German cabaret girl marries a commercial chemist and moves with him to New York City; five years later, with a child to care for, the couple finds themselves in dire straits once the husband is forced to leave his job due to radium poisoning. She earns the money for his trip to Europe to seek medical treatments in only one night, by hitting the stage and getting hit-on by a millionaire politician (he's turned on by her emergence from a gorilla costume--don't ask). Despite a broad and at times uneven direction by Josef von Sternberg, this outrageous story provides the perfect role for Marlene Dietrich, whose character is introduced swimming naked with a group of showgirls. The camera catches the actress posing too often, and her song numbers date the picture more than anything else, but she's wonderful caring for husband Herbert Marshall and son Dickie Moore (both excellent). Cary Grant's role as the wealthy playboy is hardly convincing, and we're never told where his steady stream of cash is coming from, but when Marshall finds out about him and threatens to take the kid away, Dietrich and Moore take it on the lam. This part of the movie could have easily slipped into self-parody (and nearly does), yet the star works her way through it with the utmost seriousness. She's marvelous, even when the script struggles to meet her halfway. *** from ****
Review of Blonde Venus
Blonde Venus
(1932)
Marlene goes from swanky penthouses to Tobacco Road--never once losing her allure...
8 September 2010