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Coldly beautiful Leslie Brooks is well cast as Claire, who happily goes about marrying rich men so that she can kill them, get their money, and move on to her next victim. It's a bizarre little film noir, which must have seemed even more bizarre in the days when most films wouldn't touch a story about a woman who is so totally ruthless in getting what she wants.

Robert Paige, as the man who really loves her but can't overlook her hobby, was in the latter stages of his career when this poverty row noir was made.

BLONDE ICE was directed by Jack Bernhard and photographed by George Robinson, the unsung master cinematographer who gave such great atmosphere to the Universal "B" horror films of the '30's and 40's.

There are also many fine character actors playing the type of roles they were so well known for------even if their names were not. They showed up so often in the '30's and '40's------always playing the same character-------that we knew when they walked on the screen exactly what their personality was going to be.

Edgar G. Ulmer, the famous cult director of such admired "B" masterpieces as DETOUR, THE BLACK CAT and RUTHLESS claims to have written the story, though his name does not appear in the credits.

This is one of the most difficult "B" films to see, but is well worth watching if you get the opportunity.

Society girl Claire Cummings (Leslie Brooks) on her wedding day to multi millionaire Carl Hanneman is caught after the ceremony in the arms of an old flame Les Burns,by her new husband. Hanneman immediately says the marriage is over and leaves Claire to lick her wounds. However she has bigger plans and is not about to let her new wealth walk out the door, so she plans a foolproof plan to murder her husband while retaining her alibi on the other side of the country. All is going according to plan, until Les Burns a man Claire still loves is picked up as murder suspect No1. Claire soon after professing her love to Les, puts another rich man under her spell, a famous lawyer running for congress and when their engagement is announced Les is disgusted at her money grabbing skills and confronts her again, and again she is caught in his arms by her new suitor, this is where Claire loses the plot altogether and her world comes tumbling down along with her aspirations. Blonde Ice despite its C movie status is a good little Noir, Brooks is excellent as the ubiquitous Femme Fatale, the DVD had pretty poor sound though, very wooly which affected my total enjoyment, but still not bad.6/10

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.

Blonde Ice has a DVD that is almost too good for its own movie - the menu has a special ice-crackling design with dialog from the movie placed over and some of that chilling noir-ish music we all know and admire from the period. The DVD menu hints at it being a smashingly good B-movie, but as it turns out the film itself is just OK. Blonde Ice, one of those stories with the conniving and murderous sexy femme fatale who gets whoever she wants and in this case rich men who get suckered into her grasp, is a picture made for cheap, of course, but also with a cheap script: not much imagination goes into the dialog or the construction of the plot. Even the one possibly fascinating character, the one man, Les Burns (Paige) who has held a torch without shame for Claire (Leslie Brooks) for years and stands by and defends her against murder claims even if he suspects deep down she might have done it, is brushed aside into the conventional column.

Brooks is a honey, that much has to be given to her, and she can act in some scenes- in others she just goes through the motions like the rest of the capable cast of character players (most of whom you wont know unless you are some kind of film-noir scholar like Alain Silver or other)- and she does give a decent anchor for some of the emotional scenes, such as at the end when she gives a confession that is as icey as everything else she does in the movie. The direction and writing are on par with her: not spectacular, not ever really a downer. Blonde Ice probably has an amazing poster, one of those you might see in an art-museum installation celebrating pulp fiction advertising. The content itself is just there to pay a couple of small bills and fill some seats for a double feature. It's recommended only to those who sniff out whatever 40s noir might have promise. Like me.

"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.

Other than Jennifer Jones in Ruby Gentry have I ever seen a film which had more members of the male species in heat than in Blonde Ice where Leslie Brooks has every member of the cast with testosterone panting after her with the possible exception of police captain Emory Parnell. The cops are very interested in Brooks, she's killing men all over the place who threaten her position on the social scale and her efforts to improve same.

There's a body count of three, a rich society guy, a wealthy attorney who gets elected to Congress but doesn't live long enough to even claim victory and a blackmailing pilot played by John Holland, Michael Whalen and Russ Vincent. Brooks started as a Suzy Knickerbocker type society columnist who wants to do more than write about the rich and privileged.

David Leonard a criminal psychologist has her pegged from the beginning and does she hate him. Another reporter James Griffith has the hots for her, but she's rejected him and fashioned on to Robert Paige. He's the one that rings her chimes, but he's not rich and privileged.

Blonde Ice was an interesting film though it got way too melodramatic toward the end. Noir fans should give it a look.

A talky, competent potboiler enhanced by the presence centre stage of the statuesque Leslie Brooks, who sure looks the part as a glamorous sociopath in a part that really called for a Davis or a Stanwyck.

But Miss Brooks' glacial handsomeness and how she'll come to grief - since you know the Breen Office won't let her get away with the fruits of her nefarious activities - keep you watching.

