Movie Review: Blonde Ice (1948)

Synopsis: Society columnist Claire Cummings marries a wealthy businessman but plans to continue a love affair with Les Burns. When her new husband discovers a love letter Claire is writing to Les, he returns to San Francisco with plans to divorce her. He is murdered before that happens, however, making Claire a suspect though she has a rock-solid alibi by being in Los Angeles when it happened.

Who's in it? The movie stars Leslie Brooks, Robert Paige, Russ Vincent, Mildred Coles and James Griffith.

Review: I added Blonde Ice to my movie list a couple days ago after coming across it on Amazon Prime Video. I had time to watch it this morning before heading to the office and it wound up being a good choice.

I think the thing I liked most about this movie was the mystery surrounding Claire (Brooks). It was no secret she only married for money and, while the police didn't know it, she really was in San Francisco at the time of her husband's death, secretly flying there and back. Plus, the way she behaved in public, openly flaunting her romance with Les (Paige), made her seem like a merry little widow and only increased suspicion.

At the same time, however, it was hard to tell if she really was the killer or if it was all a red herring and another person would turn out to be the culprit. Since there were multiple men who seemed to be in love with her (or at least were lusting after her), it was possible one of them did it. I also couldn't rule out the secretary, June (Coles), who seemed to have her heart set on Les as well and might have committed the murder in the hopes Claire would go to prison for it and be out of the way.

Claire being blackmailed by the pilot (Vincent) was a nice touch as well. I wasn't sure how that part of the plot would end, especially since Claire, whether she was guilty of her husband's murder or not, didn't seem to be the type to just keep paying someone to keep a secret.

The twist at the end was a good one as well, completely unexpected but also making a lot of other parts of the movie make more sense once the new information was revealed and creating some suspense as far as Les was concerned and some momentary wonder about how things would end for Claire as well. It was a fitting ending for a solid movie.

Final Opinion: This is a good film with a few twists and some great acting. I would recommend taking the time to watch it if you get a chance.

My Grade: A