Blonde Venus (1932)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Jules Furthman (written by) and
S.K. Lauren (written by)

Release Date:

16 September 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

From the lips of one MAN to the arms of another!

Plot:

American chemist Ned Faraday marries a German entertainer and starts a family. However, he becomes poisoned...

Plot Keywords:

Germany | Chemist | Millionaire | Singer | Fame

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones
Herbert Marshall	...	Edward 'Ned' Faraday
Cary Grant	...	Nick Townsend
Dickie Moore	...	Johnny Faraday
Gene Morgan	...	Ben Smith
Rita La Roy	...	Taxi Belle Hooper
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Dan O'Connor
Sidney Toler	...	Det. Wilson
Morgan Wallace	...	Dr. Pierce
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clarence Muse	...	Charlie, the Bartender (unconfirmed)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Spain:18 | USA:Passed | UK:PG (re-rating) (1987) | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cary Grant said Von Sternberg directed him not really much during the filming, but the director taught him the most important thing. On the first day Grant came on the set, Sternberg looked at him and said, "Your hair is parted on the wrong side." So Grant parted it on the other side and kept it that way the rest of his career.

Quotes:

Ben Smith: What'd you say your name was?
Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones: Helen Faraday.
Ben Smith: Nah, we gotta get something different. Something unusual, something that's easy to say and hard to forget.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Marlene (1984)

Soundtrack:

Sidewalks of New York

Solid Film Deserves Being On DVD

This was a very interesting story.....one of the best in the early era of sound. The only negative was that even though time passed, nobody - including the 6-year- old boy (Dickie Moore) - aged!

There were a few other things that didn't make sense, either, but the film is so captivating that one can ignore the gaffs and still really enjoy this. Marlene Dietrich, for instance, is mesmerizing at times. She could - except for those stupid 1930s pencil-thin eyebrows - look absolutely stunning. Make no mistake: she's alluring.

All the lead characters in here did their parts well and Moore, who gained fame as one of the "Little Rascals," is particularly endearing.

The adults, however, all have character flaws: a married Dietrich runs off with a wealthy young Cary Grant while her husband (Herbert Marshall) is off in Europe being treated for radium poisoning. Marshall is understandably bitter when he returns to find out what his wife was up to, but is too hard-hearted about letting his wife see the kid. Grant, of course, is an adulterer.

Despite this soap opera premise, the movie almost plays like a film noir, with sharp dialog, great cinematography and tough characters.

This is another great classic film that, for some reason, is still not available on DVD and deserves to be.