Blonde Ice
| Blonde Ice | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jack Bernhard |
| Produced by | Martin Mooney |
| Screenplay by | Kenneth Gamet |
| Based on | the novel Once Too Often by Whitman Chambers |
| Starring |
Leslie Brooks Robert Paige |
| Music by | Irving Gertz |
| Cinematography | George Robinson |
| Edited by | W.L. Bagier Jason H. Bernie |
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Production
company |
Martin Mooney Productions
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| Distributed by | Film Classics |
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Release date
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Running time
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73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Blonde Ice is a 1948 American crime film noir directed by Jack Bernhard and starring Leslie Brooks, Robert Paige and Michael Whalen. It was based on the 1938 novel Once Too Often by Whitman Chambers.
Some sources falsely state that much acclaimed B movie director Edgar G. Ulmer was the uncredited original screenwriter of Blonde Ice. In a conversation with Peter Bogdanovich Ulmer claimed that shortly after the huge box office success of Double Indemnity (1944) he wrote a rip-off script with the working title Single Indemnity for film producer Sigmund Neufeld. He erroneously believed that Neufeld's film was finally released under the title Blonde Ice. However, Blonde Ice was neither produced by Neufeld nor does its plot resemble that of Double Indemnity. The film Ulmer was actually referring to is obviously Apology for Murder (1945).
Claire (Leslie Brooks) is a society reporter who will do whatever she has to for a story. Claire manages to keep herself in the headlines by marrying and romancing a series of wealthy men, all of whom die under mysterious circumstances. To deflect suspicion from herself, Claire frames her former boyfriend, sportswriter Les Burns.
Film critic Dennis Schwartz called the film a "minor film noir." He wrote, "A minor film noir about a cold-hearted femme fatale who is capable of not only deceit but of murder. It's a precursor to the more hardboiled neonoir films of today. Jack Bernhard directs a film that is based on a Whitney Chambers story, and allows the storyline to remain an oddity because of how ruthlessly cold and insane the femme fatale character played by Leslie Brooks is presented."
Critic Gary Johnson discussed the production and the story line in his review, "The acting is merely adequate and the direction is severely hampered by the low budget (although director Jack Bernhard and cameraman George Robinson do manage a few surprising camera angles). But the screenplay is a deliciously nasty and audacious exposé on the twisted psyche of a truly lethal femme fatale. Claire Cummings is a gold digger with no conscience whatsoever. She's out for herself and if anyone gets in the way, well ... she packs a revolver and a sharp knife. Claire Cummings is one of the most deadly femme fatales is the history of film noir, easily fitting alongside such other brutal dames as Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity, Kathie Moffat from Out of the Past, Annie Laurie Starr from Gun Crazy, and Vera from Edgar G. Ulmer's own Detour.
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