In an effort to get enough money to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a retired German entertainer returns to the cabaret, gaining fame as Blonde Venus and unknowingly catching the eye of a wealthy politician.
20 Jan Blond Venus (1932)
Furry
There are better von Sternberg Dietrich projects. The only charm of this one is the America situation.
I never got the charm of Dietrich, and if you didn’t, you’ll find this empty. It has three stage performances by our blond Venus.
The first of these is pretty obnoxiously strange. The chorus line is thin white girls with blackened skin and Africa face paint. Afro wigs. They gyrate in a weak emulation of Josephine Baker. They thump around a gorilla. After a bit our blond seductress emerges from the gorilla suit and dons a blond Afro wig.
It is both passionless and revolting. The whole picture is a bit of both, passionless in a direct way reflecting that continental nonchalant tone which later became beat. Revolting that such a story would be assumed to matter to us.
Posted in 2006
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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