Pre-Code Delights Part II: Joan Blondell

Blondell, Dvorak and Davis are former schoolmates who meet again as adults. Davis, in a role entirely unlike the kind that would make her famous, is a reserved secretarial school student. Dvorak is a society wife, with a loving husband and son. They have lunch together to catch up, and make the mistake of lighting all three of their cigarettes on one match, something that the superstitious claim brings bad luck.

All that bad luck showers down on Dvorak, who quickly falls into adultery, drugs, child neglect and crime. Blondell tries to fix the situation, while Davis takes on the task of babysitting the abandoned son when he isn't begging his drug-addled mother for food. The action escalates into a violent climax, which even today remains shocking. Needless to say, Blondell ends up in better circumstances by the end. What a dame.

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