There's Always a Woman (1938)

Joan Blondell – Cute, Funny, and Sassy, 7 August 2019

The Quick Pitch:  Husband, who works for the DA, and wife, who is secretly running her husband’s old detective agency, compete to see who can solve a murder.

As my rating indicates, I generally enjoyed There’s Always a Woman.  It’s no Thin Man, as it’s often compared and as Columbia Pictures had hoped it would be, but the movie is decent enough entertainment.  The mystery may not be much, but this kind of light-hearted, who-done-it is never deep on plot. The film looks good and moves at a good pace.  The direction is snappy with very little in the way downtime. Joan Blondell really shines as Sally Reardon. She’s cute, funny, and sassy. She dominates the screen anytime she appears.  Co-star Melvyn Douglas is good in his own right and makes a good straight man for Blondell, but he can’t compete with her screen presence. There are a variety of other solid actors in the supporting cast, most notably Mary Astor, in what is pretty much the same role she played a few years later in The Maltese Falcon.  

The thing that bothered me the most about There’s Always a Woman was the casual depiction of spousal abuse.  Maybe attitudes have changed since 1938, but I don’t enjoy seeing a woman having her hair pulled or being hit by her husband.  It didn’t come off as funny or playful, just mean. Without those moments, I would have definitely rated There’s Always a Woman higher. 

6/10