Blonde Venus in 35mm nitrate

Blonde Venus in 35mm nitrate

In Marlene Dietrich’s fifth collaboration with filmmaker Josef von Sternberg, Dietrich plays German chanteuse turned American housewife Helen Faraday. When Helen’s husband Ned (Herbert Marshall) is exposed to radium, the singer returns to the stage as the “blonde Venus” to earn the hefty sum needed for Ned’s travel to Dresden for treatment. Blonde Venus features newcomer Cary Grant as charming politician Nick Townsend. The film is also noted for a memorable yet unsettling musical number in which Dietrich makes her grand entrance to the stage in a gorilla suit. Receiving mixed reviews upon its release, the film has since garnered a cult following.

DIRECTED BY: Josef von Sternberg. WRITTEN BY: Jules Furthman, S.K. Lauren. WITH: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Dickie Moore. 1932. 93 min. USA. B&W. English. 35mm nitrate. Print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive nitrate collection.

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