Director Jack Bernhard was on a roll when he made this low-budget crime drama for the interesting "Film Classics" company (all of whose releases that I've seen have been fascinating on some level)--he had made VIOLENCE (about a crypto-fascist secret society preying on returning veterans) and DECOY (a noir classic with the ultimate femme fetale, as played by Jean Gillie) at Monogram in 46-47, and after BLONDE ICE he went on to direct two of the three John Calvert "Falcon" films which I found entertaining in a quirky way. BLONDE ICE teams Leslie Brooks (who played a similar "deadlier than the male" female two years earlier in SECRET OF THE WHISTLER), here playing a upwardly-mobile woman who uses marriage and murder as a way of improving her social status, with actor-singer-gameshow host Robert Paige, a reliable performer best known to me for the serial FLYING G-MEN and the horror classic SON OF Dracula. The film will not make anyone forget DETOUR or DECOY because to me it doesn't really aspire to the dark world of noir--it's not a corrupt world here, just an empty one for Claire Cummings. Les, her friend and the man she keeps coming back to whenever she conquers a new financially successful man (played by Robert Paige), is an interesting character because he is a devoted friend who knows that something is wrong but doesn't want to know about it. Claire states many a time that she loves him, but he seems to have gone beyond any romantic feelings for her before the film starts--his feelings for her are more like those of an ex-spouse who has moved on but who still wants to help his former partner who is having a run of bad luck. I disagree with those who don't care for Brooks' performance--she has a number of wonderfully feline poses and it's easy to see how men who ought to know better (such as the congressional candidate) fall for her. I also like the fact that no real explanation is ever provided for her actions other than social climbing, and she always seems unsatisfied with each new level she reaches. The supporting cast does a good job also--my favorite being Russ Vincent as the sleazy flyer/blackmailer, in a performance straight from the Jack LaRue school of acting. I'm glad to see this film available in a crisp-looking DVD. It has the flavor of a paperback-original crime novel with a lurid cover (the film's poster and title card have that flavor too)and it pulled me into its world for 70 minutes.

Much as I love the film noir genre, a lot of so called noir do turn out to be little more than 'B' movie filler. Every now and again though one turns up to surprise you. This is nothing incredible but is very watchable indeed with a fantastic ice cool blonde central performance from Leslie Brooks. She seems to have had a decent career but I don't recall her taking the lead in anything else I've seen - gangster's moll more like. Based on the book by Whitman Chambers ('Once Too Often', although interestingly, 'Manhandled' on my own copy, which is a bit misleading because this lady doesn't get manhandled by anyone). The film lacks those deep dark shadows and night time location shooting, it even lacks any real baddies, unless you count the aspiring politician, but it does have a femme fatale. And what a performance Leslie Brooks gives as the most convincing ruthless ice maiden who does all the killing herself. Bit slow to start and seems to be slipping into screwball territory at one point but once on track this smokes.

When I tell my friends the title of this movie, most of them say "Oh,

is that with Sonia What's-Her-Name?" No, it's not an ice skating

movie. The blonde in the title is one of the most chilling Femme

Fatales you'll ever see on screen. Leslie Brooks is excellent as a

woman with a strong hatred of men, based on her fatherÕs

desertion, which made her mother a Òhard workingÓ lady. There

are times in the film when I wanted to feel sorry for her, but that

emotion quickly turned to fear & dislike. Good all-around

performances from a group of familiar faces whose names are

just on the other side of familiar. Russ Vincent could be mistaken

for Lash LaRue, & in a moment of darkness might have been

Bogie himself. Fast paced, interesting, & plenty of ice make this a

winning suspense film. I believe Blonde Ice has some elements

of Film Noir, but not enough emphasis on darkness & shadows &

a lack of snappy dialog (except for about three spots where it gets

pretty vicious) make it more of a suspense melodrama than a true

Film Noir. DoesnÕt matter though, try to find it. I rate it 8/10.

The actors and the picture at large maintain much the same tone, with little variation, no matter what's happening in the story. The tale as we get it inculcates a suitable sense of Claire losing control of the narrative being spun; however, did she ever meaningfully have control in the first place? Even recognizing that we, the audience, know what's actually going on, the lies are still so thin that it's hard to believe anyone at all is buying them. In a similar vein and a broader sense, connections between story threads are likewise less than robust. At its best 'Blonde ice' rather comes across as "noir by numbers," connecting the dots to form an image but without the heart or imagination to really make it count. Suspension of disbelief, here, is merely perfunctory, a formality blithely granted to a work of cinema. At its worst, the title inspires skepticism and a heavy sigh; it wants to tell the world how clever it is, while doing nothing special at all and showing us its full hand, without one card up its sleeve.

