Blonde Venus (1932)

Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Starring Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Gene Morgan, Dickie Moore, Robert Emmett O’Connor, Rita La Roy, Sidney Toler.

OK melodrama with old-hat themes (even for the 1930s), an above-average star performance, and two lesser supporting acts enhanced by their respective vocal timbre (Marshall) and immutable twinkle (Grant). Dietrich’s guarded stoicism doesn’t break even when desperation takes hold, which is her consistent stance as she commits herself to doing whatever it takes to (first) pay for her sick husband’s treatment and (later) support herself and her child when they go on the run. Marshall is the husband and Grant is the wealthy man who becomes enamored with her…although little about the characterization as presented would suggest he’d ever do what he does in the contrived final reel. Dietrich looks more comfortable as a cabaret star than a domestic queen, so it’s to the film’s credit that her sexual ambiguity and spotlight smoldering get enough attention to balance out the housewife façade; she sings several songs, too, the most memorable being, of course, the extended “Hot Voodoo” number where the star starts warbling after unpeeling herself from inside a gorilla suit! Director von Sternberg also produced and made uncredited contributions to the screenplay.

60/100