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Blonde Venus

Play trailer Poster for Blonde Venus Released Sep 16, 1932 1h 34m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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65% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich) becomes a playboy's (Cary Grant) mistress to support her son and ailing husband (Herbert Marshall).

Critics Reviews

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SMH Staff Sydney Morning Herald Blonde Venus gives the impression constantly that the director (Josef von Sternberg) has been placed in the embarrassing position of a man who has been asked to squeeze a quart of liquid into a pint pot. Apr 10, 2020 Full Review Age Staff The Age (Australia) [Blonde Venus] is redeemed by the fine acting of Marlene Dietrich. Apr 10, 2020 Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine Atmospheric and visually stimulating but Josef von Sternberg's morality tale is a little thin. Rated: 3/5 Jul 18, 2014 Full Review Justine Smith Vague Visages Dignity plays an important role in much of Sternberg’s work. Characters who fall into disrepute retain their humanity as long as they are able to hold onto some semblance of their moral character. Jun 6, 2024 Full Review Eileen Jones The Jacobin It’s a shame that this exciting era happened so long ago that many people can’t relate to these movies and won’t watch them. Aug 26, 2023 Full Review E. L. Espectador Cinelandia A work of cinematic art. [Full review in Spanish] Sep 1, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alec B Iconic musical numbers aside this is a lesser Dietrich/Sternberg collaboration. Censorship of the time appears to have muddled the screenplay's themes. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review steve d One of Grant's worst. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Liam D An early outing from Cary Grant (Father Goose, I Was a Male War Bride) it's an compelling Family Drama Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review georgan g Maybe it's the difference in era, but I don't like films where the woman is always in the wrong. It's the double standard. Neither man is good for her but Dietrich is the "perfect" mother and does what's best -supposedly- for the child. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Iconic musical numbers aside this is a lesser Dietrich/Sternberg collaboration. Censorship of the time appears to have muddled the screenplay's themes. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member It's all rather trashy, with Dietrich's Helen riding a see-saw of being rich and being poor and being rich and being poor, all the while looking great, carrying on torrid affairs, and detaching from everything but her boy. Only Dietrich could manage to make such a willfully self-destructive character as sympathetic a figure as she is. Although in many ways she's arrived at this point through her own series of bad choices, by the time her husband demands their son back, it's he who strikes the viewer as the problem. This in itself is a pretty remarkable feat for both the filmmaker and particularly the actress. All the while, von Sternberg continues to craft a bigger and more expansive sensory world for her to have her way with. And, though some of the sharp edges of their past films have been filed down this time, Dietrich does indeed have her way with it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Blonde Venus

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Blonde Venus

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Movie Info

Synopsis A nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich) becomes a playboy's (Cary Grant) mistress to support her son and ailing husband (Herbert Marshall).
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Producer
Josef von Sternberg
Screenwriter
S.K. Lauren, Jules Furthma, Josef von Sternberg
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Production Co
Paramount Publix Corporation, Paramount Pictures
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 16, 1932, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2020
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1)