Blonde Venus

Blonde Venus is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall and Cary Grant. It was produced, edited and directed by Josef von Sternberg from a screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren, adapted from a story by Furthman and von Sternberg. The original story "Mother Love" was written by Dietrich herself. The musical score was by W. Franke Harling, John Leipold, Paul Marquardt and Oscar Potoker, with cinematography by Bert Glennon. Plot Ned Faraday, an American chemist, has been inadvertently poisoned by radium and expects to die within a year, until he learns that Professor Holzapfel, a famous physician in Dresden, has developed a treatment that may be able to heal him. The night after he hears this good news, while putting his son Johnny to bed, Ned and his wife Helen recite the story of the day on which they had met. While traveling in Germany as a young man, Ned encountered Helen swimming in a pond with several other girls. She coyly told him that she would grant him a wish if he left, and Ned wished to see her again. He watched her perform onstage at a local theater and then they went for a walk and had their first kiss. After Johnny falls asleep, Ned discusses with Helen the possibility of traveling to see Professor Holzapfel. To help pay for the trip, Helen decides to return to the stage and finds employment at a local nightclub. She befriends fellow cabaret girl Taxi, who tells her about Nick Townsend, a wealthy politician and frequent patron of the club who gave Taxi an expensive bracelet in exchange for a "favor." Helen, billed as "blonde Venus," has a successful debut performance, singing "Hot Voodoo" after emerging from a gorilla suit, and is noticed by Nick. Enamored of Helen, he approaches her after the show, and the two begin to talk. Upon learning of Ned's medical condition, Nick gives Helen $300 as a down payment for Ned's treatment.