also at the train station is songbird Dolly Ireland (Winifred Shaw) who is trying to keep a belligerent bodyguard, Chuck, from causing a scene. They are both connected with Mularky (Addison Richards), the gentleman who is in the middle of selling his sporting interests to Torgenson. Dolly is a singer at his nightclub, who was once in love with him before he took up with a Boston society dame and Chuck is worried because he thinks that if Mularky sells his sporting interests he will be out of a job.Keeping the story snappy is the fast and quick witted banter between Torchy and the "light of her life" Lt. Steve McBride (Barton Maclaine who, as William Everson commented "why should he talk when shouting will do"). They have a great screen chemistry, Maclaine was born for these gruff comic roles. Mularky initially comes across as a man who just wants to retire with his high society bride but becomes increasingly agitated as the movie progresses - can he be protecting someone?? and who is Marcia's very protective brother, who never seems to leave her side??? Time will tell.This is a very fast paced reporter Vs detective movie (no need to say who wins) and comes in at just under an hour. An almost unrecognisable Jane Wyman appears as Dixie, the hat check girl.

This is the first of nine Torchy Blane films. Glenda Farrell plays Torchy and Barton MacLane plays her fiancé, the police lieutenant. In an almost unrecognizable supporting role, you have a young Jane Wyman--look carefully, it really is her. This is ironic, as in the last Torchy Blane film (TORCHY BLANE...PLAYING WITH DYNAMITE), Wyman herself played the role of Blane. In total, Farrell played the lead in seven of the nine films--with Lola Lane playing Torchy in one of the films in the middle of the series.The film begins with Torchy rushing to meet a train so she can interview Tim Torgensen who just agreed to buy the business empire of Fitz Mularkey. However, just after they leave the train, Torgensen is shot and killed. Who did it is uncertain, but it happens right before Torchy's eyes. Naturally she calls her newspaper with the story, but in a pattern to be repeated in future films of the series, she helps her fiancé investigate the crime.Look quickly at the railway station. That's Wayne Morris behind the desk doing a tiny bit part just before he became a Warner Brothers star.Overall, the film is very typical of B-detective films of the era. While not nearly as interesting as the Charlie Chan or Saint films, it's pretty good for fans of the genre. For others, it's a pleasant little time-passer.