In 1939, Blondell split from Warner Bros to pursue other career opportunities. She would spend her time delighting audiences on the stage in Broadway. Blondell would return to Hollywood with a whole host of films during the 1940s. In 1947 she would star in Edmund Goulding’s Nightmare Alley alongside Tyrone Powers as a fortune teller who guides our lead man to con-artistry and also predicts his downfall.
Most famously, she’d appear in The Blue Veil (1951). Also starring Charles Laughton and Kane Wyman, the film revolves around a woman who cares for other people’s children in World War I. Blondell stars as Annie Rawlins, a fading musical actress who leaves her daughter Stephanie in the hands of nurse LouLou Mason (Wyman) only to find the girl has become more attached to LouLou. For her performance here, Blondell would earn her one and only Academy Award nomination. Later films also included supporting performances in The Opposite Sex (1956) and Desk Set (1957) Blondell would receive critical acclaim for her performance as Lady Fingers in The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and play Glenda Callahan alongside Elvis Presley in 1968’s Stay Away Joe. Most people would recognise her from 1978’s musical Grease as the diner waitress Vi. Her supporting performance in the 1979 remake of The Champ would be released after Blondell’s death. The star would pass away from leukaemia in 1979. What made Joan Blondell so special is her undeniable presence on the screen. Particularly in roles where she has to spar with her words, Blondell’s eyes illuminate with a spark and her insulting line deliveries are impeccable. She truly is a spitfire of an actor and often she can kill with a roll of her eyes or a pained expression on her face. That said, in more serious roles and moments, Blondell is able to get to the emotional heart of the film. One of the best Blondell films, and certainly my favourite of hers, is Smarty (1934). Itās a film that many consider to be the most pre-Code-iest pre-Code film of all time. We’ll be taking a deeper look at the movie next time because it is wild, I tell you, wild! ā Thank you for visiting! If youād like to support our attempts to make a non-clickbaity movie website: Follow Film Stories on Twitter here, and on Facebook here. Buy our Film Stories and Film Stories Junior print magazines here. Become a Patron here.More like this
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