Blonde in Bondage, Gritty Swedish Nightlife

Today we go to Stockholm for some dark Swedish Noir. Our titular character (Anita Thallaug) is a blonde dancer/singer/stripper. Ah, Sweden in the 1950s. Every dame was sultry and lived only to plant kisses on American men. How things have changed. Today, those Swedish beauties are hiding in their locked houses trying to avoid the waves of North African invaders. Anyway, we'll have a lot of Swedish dames desiring to be amorous in this one and out protagonist will have to fight them off. Our feature today, is the  1957 dark and gritty, despite the cheesecake,  "Blonde in Bondage," directed by Robert Brandt.

Larry (Mark Miller) is a reporter from new York who is given an assignment by his editor to go to Stockholm and do a series of reports on Swedish nightlife. No further guidance. At the airport in New York he meets Swedish beauty Birgitta (Birgitta Ander). She kisses every American man she can...with passion, but settles on Larry. Upon landing, Birgitta's sister Ingrid (Eva Larang) joins her and also lusts for Larry. Larry escapes the danger and begins his story. By circumstances, Larry meets the dangerous Max (Lars Ekborg) and his girl Mona (Thallaug). Mona is strung out and Larry soon discovers Max has addicted her to dope. Mona, once injected, is the aforementioned performer and we see her in a very seductive performance. She depends on Max for injections and Max controls her. Larry is awestruck by this Swedish blonde and tries to help her. 

In helping Mona kick the habit and kick Max, Mona is endangered and so is Larry. Max is a dangerous fellow but Larry does detective work to bring him down. Mona? She's trying to come clean but is too far gone in her addiction. Larry will even try to stash her with his two buddies, Ingrid and Birgitta. The poor beauties will be pummeled, hogtied, and gagged for trying to help out. Now Max has Mona back, shoots her up, and the babe performs again to hooting and hollering guys. Larry is determined to save the seemingly doomed Mona, and Mona wants to help, but her addiction and hunger for the dope may just get Larry killed.

Will Larry be able to help Mona kick the habit and also kick Max? Will Ingrid and Birgitta stay beautiful now that Max' thugs are set onto them? Will Larry stay in one place long enough to enjoy all the hospitality a Swedish babe can deliver? This is an erotic, fun, and vicious Film Noir film.  Sure, Larry is endangered throughout, but we gasp as the sultry Swedish women are in even more peril. For allure and brutality, see "Blonde in Bondage." 

I'll Get You, Cloak and Dagger in Post-War London

This should be a fantastic movie. Should be. Sadly, it's a good movie that falls far short to being excellent. The gritty streets of post-war London are a fine setting. Peril in the ruins of downtown buildings and a Soviet agent looking to cause trouble? All good. Then, Sally Gray as a British secret agent, quick with the gun or some Martial Arts moves, who is quick to use seduction and kissing. Yes! Match Ms. Gray up with a hunk American and show passion? Yes...except the hunk American is a dopey, middle-aged, bore with no personality...George Raft.  Still, Sally Gray is sultry as a secret agent and the villains are horrific and homicidal.  Our feature today is 1952's "I'll Get You," directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott.

The Soviets are kidnapping jet airplane scientists in major western cities like New York, London, and West Berlin, and forcing them to work for the Workers' Paradise. Along comes a shady character, Steve Rossi (Raft). He lands in London to meet up with Soviet agents and be smuggled into the East. Scotland Yard and intelligence services are onto him and try to intercept him at the airport. Steve is smooth and gets away to find his Soviet contact, Grand (Clifford Evans). With Steve missing in London, everyone is looking for him. Now, with his name and picture all over the papers, even Grand wants Steve dead. A sultry secret agent, Joan (Gray), intercepts Steve. The Brits will use Steve as bait to trap Grand. Steve? Which side is he actually on? You'll see. Joan begins to fall in love with the dopey looking American, though we all believe she could do a lot better.  Sultry dames are like this, and who knows why?

Now Grand sends his henchmen to murder Steve.  Joan and the boys try to find Grand before he can kill Steve and/or kidnap more aerospace scientists.  Chases ensue.  Murders ensue.  Clandestine meetings ensue. In and out of bombed out buildings provide a nice backdrop for all of this.  Steve and Joan lock lips and swap spit, and we hope Sally Gray got paid a lot extra for having to do that. Inspector Reid (Frederick Piper) and Colonel Wilkes (Reginald Tate) of the secret spooks do a fine job in their roles. Even better is Clifford Evans as the spy, Michael Grand. Still, Joan seems satisfied with Steve and we wonder if she will just lay back and think of England if the duo get any closer.

Just who is Steve Rossi and can he be trusted? Does Joan have daddy-issues or something, and can't she land some hero RAF fighter pilot or admiral instead of the dopey American oaf?  If the Workers' Paradise was such a fabulous place, why can't they develop their own scientists? In 1952, though we don't talk about it anymore, the Soviets were a deadly cultic force looking to undermine the west. This film captures that mood and for that, it is a good film to watch. Also, Sally Gray is sultry in this as the babe/seductress/secret agent!  See "I'll Get You" and be reminded that the Soviet Union was indeed the enemy of freedom post-World War 2.