Fans of B-grade obscurities will find diversion in this 1961 hard-boiled mystery. Broad-shouldered Jock Mahoney plays an insurance investigator tracking down clues in the mysterious disappearance of one of his colleagues. It appears the missing man played some sort of a role in a curious robbery and, perhaps, a murder.
Whodunnit? Who cares! “3 Blondes in His Life” is not obsessively interested in unraveling the intricacies of insurance fraud or detailing the emotionally intensive thrust of piecing together murders. Instead, it is closer to the Mickey Spillane school of mysteries: light on intellectual details and heavy on macho style and offbeat humor. Mahoney has plenty of macho style, downing endless bourbons with nary a trace of intoxication while holding his own in a few bouts of fisticuffs with sleazy suspects.
He is also a chick magnet, with all of the film’s voluptuous blonde suspects (including former Miss Denmark, Greta Thyssen) literally throwing themselves at his lean, muscular frame within minutes of acquaintance. Veteran character actor Jesse White offers the comic relief as Mahoney’s colleague – no bourbon or blondes for him, just apples, cigars, and exasperation.
Great filmmaking? Hardly! But “3 Blondes in His Life” is a fun, old-school riff that keeps the viewer entertained without imposing excessive taxation on the brain. If you are in the mood for a no-cal smoothie of an old-time flick, this is the perfect movie to consume.
