Back in Circulation

This film is packed full of unique characters, complex arch's, and is a treasure for anyone who likes 1930s comedies. Lead actress Joan Blondell displays a flair for comedic touch while also providing excellent dramatic expressions and reactions. Her character is tomboyish, yet, very attractive and feminine. One characteristic I thought made her most interesting is she didn't care about how her hair looked. At that time in history most female movie stars had their hair strictly cared for by a makeup department or they themselves would maintain it like most people do. This made every scene look unauthentic to real life. But I was surprised to see it wasn't perfectly in place all the the time, but often falling in her face in an unflattering way. Hard to tell if that was on purpose or due to quick shooting. Whatever the case, it is unique and memorable. The world that we see on screen seems to have enormous depth. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a balance of comedy and drama, while also being open to "black and white". This movie single handedly turned me into a Joan Blondell fan.

There were a few films in the '30s that set the stage for a lot of imitations. One was "It Happened One Night," which gave rise to dozens of films about heiresses, and the other was "The Front Page" from 1931, about a reporter and an editor. "Back in Circulation" is the latter, from 1937.

Here, the reporter is beautiful Joan Blondell, as sparkling and energetic as ever, and her editor is Pat O'Brien (who also appeared in "The Front Page"). Blondell is Timmy, a crafty reporter good at getting in on the most important stories, no matter what she has to do. O'Brien is Bill Morgan, who knows Timmy is the best and is constantly sending her out.

When a wealthy man dies, Bill receives a letter saying he was poisoned, so he dispatches Timmy to investigate. She's able to stop the funeral and convince the medical examiner to do an autopsy. Turns out he was poisoned, and suspicion falls on his wife (Margaret Lindsay). The paper goes after her in a big way, but after Timmy spends some time with her, she begins to suspect that the widow is innocent and hiding something. This puts her at odds with Bill.

Thanks to Blondell's performance, this movie manages to come off, though it isn't the tightest script. It flip-flops between comedy and heavy drama, and the alliance is uneasy.

John Litel and Regis Toomey are featured. Lindsay gives a '30s-style performance, and today it sticks out as being melodramatic. That was the style, and that's the way many roles were written. This was on its way out of style due to stars like Bette Davis.

Entertaining. Always a pleasure to see Blondell in a film.

If you are a fan of 1930's Warners, you can't miss this one. Joan Blondell is Timothea "Timmy" Blake, ace reporter for editor Pat O'Brian's headline screaming tabloid. The plot races around a "show girl with a past", the improbably cast, sweet-faced Margaret Lindsey accused of poisoning her no-good older husband whom nobody misses. Timmy doesn't buy it, but she helped build the case for indictment. Lindsey is in love with the good doctor John Litel for some reason even though he seems a bit thick. Go figure. It's all wrapped in a furious flurry of patented Warner's can't -wait -to -get -home speed with what must be 14 lbs. of dialogue crammed into an hour- fifteen or so. It's Blondell's movie and she is feisty, sexy, always surprising and has a mean right hook. Pat O'Brian was some kind of master at machine gunning lines out of an immobile face. For a big man who moves slowly, he can sure cut with the greased patter. The WB character roster, always a reason to watch these films, is well-represented by Regis Toomey, Eddie Acuff, and the always amusing Granville Bates. You won't have a chance to breathe.

This is in many ways typical of the comedy/drama/love story/mystery/social message low budget very entertaining movies that Warner Brothers so excelled at in the 1930's. Having been done before in some variation as The Front Page, Front Page Woman, and One Fatal Hour, 1937's Back In Circulation is equally entertaining. Most notably due to the delightful Joan Blondell, a very engaging and effective actor. Her wonderful performance in Back in Circulation makes this one of my favorite movies from this era.

Like all of the other incarnations of this basic premise, this screenplay has its own unique set of characters and circumstances. Joan Blondell plays "Timmy" Blake, the star reporter for The Morning Express, who is possessed of an utterly inexplicable crush on her boss, Bill Morgan (Pat O'Brien), your basic jerk, and we are told that she has in the past gone to great lengths to get the scoop, including stealing evidence and committing perjury. During the course of our story, however, her conscience begins to catch up to her when she finds herself convinced of the innocence of wealthy Arline Wade (Margaret Lindsay), a woman accused of murder that is all but convicted in the pages of The Morning Express. Naturally it is Timmy's cleverness and resourcefulness that gets the story in the Express in the first place, and it is she who must solve the mystery in order to extricate Ms. Wade from a miscarriage of justice. This is all done with appropriately placed poignancy and lighthearted comedic overtones. Timmy belting a sleazebag gigolo unconscious with her perfect right hook ("Beg pardon?") and her screaming "fit" in the street during the scene that leads us into the movie's conclusion are particularly hysterical.

Yes, the story is full of laughably implausible peculiarities (it is obvious movie producers of that era did not consider their audiences as savvy as those of today). On what planet would a struggling reporter living in a two-room apartment be able to afford a closet full of designer gowns and a maid?! These were real reporters, mind you, not the pampered addle-brained news spokes-models of today. It is likewise ridiculous to imagine that a reporter armed with nothing more than an anonymous note (another plot hole, we never are told where this note originated) could walk into a coroner's office and have a burial stopped and demand an autopsy be performed. It's a testament to how entertaining this film is that you don't really notice this sort of thing until after the movie is over and you've had time to think about it.

I am unsure how Pat O'Brien scored top billing in this vehicle, as it would be lost without brilliant and beautiful Joan Blondell, who appears in nearly every scene and certainly outranks O'Brien in both screen time and importance to the plot. The cast is filled out quite nicely with familiar faces from Warner Brothers stable of commendable talent, including John Litel, Ben Welden, and Granville Bates as the coroner. Also keep your eyes on the uncredited generic reporters that make up the press pool in the Plattstown sequences, one of them is DeWolfe (later William) Hopper, who in twenty years time would become Paul Drake on the TV series "Perry Mason".

Although reporters are barred from the scene, a deadly train wreck doesn't stop enterprising Joan Blondell (as Timothea "Timmy" Blake) from covering the story. Pretending to be a doctor, Ms. Blondell gets the scoop. Her editor and love interest Pat O'Brien (as William "Bill" Morgan) gets an anonymous tip stating that an automobile manufacturer did not die of heart failure, but was poisoned. He assigns Blondell the story and she suspects beautiful widow Margaret Lindsay (as Arline Vivian). We wonder why Blondell is interested in Mr. O'Brien and, even more, why he seems so uninterested in Blondell. The plot unravels between two dubious letters. The main reason to watch is Blondell. She is strong and sexy in this film. And, although second-billed, Blondell is the star.

**** Back in Circulation (9/25/37) Ray Enright ~ Joan Blondell, Pat O'Brien, Margaret Lindsay, John Litel