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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original plans for filming this property in 1945 for United Artists included Mary Martin (from the original cast) with Frank Sinatra, Clifton Webb and Bert Lahr, with Sam Coslow producing for Mary Pickford. Pickford felt that only Webb had any box-office pull and was hesitant to commit $2 million of her own money to production. After much indecision she finally sold the rights to Lester Cowan at Universal.

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Quotes

Molly Grant: [to Savory] I'll catch you a couple of flies, and you can pull their wings off!

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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).

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Connections

Remade as Mannequin (1987)

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Soundtracks

Speak Low
(uncredited)
Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Ogden Nash
New lyrics by Ann Ronell
Played over opening credits
Sung by Ava Gardner (dubbed by Eileen Wilson), Dick Haymes
Played as part of the score often

User Reviews

A wonderful fantasy.

Ava was never more beautiful. Robert Walker is at his lucky best. Dick Haymes was never in better voice. And, oh, that beautiful Kurt Weill-Ogden Nash score. Not only is "Speak Low" offered, but, the musical scene in Central Park as well, so masterfully handled and performed, will have you gliding and falling in love with the thought of falling in love.

This was a little recognized gem.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

One Touch of Venus

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artists Alliance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1