Blonde Ice | 
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Director: Jack Bernhard
Actor: Robert Paige
Studio: Alpha Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $7.98
Buy New: $3.59
You Save: $4.39 (55%)
New (5) Used (4) from $3.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 88322
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 90
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 089218476494
EAN: 0089218476494
ASIN: B0009NZ6W0
Theatrical Release Date: July 24, 1948
Release Date: May 31, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW Factory Sealed - Ready to be shipped within 24 hrs from California - Average 5 workdays delivery time - Excellent customer service - Buy with confidence!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Leslie Brooks heats up the screen as murder-minded ice maiden! July 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Produced by poverty row studio Film Classics in 1948, BLONDE ICE is a fun noir title for die-hard fans of the genre, but also offers solid entertainment for the casual viewer, too. Leslie Brooks (a lovely blonde Lana Turner type) stars as a newspaper journalist whose insane impulses turn her into a black widow murderess.
On her wedding day to rich Carl Hanneman (John Holland), Claire Cummings (Leslie Brooks) decides to spend a quiet moment on the terrace with her old lover, fellow journalist Les Burns (Robert Paige). Just ten days into her marriage with Carl, things hit the fan when Carl discovers love letters addressed to Les; and threatens to divorce Claire. Unwilling to let go of Carl's millions, Claire murders him and dresses the scene to make it look like suicide. Back home, Claire and Les pick up where they left off, until Claire's head is turned by another man who can offer wealth and social status, attorney Stanley Mason (Michael Whalen). Everything goes smoothly until Claire starts being blackmailed by someone who knows exactly what happened to Carl...
Based on the novel "Once Too Often" by Whitman Chambers, BLONDE ICE is a fun noir thriller with a strong femme fatale leading lady, played with icy relish by B-starlet Leslie Brooks. If this film had been made by a topline studio like MGM, you can bet Lana Turner would have been cast as Claire. And indeed, Leslie Brooks does share certain physical and vocal similarities with Ms Turner. Robert Paige (who had co-starred five years earlier with Deanna Durbin in the landmark Technicolor musical "Can't Help Singing") is a strong presence as Claire's lover. The cast also features Russ Vincent, Mildred Coles and James Griffith.
Alpha's DVD comes from a decent video master. There's a slight image jitter in some scenes; the soundtrack suffers from muffling but the dialogue is still easily followed. There are no extras except for trailers of other titles from Alpha/Oldies.
A fast-paced, murderous, low-budget programmer, and not bad November 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Claire Cummings, San Francisco society reporter, blonde and gorgeous, is a woman to die for. If you make the mistake of marrying her, you probably will.
Claire (Leslie Brooks) goes through men who want to marry her like a sharp knife through your side. She keeps news columnist Les Burns (Robert Paige) handy even when she marries a very wealthy San Francisco businessman. She makes the mistake of letting a letter to Les fall into her husband's hands on their honeymoon. "My darling Les," she writes, "three more weeks until I can see you again, dearest. Poor stupid Carl tries so hard to be a good husband, but he can't get used to an expensive wife." Carl says it will be a divorce. Twenty-four hours later, Carl isn't going to say anything ever again.
Blonde Ice lets us tag along as Claire not only goes through her new husband, but through a blackmailer and a new, high social fiancee. She manipulates Les, who loves her, until even he has her number. "I once said I couldn't figure you out," he tells her. "I can now. You're not a normal woman. You're not warm. You're cold...like ice. Yeah, like ice...blonde ice." It might not have been wise to be so frank with Claire because now she plans for him to take the fall for one of her murders. Justice finally comes to Claire, as it must to all bad people in Hollywood movies of that time. Even then, it takes a three-way set-up, some psychoanalysis and a bullet to do the job.
The movie is a great example of a low-budget B programmer which just manages to rise a little above the average. The script is okay, the acting is adequate, the story is interesting. What makes it work? Director Jack Bernhard, just as much a journeyman as the actors, keeps the film moving briskly, with little time to let us get bored or impatient. The photography helps quite a bit, with several noirish scenes at night. Also important is Leslie Brooks as Claire. Brooks was an actress that stayed firmly planted as a lead in B movies, with an occasional foray as a second lead in A movies. She's not an actress who would worry the A crowd, but she does a fine job as Claire, the self-centered, manipulative and deadly ice queen. The only really weak part of the movie is the conclusion, when psychiatry is used as an explanation for her behavior. For me, this undercuts her nicely murderous actions; after all, don't we all just want the nice things in life?
