Blonde Venus (1932)

3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

I've been lured by the five star ratings credited to this film. Marlene is divine as she moves between roles as top billing cabaret act Helen Jones and perfect wife and mother. When husband needs money for life saving medical treatment in Europe, Cary Grant's deep pockets provide the wherewithal. What Marlene does for the $1500 is not made absolutely clear, but whatever it is, she gets some super new frocks. Hubby comes back a week, fully recovered, finds Marlene on the gallivant with Grant. She's obliged to flee with sonny boy, but ends up in skid alley in the deep south, is eventually found by hubby who takes off with the little boy. Dietrich gets back on top of the bill again, this time in Paris, and Cary turns up to see the show and then to carry her back to NYC. From the film we learn what we all know, good women enjoy washing their kids at bedtime and singing a lullaby far more than clubbing at the Ritz.

It's a lovely film, for all its corniness: the quirky dialogue and dated uncomfortable slang make you wince, but it's early days cinema, and you enjoy its innocence - if only I could believe that the lovely girls fall for the slippers and cardigans rather than the tuxedo and wallet.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

No one has ever looked lovelier destitiute than Dietrich.

A Customer from Lancashire , England, 5th November, 2006

I loved this film. I have only watched Dietrich in Blue Angel, Destry Rides Again and Morocco and was so impressed by her I decided to rent this film. I wasn't disappointed. The cabaret scenes are the highlights but the story never really dips and she is as engaging portraying a mother or being destitute. A young Cary Grant plays one of her suitors. As this film was made before the censorship became stricter there is a lovely skinny dipping scene at the beginning. I shall be looking around for some more Dietrich films to watch.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

very poor

A Customer from london, 6th August, 2007

The script is awful which make the acting seem even more wooden. Very disappointing. Turned it off.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Leading man trouble

Zamy from , 1st March, 2007

This is similar to the other films that Deitrich made with her 'svengali' director Josef von Sternberg. They all carry his trademark of virtuoso lighting (perhaps over-lighting) and extremely busily dressed sets. For the time they were very adventurous and quite daring in their sexual frankness. There is a problem with the male lead in this one, Herbert Marshall, who is so 'wet' that any passion between him and Deitrich looks rather unbelievable. This may, of course, have been just the point Sternberg was making: beautiful women often chose rather wimpy men as their consorts. This might well be a worthwhile subject for a short thesis; it just doesn't appeal when I see it up there on the screen.

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Sadly it's a dull film

hannahx200 from , 7th April, 2009

Firstly lets state that I am not a stupid reviewer who writes something off cos it's B&W or subtitled. I love old films and am working my way through the 30s at the moment but this film just couldn't keep my interest. 30 minutes in is long enough of sitting there think 'well it might get interesting soon' so I turned off. Perhaps I missed something fantastic in the other 60 odd minutes but personally this was a mediocre film.

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