This is a nice poster for the crime thriller Blonde in Bondage, which, while the art makes it look like a standard Hollywood b-feature, is a quirky little production made in Stockholm as Blondin i fara by A.B. Nyvefilm with a largely Swedish cast, helmed by a Swedish director, but headlined by U.S. actor Mark Miller. In the story a New York City reporter played by Miller goes to Stockholm to research a story on Swedish culture—specifically its alternative moral outlook. He ends up jettisoning his assignment to try saving burlesque dancer Anita Thallaug from her manager, who controls her through that most mundane of means—drug addiction. Obviously Miller ends up biting off more köttbullar than he can swallow.
Lars Ekborg plays the manager, who also happens to be an organized crime figure, which means Miller’s meddlings eventually lead to a pitched battle in a carnival between a cadre of gangsters and the police. While the movie is a drama, mixed in are incongruous episodes showing how hot and bothered Swedish women are, as Miller is approached from all sides by beautiful locals. It’s pretty dumb. And on the whole the movie is terribly written and weakly acted, but it’s so different we actually think it’s worth watching. How often do you see a period film starring a Yank, but set in a foreign country with an almost entirely local cast? Not often. Blonde in Bondage premiered in the U.S. today in 1957.
