I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Great story, great script, great cast. Until it appeared on TCM the other day I had never heard of "The Velvet Touch". It was released through RKO and was produced by comparatively unknown Independent Artists, and then presumably dropped out of sight - you can't find this picture in any format nowadays, but it deserves to be seen.The script is the thing here, reminiscent of 'All About Eve" with the same type of crackling dialogue and one-line zingers. Can't find any fault with the cast as all fit perfectly into their parts, especially Rosalind Russell in the lead role and Leon Ames as her Svengali-like producer/nemesis. I thought Sidney Greenstreet as the Police Captain was a neat bit of off-beat casting and I hardly noticed his upper class British accent. Saving the best for last, as Claire Trevor put out another outstanding performance as 'the other woman'. She was one of our most underrated actresses and I can't think of one bad job ever turned in by this Westchester,NY native.Can't think of a single flaw in 'The Velvet Touch". Nearly perfect filmmaking, which hardly ever happens anymore. This sort of Hollywood product was once the norm and is now the exception, in a medium which, sadly, has become form over substance.

At first, THE VELVET TOUCH seems like it will be a traditional noirish murder mystery, with a sinister slaying at a theatre followed by a detective investigation into the various suspects. But no, we learn the identity of the murder at the beginning and the film instead becomes a character drama as we learn what the effects of guilt and suspicion have on a person.Unfortunately I found this film to be entirely routine and, it has to be said, dated. The acting is over the top, with exaggerated mannerisms from the likes of Rosalind Russell, although Claire Trevor (LADY OF DECEIT) is better in support. After the opening murder not much really happens and the script just isn't engaging or the characters authentic enough to care about. I'm slowly becoming a fan of films from this era but THE VELVET TOUCH is the one that's left me cold so far.

Following the costly failure of "Mourning Becomes Electra," which Russell and her husband Frederick Brisson had produced themselves, this somewhat more commercial enterprise put the star back in the public's good graces. She plays a highly successful Broadway actress, groomed from youth by producer Ames, who longs to branch out from the romantic comedies she's known for and perform in "Hedda Gabler" for a competitor of his. When Ames responds to her wishes with blackmail threats, a fight ensues and he winds up dead. Fortunately for Russell, no one seems to notice that she was even in Ames' office and she is able to slink out, leaving the blame at another person's doorstep. However, guilt begins to eat away at her and she can't seem to elude Greenstreet, the inspector on the case. Despite the bright promise of a relationship with new beau Genn and the ability to fulfill her dreams on stage, she starts to feel the heat of her inadvertent crime. Russell, looking fine in a series of Travis Banton costumes, gives a dedicated and engrossing performance, despite the presence of a few mannerisms, which would eventually become part and parcel of her repertoire. Genn is smooth and even a bit mysterious. The pair had starred in "Electra" and was deemed to have chemistry enough for another teaming despite that film's box office non-performance. Ames is appropriately commanding, demanding and nasty, yet shows a tad of humanity under all his bravado. Trevor, as a rival for both Ames' attention and the theatre audiences', gives an excellent performance. She won an Oscar this same year for "Key Largo." Russell was wise to let her retain her snarky dialogue and let her have a few moments in the sun as it benefits the film nicely to have a costar of her stature. Greenstreet has fun with his probing character (who enjoys bursts of laughter at unexpected times.) Generally, the cast is made up of above-average actors, which aids the quality of the film and makes it interesting to watch today. Comic veteran McHugh has a small role as a stage manager while attractive newcomers Barker and Hyer have little roles as actors in Russell's current play. Tobin appears as an implied-gay gossip columnist. It's an interesting enough mystery story made more palatable by the sheen of some beautiful sets (not the least of which is the opulent theatre itself, one of the largest sets of its kind), costumes and dramatic lighting. It also contains some entertaining dialogue (pre-dating "All About Eve," which would ratchet the chatter up even further, by two years.) Fans of harmonic men's groups will get a kick out of the title tune, crooned by an unknown gaggle of gentlemen.

Sidney Greenstreet rarely played roles where he was on the side of the law. Casper Gutman set the stamp that Greenstreet would be usually the villain of the piece. But occasionally he is a legal (or quasi-legal) authoritarian figure. Superintendent Grodman of Scotland Yard (THE VERDICT), Sheriff Titus Semple (FLAMINGO ROAD), Solicitor Jerome K. Arbutny (THREE STRANGERS) are all involved in the law, but all cross the line (although Grodman's crimes are actually to punish a man who was responsible for two murders - one a judicial murder - and also to rid the British public of Grodman's incompetent, but overly ambitious successor Superintendent Buckley). Greenstreet also, occasionally, played sleuths. In CONFLICT he is a psychiatrist who realizes that Humphrey Bogart is a killer, and uses psychological warfare to force Bogart to reveal his hand. And here, in THE VELVET TOUCH, he is a police detective in New York City. And he is determined to solve the murder of Broadway Producer Leon Ames.Greenstreet's technique here is like a possible model for Peter Falk's "Columbo". He studies the case, zeros in on the likely suspect, and never gets out of that person's face - turning up all over the place. He can act naturally (like Columbo does) because he loves the theater, and is a fan of Rosalind Russell. She is slowly aware that he is a fan of her talent, but that he is equally determined never to lose sight of his job and his case.THE VELVET TOUCH is an interesting film noir that never quite gets as noir as one would have suspected. Probably the reason is that the stage atmosphere, with it's sexual tensions (between Ames and Russell, Ames and Trevor, Genn and Russell) are all as interesting, as is the stage rivalry between star Russell and rising rival Trevor. So the noir atmosphere does not dominate as much as it normally would.Russell is a leading lady who has had a well publicized romance with big time producer Ames. But he has been showing a cooling down towards her, and it is directed towards Trevor. Russell confronts him, and in the confrontation she kills him. She is able to leave, but (ironically enough) Trevor shows up at the theater at the same time, and this will come back to haunt Trevor. Russell, meanwhile, has started recovering with Leo Genn, and Greenstreet, quietly notes all this. While a whispering campaign circulates against Trevor, Greenstreet keeps up a subtle pressure on Russell that slowly affects her working and emotional relationships. This intrudes in her new dramatic production - she is playing Ibsen's HEDDA GABLA. SPOILER COMING UP.Trevor commits suicide due to the suspicions against her. But Greenstreet is not impressed (unlike the others). He promises to tell his favorite actress his solution to the murder after watching the first night performance as Hedda. As he watches from the wings, Russell sends him a message confessing to the crime. He is obviously expecting that confession. And the play is approaching it's end, when Hedda commits suicide. We watch the conclusion - will Russell actually kill herself now or will she be a trooper in the end?It is an interesting variation for Greenstreet, and gives Russell a rare chance to play a villain. Genn is good too, trying to give the emotional support to the woman he loves but finding her coming apart at the seams because of Greenstreet's relentlessness. In the end it just is too much for him too handle. And Trevor's collapse and destruction is startling - she rarely goes so totally to pieces. The sole weakness in the plot is that Russell's villainy is not as ruthless as most noir villains (although she encourages rumors against Trevor). But the setting up of the cat and mouse plot is sufficient to make this weakness less important than it seems at first sight.