There are even tips for fine living. What could be a healthier lunch than "martinis, chicken salad for two and coffee, please." Or "four Manhattans, waiter, with half French, half Italian vermouth." Why, that's a Perfect Manhattan.
Be sure to buy the VCI Entertainment version of this public domain title. The VCI DVD transfer has the quality of a clean but old VHS tape. The audio is fine. The VCI disc also holds several extras. These include an episode from an old TV program named "Into the Night," a movie music short titled "Satan Wears a Satin Dress" and a commentary by Jay Fenton, who was instrumental in doing the restoration work on the VCI release and is knowledgeable about noir films. Evidently, what he had to work with was awful. Fenton also wrote the printed essay on restoration and Blonde Ice which is included as an insert in the VCI DVD case.
Ice just nice August 20, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First and foremost, if you are going to buy the DVD, then make sure it is from VCI as they spent the money to restore two prints into one good version and the sound is excellent. If you don't care about picture and sound quality, the Alpha Video version is adequate.
This is a B-movie and never rises above such although the budget was substantial. Leslie Brooks gives an adequate performance but the script never affords much opportunity. While some think this is classic film noir, it is just another B crime-drama without much suspense or thrill.
While certainly entertaining, it is never rises above ice melting for suspense and unfortunately the ending is not predictable but extremely contrived. I had the feeling the ending was shot on the last production day and they only had one hour before the crew bailed.
Forget the words "great" or "significant" boldly touted by other reviewers. You will not be keeping this after watching nor thinking of watching a second time. It is like a second-rate novel you take to the beach or on an airplane: light entertainment to fill time.
A Good B-Movie Film Noir Is Rescued August 13, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Blonde Ice was one of hundreds of movies made by "poverty row" movie studios such as PRC and Monogram. Many of these were literally thrown in the trash once their theatrical run was over. A large number of these movies are lost - there are no prints in existence anymore.
Blonde Ice was thought to be in that category until film restorer Jay Fenton, working with VCI, put together two prints that he discovered. Each was significantly damaged, but when the good parts of each print were combined a single print in good condition was created. This process, along with many other stories, are told by Jay Fenton as special features on the VCI version of Blone Ice.
The film itself will not make anyone, even hardcore B-Movie noir buffs, forget Double Indemnity, but it is one of the better movies to come out of poverty row in that era. Leslie Brooks is perfectly cast as the title character, and the story is fairly well written and directed (considering the miniscule budget that the movie had).
As to which version of Blonde Ice to buy, I've got to recommend the VCI version. They spent the time and money with Jay Fenton to restore the movie, and it was an investment well spent as their DVD of Blonde Ice is truly something special. You will not find a better print of Blonde Ice available (or even one as good), and the extras on their DVD are worth the price of admission alone! (By the way, I am NOT on the VCI payroll, I just believe in rewarding and crediting those who go above and beyond the call...)
If you're a B-Movie fan, a film noir fan, or just curious about Hollywood's poverty row studios of the 1940's you should definitely check out VCI's Blonde Ice DVD (and skip this version from Alpha/Gotham).
 "You're not warm. You're cold...like ice." July 3, 2005
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Starring in what might just be THE definitive femme fatale role of film noir, Leslie Brooks plays Claire Cummings, a selfish, cold-blooded, and very sexy young blonde who uses men and then discards them while climbing her way up the social ladder. Eventually, Claire murders one husband, then a second husband, along with a would-be blackmailer who underestimated "Blonde Ice". Before she can kill again, the police (and her discarded boyfriends) learn the truth and set out to stop her.
While the ending was totally predictable, I still found this awesome classic one of the very best B noirs I've ever seen. I'd never heard of Leslie Brooks before watching this film and from what I've since read this was her best role (and performance). "Blonde Ice" is an unusually dark movie, even for film noir, and I guess that's why it stands out among the dozens of B noirs that were released in the 1940's and 1950's. The Alpha dvd has a good picture quality but the sound is rather poor. Still, for the cheap price I paid for it I'm not complaining. A definite must for all fans of film noir!
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