She had spunk. Joan Blondell, with her big blue eyes, spirited personality and hourglass figure brought a sexy self-confidence to each of her roles. She was born in New York on August 30, 1909. By 1929 she had teamed up on stage with another New Yorker: James Cagney. Warner Bros. picked up their hit stage show and brought both aspiring actors out to Hollywood for their first film together, Sinners' Holiday (1930).

With their New York attitudes, Blondell and Cagney were both natural talent for gangster films. They appeared together in crime dramas like The Public Enemy (1931) and He Was Her Man (1934) and street smart comedies like Blonde Crazy (1931). But Blondell's sex appeal overpowered her tough image and the studio lined up several amusing pre-Production Code entertainments for her. Her blonde bob and brash personality helped make Blondell an irresistible chorus girl in Busby Berkeley's Depression-era musical extravaganzas, especially Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade (1933), and Dames (1934). In Gold Diggers of 1933, Blondell was a standout even among the talents of Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and Ginger Rogers. Gold Diggers of 1933 is pure fun; Busby Berkeley's orgasmic chorus line patterns of kicking legs and swinging arms provided audiences with the perfect escapism from a bleak and depressed world. Whereas Ruby Keeler was cast as the innocent, aspiring showgirl and Rogers played a promiscuous chorine, Blondell fit in perfectly as the voice of reason. She sang the show-stopping tune, "Remember Your Forgotten Man," like a chanteuse intoning a memorial for WWI veterans and victims of the Depression. This production number injects a shock of social realism into the frothy musical and proves that, from a contemporary perspective, yesterday's entertainment can indeed be valuable as a historical document of the times.

In Footlight Parade, the studio recycled the same backstage musical formula - but it's still just as good. With dance sequences once again directed by Busby Berkeley, James Cagney joined Blondell, Keeler and Rogers. Cagney's presence gave the movie an added toughness, especially when you compare it to Gold Diggers of 1933 with Dick Powell. Rather than standing on a political platform, Footlight Parade aims straight for sexual titillation with exotic numbers such as "Shanghai Lil" and the naughty "Honeymoon Hotel."

As the era of Warner Bros. musicals waned, Blondell relied on her tough-gal image. She supported Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart in Bullets or Ballots (1936), a typical Warner Bros. crime drama made exceptional by a first-rate cast. Blondell went to war in Cry Havoc(1943), the story of some American army nurses stationed in the Pacific and under fire on Bataan. Blondell's own tough attitude was matched by her often macho leading men; in later years she found a kinship with Clark Gable in Adventure (1945) and Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid (1965). Blondell also makes a nostalgic appearance as Vi, the principal's assistant in Grease (1978).

From tough molls to wisecracking gold diggers, Joan Blondell was a Warner Bros. star who brought her own brand of swagger and style to each film from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the twilight of her career. She was married to cinematographer George Barnes (1933-35), actor Dick Powell (1936-45) and producer Mike Todd (1947-50). Blondell starred in more than 150 movies and TV shows and died on December 25, 1979.

* Films in Bold will Air on TCM in August

by Jeremy Geltzer