seymourblack-1 Although it was made on a shoestring by a small independent company and features some below-par acting, this movie redeems itself because of its lively pace, its outrageous story and the performance of its leading lady. Based on the 1938 novel "Once Too Often" by Whitman Chambers, "Blonde Ice" follows the exploits of an extremely ambitious femme fatale whose pursuit of wealth, power and status leaves in its wake, a lot of collateral damage in the form of broken hearts and dead bodies.At a ceremony held in his own mansion, wealthy businessman Carl Hanneman (John Holland) marries Claire Cummings (Leslie Brooks) in the company of his guests who include some of Claire's colleagues from the San Francisco newspaper where she's employed as a society columnist. Immediately after making her vows, she leaves her new husband to join her old flame Les Burns (Robert Paige) on the balcony. There she tells the sportswriter that he's still the man that she loves and adds "I'll think of you on my honeymoon".Whilst on honeymoon in Los Angeles, Carl sees a love letter that Claire's written to send to Les and immediately decides to divorce her and return to San Francisco. That night, Claire hires a charter plane to fly to San Francisco and back and pays the pilot Blackie Talon (Russ Vincent) an extra $100 to ensure his future discretion about the trip. When she returns home after her very brief honeymoon, she arranges for Les to meet her and take her back to her husband's house where they discover Carl's dead body. He'd been shot dead in circumstances that suggest that he'd committed suicide. The police are convinced, however, that Carl was murdered but don't have sufficient evidence to charge either Claire or Les.A short while later. Claire gets another of her boyfriends to introduce her to a politically ambitious attorney called Stanley Mason (Michael Whalen) who she wants to administer her late husband's estate and soon they become an item. When Mason is elected to Congress, he announces his engagement to Claire but problems then arise when Blackie Talon turns up to blackmail her and Mason's psychiatrist friend Dr Geoffrey Kippinger (David Leonard) expresses strong reservations about her suitability for marriage. Naturally, Claire resolves these problems with her usual ruthless efficiency but further complications follow."Blonde Ice" is a film noir with a number of the usual archetypes such as the femme fatale, the weak man who repeatedly gets into danger because of his obsession and the "good girl" who the man consistently ignores. The involvement of psychoanalysis in the plot and the presence of a blackmailer who suddenly emerges from the shadows are also typical noir components. What the story eschews though is the twists and the uncertainties surrounding identities and motivations which often add greater intrigue to some of the best films of this style.Leslie Brooks exemplifies what's best about this movie as she's bold, brazen and shows no reservations or conscience about her character's actions or crimes. Everything she does is treated as simply the next logical step in her progression to her goal. The remainder of the cast are adequate at best but this doesn't detract from the enjoyment because the uncomplicated nature of the whole undertaking makes all the wickedness on-screen highly entertaining and often comical to watch.

MartinHafer Had this film ended better, I could easily have seen giving it a higher score. But sadly, the movie really caught my attention--only to end in a hasty and unsatisfying scene that should have been so much better. It's a shame, as up until then it was a dandy low-budget film.Leslie Brooks stars as an incredibly conniving and dangerous woman. You get an idea of how conniving as the film begins. Although she's been in love with a co-worker, she marries a rich guy simply because he's rich. But Leslie has no intention of being faithful to her new hubby--and has every desire to pick up with the old boyfriend! When the husband catches her writing love notes to the guy while they are on their honeymoon, he announces that he's divorcing her. Enraged, she kills him--and then concocts a plan to give herself an alibi. The investigators believe her and soon she begins batting her eyes at the D.A.--and her path to riches and the high life appears to be leading directly to him. In the meantime, she STILL keeps the old boyfriend hanging on in hopes that they'll marry. Eventually all this leads to MORE murders and you realize that she's one of the earliest serial killers shown on film. Of course other films featured female murderers but this one repeats itself several times--and it's pretty shocking even for a noir film.This film was made with a shoestring budget--using no-name actors, simple sets and a swift pace. Despite that, it was engaging and well-made....that is, until the end where the woman is confronted and she quickly admits to her murders!!! It's like the end of practically every "Perry Mason" show--where the killer inexplicably shouts out that they did it--even though there was no hard evidence to support this!! This rarely happens in real life--at least on this planet! It's a shame as even a halfway decent ending would have made this movie well worth seeing. As is, it's too disappointing to place it among the better examples of film noir.

bensonmum2 For most if its runtime, Blonde Ice is a very entertaining b-noir. Leslie Brooks is about as evil a woman as you'll see in one of these movies. She's beautiful, ambitious, and completely ruthless – it's a deadly combination. She's perfectly capable of chewing-up and spitting-out anyone who gets in her way. And, she's not above committing a little murder if the need should arise. Brooks gives a dynamite performance as far as I'm concerned. The rest of the cast is adequate, but nothing spectacular. The weakest point in the film, unfortunately, comes in the final scene. It's almost as if the screenwriters had no idea how to end Blond Ice. What they came up with is so ridiculous and out of character that it really hurts the overall film.A word on the DVD - from what I've read, the VCI disc is the only way to go. The price is not much more than what you would pay for the Alpha DVD and the VCI disc has a much better transfer and a plethora of features.

Dale Houstman "Blonde Ice" (which I just viewed in a nice DVD version with the restorer's commentary, and some nifty extras) is not a classic, nor even a particularly good movie by most standards: it is strictly poverty row rather than Scarlet Street, BUT... I found it easy to watch, and (at times) quite good. The male lead (although obviously a dashing actor on his way down the ladder) brings off his part with some real style, especially in a scene in which he eschews the usual macho man poise expected and almost breaks down in bewilderment over the Woman's actions and seeming imperturbability. And there are a few satisfying (if never quite resplendent) turns by a handful of character actors well-versed in what is expected of them. Although - as commented upon already - there is not quite enough "shadow and darkness" to make it a solid noir presentation, there are - in fact - some rather well-drawn night scenes, and the requisite "venetian blind shadows aslant" scattered here and there. And there is a (limp) stab at analysis of Claire's "problem" by a weakly-sketched German shrink, who also concocts a rather vapid (and seemingly pointless) plan to upend her schemes. The ending is perhaps a bit perfunctory, although the very last line is snappy.The main positives however are the terribly efficient story-telling (often a lost art in B-movies: hell, in ALL movies!) and some truly terrific compositions. These two elements make it worth at least a single viewing, especially if you can see it on the DVD with the commentary, which also delves into the important work of the film restorer. Seen in such a fashion, the movie is rewarding enough, considering its brevity and quick pace.