This is a film that in some ways seems very modern and in many other ways just seems to creek with age. However, because of a few very interesting moments which I'll soon talk about, it's still worth seeing--particularly for lovers of old films and film historians.

The "modern" aspects about the film occur all at the beginning. Despite a stereotype that sex was pretty much invented in movies in the 1960s, raunchy and racy scenes were alive and well when BLONDE VENUS was filmed. These so-called "Pre-Code" films often reveled in nudity, off-color plots and violence--things that would be eliminated or sanitized when the mid-1930s and the new Production Code was enacted (mostly due to flagging ticket sales and an outcry about the content of these risqué films). Being Pre-Code, the film starts with a lot of gratuitous nudity--perhaps pretty tame by today's standards, but pretty shocking nonetheless. Marlene Dietrich and her lady-friends are skinny-dipping when Herbert Marshall and his friends happen upon them. In the process, the viewers are shown glimpses of breasts and buttocks--as seen through strategically-placed tree branches. This really is a fascinating scene and, oddly, really doesn't fit into the rest of the film. In other words, after this swimming scene, the film abruptly changes and announces that Marshall and Dietrich were married. This lack of a decent transition is a minor problem but can be overlooked.

From this point on, the film really seems to creak with age! The plot is at times racy (as Dietrich uses sex to pay for her husband's needed medical treatment abroad),but also very, very much grounded in extreme melodrama and occasional over-acting--something much more common in this era than with later films. The exact reasons and all are probably best left for you to learn yourself--I don't want to spoil the film.

However, there is one totally amazing scene you MUST see about 1/3 of the way into the film. Ms. Dietrich is forced to return to the stage because the family is practically bankrupt. As a result, she sings and dances several times throughout the film. However, the first dance number is amazingly bizarre--so strange that it is a "must see" for movie historians. The night club has an African native dance scene where the girls are all dressed in silly costumes with HUGE afro wigs. Then, in chains, Marlene in a gorilla suit is led onto the stage!! The suit, by the way, was awfully realistic compared to those I've seen in many films. Anyways, she then slowly does a partial striptease and dons here own blonde afro wig and begins singing "HOT VOODOO"--a very silly song that is just too amazing to miss. Unfortunately, though, in this and all the other songs, her voice is consistently drowned out by the music--the balance just wasn't even close to being right.

Overall, for those who are not big fans of old films, you should skip this one--it won't make you an instant fan and you may find it all very laughable. However, there might just be enough of interest to Pre-Code fans and lovers of kitsch to merit seeing this film.

Of the seven Marlene Dietrich/Josef Von Sternberg film, a partnership that is justifiably famous, collaborations, 'Blonde Venus' is the fifth. To me also, it's the weakest but still not by all means a bad film. Far from it, if not for all tastes, just that they also had great films like 'Shanghai Express' and 'The Scarlet Empress' and 'Blonde Venus' in comparison comes up short.

The story is silly nonsense, and does get rather too melodramatic and overwrought even for the 30s in the middle and muddled in a few of the latter scenes where it doesn't make as much sense as it ought to. The ending doesn't ring true, and the decision considering what happens in the rest of the film feels illogical. As great an actor as Cary Grant was, not many actors could do charming, urbane and suave better, this was an early role and one that despite the dashing charm he brought to it doesn't do anything for him, it's too much of a plot device sort of role that comes in and out of the story.

However, Dietrich is luminous and touching, making a real effort to make a real character out of the only really developed character in the whole film. Dickie Moore is cute and very natural, and Herbert Marshall plays a somewhat thankless role that barely stretches him valiantly down pat and makes him a conflicted character. Hattie McDaniel is a hoot as ever.

Staging of the songs are more memorable than the songs themselves, though they are nice enough on their own. Just that the dazzling staging of the "Hot Voodoo" numbers packs more punch than the song itself for instance, Dietrich and a gorilla suit proves to be an iconic moment.

The beginning of the film is also very daring and racy, remarkably so. A sharp, double-edged and sophisticated script helps too, as does Sternberg's adroit direction. As always with a Sternberg film, 'Blonde Venus' looks great. Not just the striking use of light and shadow lighting and the sumptuous settings and costuming but especially the pure imaginative classiness that is the cinematography.

In summary, quite good but not great like other Dietrich/Sternberg films are. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Marlene Dietrich is spellbinding as a woman who takes her son and flees her jealous husband who threatens to take him away. The husband (Herbert Marshall) goes to Europe for his health, but on the money Dietrich makes as the Blonde Venus. When he finds out she's also had an affair with Cary Grant, he goes ballistic. Thin plot has Marshall sending detectives around the world to follow Dietrich as she sinks lower and lower. She finally gives up the boy and returns to nightclub stardom. All ends well. Dietrich sings a few songs along the way and looks gorgeous, but it's her "Hot Voodoo" number, emerging from a gorilla suit via a slow strip, that is sexy and mesmerizing. The storyline is not terribly logical, but hell ... it's Marlene Dietrich doing what she did best: hypnotizing her audience with glamorous, allure, and wit.