The writing is quite weak, but otherwise, it's not that this feature is abjectly bad. The wide strokes of the plot are worthwhile, and in all the fundamentals of the production this is well made. In the very least this is enjoyable in the same way that any conglomeration of light and sound can provide amusing diversion. Sometimes that's all a movie needs to be; on the other hand, more severe criticism is readily invited if a viewer for one moment desires something, anything more from the films they watch. All the best craftsmanship in the world, and the best acting, can only go so far in compensating for details of storytelling that struggle to bear their own weight.

You could do worse. You could do much better. 'Blonde ice' isn't terrible, provided all you want is something you can put on without actively engaging with it - but there are too many other pictures to watch instead to especially justify spending time on this one.

A cheesy programmer with a cast of nobodies and has-beens, sporting production values suited to Charlie Chan, Blonde Ice remains curiously compelling. Most of its interest flows from the lead performance of Leslie Brooks as Claire, a newspaper gossip/society columnist who marries first a millionaire then an aspiring congressman only to dispatch them abruptly; all the while she keeps stringing along a paycheck-to-paycheck reporter whom she uses as a backup/patsy. Brooks performance is modelled, distantly, on Bette Davis (though the vertiginous arches of her eyebrows are a preview of Divine's). One apparent deficiency in the script -- and there are plenty -- may prove a blessing in disguise: no attempt is made to "analyze" Claire's motives, or pathology. What we see is what we get. The version I saw was shorn of 10 to 15 minutes of the reported running time; it's hard to say whether the condensed version detracts from or actually improves the original release. Though nobody should set out on a desperate quest to acquire a copy, Blonde Ice is somehow better than it has any right to be.

This would have been a perfect part for Bette Davis, and she would have made more off it, while Leslie Brooks is more beautiful. Bette Davis excelled in such characters, while Leslie Brooks endows it with other characteristics, like subtle calculation hidden under a shining layer of ice. Of course, there are no conciliatory circumstances here, and you can't understand how Les Burns could possibly take her back and fall for her again and again, and why that.doctor Geoffrey Kippinger is the only one who sees her through. All other men seem to be like blind mice around a piece of cheese, completely ignoring the mousetrap. What raises this film above average is the.adlorable music by. Irving Gertz, which might ultimately be the only thing you will remember of this film, almost like Preminger's "Laura" or at least in essence like it. All the rest is ordinary B-stuff, nothing special, professional policemen, Journalists and blackmailers. While Leslie Brooks steals the entire show and finally even makes a decent confession of it. How could she ever have imagined that she would get away with it? That is the question, which establishes the second rate of intelligence in this film.

Claire (Leslie Brooks) is a deranged gold-digger that needs power and wealth. And she does whatever she needs to do in order to get what she wants. She chalks up a good body count before the film is over. I actually quite like her.

Leslie Brooks reminds me of Bette Davis. She put in a good performance as a woman that you don't cross. The film ticks along as we follow Claire and her pursuit of wealth. The best parts of the film are whenever she decides to kill someone - it's always a very determined and direct approach and I found myself looking forward to her next crime. She saves the best for last as she tells a psychiatrist what she thinks of him and then goes for him. She's got 3 people surrounding her but it doesn't stop her. It's top quality.

The film slowed down a bit in the middle and the ending was contrived and convenient. She seemed untouchable up to that point and I had no idea how they were going to put a stop to her behaviour. Her final actions just didn't ring true. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable film and Leslie Brooks is most entertaining.

"Blonde Ice" is part of the two disc / six movie DVD collection "Dangerous Dames." Every collection is bound to have a Dud and I'm pretty sure this movie is the one for this collection. Or at least I hope it is as I still have three movies to go.

We start off in San Francisco at the home of Carl Hanneman. He is set to marry Claire Cummings (Leslie Brooks). She writes the social column at the local newspaper and has invited quite a few coworkers to the wedding ... including the thin and rat-faced former lover Al, and her current lover, the sports columnist Les Burns (Robert Paige). Yes. She is marrying Carl for his money and has no intention of giving up her current Beau.

Just moments after they are legally wed Carl catches her in the arms of Les out on the balcony, but she explains it away as an innocent kiss to say goodbye. Ha! Then on their honeymoon in LA Carl finds a love letter Claire has written to Les. She -literally- gives it to him in a handful of other letters she has written! Naturally, Carl isn't putting up with this crap, so he tells her it's over and he flies back to San Francisco.

Claire isn't about to give up on her meal-ticket, so she secretly hires a private plane, flies to SF, murders Carl and makes it look like a suicide, then flies back to LA. She explains his absence on their honeymoon by telling people he had to take a sudden business trip. The police aren't buying this story and investigate Les!

Meanwhile Claire sets her sights on a politician as she climbs the social ladder ... and the lies and the bodies start to pile up.

This is a bad film ... and it's not one of those so-bad-it's-good films. It's just bad.

There are plot holes, characters do things that just don't make sense, the sets are cheap, and none of these people can act.

Don't waste your time like I did.