Blonde Venus (1932)

A cabaret singer takes up with a millionaire to pay for her gravely ill husband's operation.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Jules Furthman (by), S.K. Lauren (by)

Stars:

Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Herbert Marshall

Cast

Complete credited 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	...	Detective Wilson
Morgan Wallace	...	Dr. Pierce

Storyline

American chemist Ned Faraday marries a German entertainer and starts a family. However, he becomes poisoned with Radium and needs an expensive treatment in Germany to have any chance at being cured. Wife Helen returns to night club work to attempt to raise the money and becomes popular as the Blonde Venus. In an effort to get enough money sooner, she prostitutes herself to millionaire Nick Townsend. While Ned is away in Europe, she continues with Nick but when Ned returns cured, he discovers her infidelity. Now Ned despises Helen but she grabs son Johnny and lives on the run, just one step ahead of the Missing Persons Bureau. When they do finally catch her, she loses her son to Ned. Once again she returns to entertaining, this time in Paris, and her fame once again brings her and Townsend together. Helen and Nick return to America engaged, but she is irresistibly drawn back to her son and Ned. In which life does she truly belong?

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Plot Keywords:

gorilla costume | cabaret singer | radiation poisoning | ill husband | dysfunctional marriage | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French

Release Date:

28 October 1932 (Hungary)

Also Known As:

Indiscretion

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 85 min (video: cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though Josef Von Sternberg is credited for having written the script to Blonde Venus, the true author of the script was in fact Marlene Dietrich. She agreed not to recieve credit for writing the movie due to the obvious struggles it would cause with the hays office and code. This turned out to be a good idea, as both Dietrich and Von Sternberg were suspended for several months as the story was cut, watered down and made into weak lemonade to satisfy the censors. It took nearly a year before the smoke cleared. But all the frustrations and drama from the censors caused the story to lose its appeal for both Dietrich and Von Sternberg. By the time filming finally began, both director and star no longer liked, nor wanted to make the picture any longer.

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Quotes

Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones: You've never had an idle day in your life. I can tell. You're a man who's been up and around. A go-getter, that's what you are.
Detective Wilson: Say, you're a pretty smart girl, aren't you?
Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones: Am I?

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown with a background of water reflected at a swimming hole. As the credits end, we see women swimming in the swimming hole.

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Alternate Versions

The original German release and some television prints of "Blonde Venus" exclude the opening scene, where Herbert Marshall encounters Marlene Dietrich and friends "skinny-dipping" in a lake.

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Connections

Referenced in The Wendy Wild Story (2017)

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Soundtracks

Hot Voodoo
(uncredited)
Music by Ralph Rainger
Lyrics by Sam Coslow
Played by the orchestra at O'Connor's
Sung by Marlene Dietrich and danced to by the chorus

User Reviews

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.