One Touch of Venus (1948)

Fantasy comedy about a young window dresser who kisses a statue of Venus, which then comes to life in the form of Ava Gardner. However, the problems begin when Venus falls in love with him.

Directors:

William A. Seiter, Gregory La Cava (uncredited)

Writers:

Harry Kurnitz (screenplay), Frank Tashlin (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Walker, Ava Gardner, Dick Haymes

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Walker	...	Eddie Hatch
Ava Gardner	...	Venus
Dick Haymes	...	Joe Grant
Eve Arden	...	Molly Stewart
Olga San Juan	...	Gloria
Tom Conway	...	Whitfield Savory
James Flavin	...	Kerrigan
Sara Allgood	...	Landlady
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hugh Herbert	...	Mercury (scenes deleted)

Storyline

In the art department of a large department store, the statue of the famed Anatolian Venus comes to life and falls in love with Eddie Hatch, a window dresser. Just before the unveiling of the prized statue, Eddie takes "Venus" to the model-display house in the store, where the store's owner finds her. He also falls in love with her and makes her Glamour Girl Number One. Eddie and Venus dance in Central Park, but Eddie is arrested for stealing the statue. Venus goes back to her pedestal and Eddie is released. While Eddie is sadly preparing for another unveiling, a new employee asks him a question. She tells him her name is Venus Jones.

---

Plot Keywords:

statue | department store | window dresser | unveiling | statue of venus | 

---

Taglines:

Broadway's Musical Delight...Brought to the Screen!!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Venus macht Seitensprünge

Filming Locations:

Republic Studios - 4024 Radford Avenue, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artists Alliance, Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Universal assumed the screen rights in August 1947, the studio considered casting Deanna Durbin as Venus.

---

Quotes

Pretty girl: What's this about a certain "most eligible bachelor" falling in love with a statue?
Whitfield Savory: Perhaps, my dear, she reminds me of you.
[Walks away with Pretty Girl. ]
Molly Grant: Yeah, they both have large pedestals.
[Referring to statue and Pretty Girl. ]
Dowager: [Sashays up to Savory, who has reappeared] Whitfield, you remember my daughter, Brenda?
Whitfield Savory: Not little Brenda? You've - uh
[looks her over ]
Whitfield Savory:

• grown, Brenda.

Molly Grant: [Reappears] Hatch is waiting, chief. He finished the drapes.
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

Evidently a few characters' names were changed during production, causing serious contradictions in various sources' cast lists. Haymes's character is just plain "Joe" (no surname), but some sources grafted onto him the surname "Grant" from Arden's character! As if that weren't bad enough, poor Arden (addressed by various characters as "Molly Grant" consistently through the film) finds herself wrongly identified in some sources as "Molly Stewart" (which is never the surname she bears in the actual film).

---

Connections

Referenced in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Don't Look Now But My Heart is Showing
(uncredited)
Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Ogden Nash
New lyrics by Ann Ronell
Played over opening credits and sung by a chorus
Reprised in the park by Dick Haymes, Olga San Juan, Robert Walker,
Ava Gardner (dubbed by Eileen Wilson) and chorus

User Reviews

a light frothy musical that's pure enjoyment

I think that this was the first movie 'musical' I ever saw, and I loved it immediately. The script is so perfect and the actors to matched to their parts that the whole thing is lyrical.

Robert Walker is a great actor who does comedy the way he does drama...sincerely. Ava Gardner is young and beautiful as....well...as Venus! I was very disappointed when I found out she didn't sing the songs herself, but it sure looks like she does.

Eve Arden is the real star of this movie. Every line that she delivers is either a great wisecrack or lets us know more about her. Olga San Juan and Dick Haymes are wonderful particularly when they sing, "Don't Look Now But My Heart is Showing."

In the 'old days' they could make wonderful, inexpensive black and white musicals and everyone had a good time. Too bad we've all gotten to jaded.