Blonde Venus

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Blonde Venus
Image:BlondevenusFR.jpeg Original French film poster
Directed by	Josef von Sternberg
Produced by	Josef von Sternberg
Written by	Jules Furthman S. K. Lauren
Starring	Marlene Dietrich Herbert Marshall Cary Grant Dickie Moore
Music by	W. Franke Harling John Leipold Paul Marquardt Oscar Potoker
Cinematography	Bert Glennon
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	Image:Flag of the United States.svg 16 September 1932
Running time	93 min
Country	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language	English
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Blonde Venus is a 1932 drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant. The movie was produced and directed for Paramount Pictures by Josef von Sternberg with a screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren adapted from a story by Furthman and von Sternberg. The music score was by W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Paul Marquardt and Oscar Potoker, and the cinematography by Bert Glennon.

Although the film drags a bit, Dietrich gets the chance of performing three of her best songs in her film career. "You Little So-and-So" (music and lyrics by Sam Coslow and Leo Robin and "I Couldn't Be Annoyed" (music and lyrics by Leo Robin and Richard A. Whiting) are nifty 1932 pop tunes that are quite obscure. The highlight is the amazing "Hot Voodoo" (music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Sam Coslow), which is a red-hot nearly 8 minute instrumental Jazz number with an amazing hot unknown orchestra (possibily Paramount's studio orchestra), featuring some hot trumpet and pulsating drums. Dietrich sings the song toward the end of the 'number'. It's a grest lyric, but there's no evidence of it being recorded by any orchestra. An absolute highlight in Dietrich's career and worth watching the film just for this nightclub number.

This movie predates She Done Him Wrong by a year even though Mae West always claimed to have discovered Cary Grant for that film, elaborating that up until then Grant had only made "some tests with starlets."

[edit] Cast

Marlene Dietrich ... Helen Faraday, aka Helen Jones
Herbert Marshall ... Edward 'Ned' Faraday
Cary Grant ... Nick Townsend
Dickie Moore ... Johnny Faraday
Gene Morgan ... Ben Smith
Rita La Roy ... Taxi Belle Hooper
Robert Emmett O'Connor ... Dan O'Connor
Sidney Toler ... Det. Wilson
Morgan Wallace ... Dr. Pierce