Fantastic!

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is perhaps the slightest (and least engaging) of the Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich collaborations – being a mother love tale that, frankly, were a dime a dozen around this period! Still, the director's pictorial sense (best served by the décor, ranging from lab equipment in the early scenes to an expressively-lit bamboo hut for the star's refuge in her downtrodden phase) and flair for the outré (notably the opening skinny-dipping sequence, a pure pre-Code moment, and the celebrated "Hot Voodoo" number where a gorilla performer does a striptease to reveal the star underneath!) make all the difference! Unfortunately, co-star Cary Grant made his sole film with either in his 'baptism of fire' year and, consequently, his acting here is rather stiff…not that the nominal male lead – dullish, middle-aged Herbert Marshall (already on his way to becoming a character actor) – is any better, however! Dietrich herself tries, but she is decidedly too glamorous to be convincing in this type of soggy stuff. The protagonist is a German cabaret artist whom scientist Marshall meets and marries while doing research in her country; cut to a few years later, they are now living in America with a child in tow for whom, of course, she has given up her career. Still, this talent comes in handy once again when it transpires that Marshall has contracted radium poisoning and rapidly requires a sizeable sum in order to undergo treatment abroad. Begrudgingly, he acquiesces to Dietrich resuming her stage-act but, having now made a name for herself under the titular billing, she also attracts the attention of millionaire playboy Grant; the woman willingly gives in to him (having grown fond of the limelight and the high life that comes with it) but, when the fully-recovered Marshall arrives home ahead of schedule, all hell breaks loose. He files for divorce and also requests custody of the boy but, instead of handing him over, she decides to take it on the lam with the kid! Living precariously for a while, she is eventually tracked down by a private investigator and, managing then to land another singing job, inevitably runs into Grant one more time; however, upon playing her American hometown, she decides to pay Marshall a visit – with the younger man finally realizing that she belongs with her husband after all and graciously opting to step out of the picture. Incidentally, just as her eternal rival Greta Garbo was ideal for a particular type of film (and retired when audiences would not accept her in any other genre), Dietrich here treads largely unsuitable ground – though, as I said, Sternberg was too much of an auteur to allow the melodrama inherent in the plot to cramp (for long) the overt stylishness he consummately brought to whatever material came his way. That said, Dietrich took a necessary breather from his Svengali-like hold (not least in view of the disappointing box-office returns of both this one and DISHONORED {1931}) – only to subsequently re-emerge with their most grandiose (if, commercially, no more successful) effort yet i.e. THE SCARLET EMPRESS (1934)... P.S. For some reason, I never caught BLONDE VENUS on Italian TV (unlike the rest of the Sternberg-Dietrich series), so that I first got to watch this on local TV in the mid-1990s via an infrequent prime-time broadcast; then, in 2000, I acquired an original PAL VHS of it – which was eventually rendered obsolete when the upgrade to the R1 DVD (as part of the 5-film 2-disc MARLENE DIETRICH: THE GLAMOUR COLLECTION set) was made.

We do not know, that moment in history, we lost the direction and the feeling of having made some of the worst paradigms we have taken as a way of life. How many times will God - and even the devil himself - his brow contracted a smile, to hear men say: "This is mine," "She's mine","He's mine." ¿When will we understand that all have diminishing the love? If it restricts your freedom, not for your sake but because I need you... and so is my love. ¡Who cares if you're not happy as long as I'm happy! I will compensate you somehow. ¡What can I do if the world is full of interesting people! But, as you're concerned, the only (only) that may be interested, is me. You leave or I'll kill you if you are unfaithful... but do you know? I, too, how many times I've wanted to tell you the infidel!... And I would confess that sometimes I have been: thinking (million times!), word (hundreds of times!) and work (a few times).On a planet with millions of beautiful and interesting beings, ¿how one person belong to?, ¿How do swear that I will be yours? ¡Illusory promises! We are a couple standing in a bucket full of lies. Problems, tantrums, separation... raged in the day to day because of the possession. ¿What is that you can own? Become well this question. ¿Someone I can have?, ¿I would allow someone who owns me? Every time you flow, and generate ideas, feelings, words, actions... ¿Can someone "own" (have), except occasionally, all you are? "Blonde Venus" is a nice movie that I have moved to these reflections. It is the story of a woman who loves her husband, but, wanting to help, she meets another man who is sexy, gallant, generous, rich, and no possessiveness. He gives all of himself and is happy to have her what she wants to give. And when he feels she wants to return to the other, he walks away. No calls, no require, no charges... just accept. THIS IS CALLED LOVE! This is how he truly loves.Legitimate husband, in contrast, takes revenge on her, leaves and stalks to remove your child, you bitter and puts on a face an opportunistic world that becomes cold as an iceberg. And when it succeeds legitimacy, one feels that won the absurd laws of society, but also feels that lost love. We grant the benefit of the doubt because there is no reconciliation and forgiveness. Let us hope that love is born again. The Dietrich strikes a role that impacts and moving our fibers. Runs her life and gives an example of character and resilience. And, as usual, the teacher Josef von Sternberg delights with a proposal not exotic, sensual, irreverent, and scenarios perfectly romantic decorating adventure.This film is making history. Do not miss it.

This Dietrich film throws in everything but the kitchen sink (and I'm not too sure that's not in there, too) for the sake of entertainment. If you've never seen Marlene Dietrich before and start your Dietrich 101 with this, then most others will pale in comparison.The story revolves her and husband Herbert Marshall and how they met, which plays a pivotal part of the film throughout. Soon after their marriage and having a sweet little boy, played by actor Dickie Moore, scientist Herbert gets sick due to exposure to a chemical in his experiments. In order to be cured, they need money for his surgery. So she goes back to being a performer, which she quit to be a wife and mother, and Herbert reluctantly acquiesces.This film manages credibility by all of the stars' sincere and heartfelt acting, including a young Cary Grant, and a fast-moving script. Scandal, deception and lies, jealousy, twists and turns, a mother's love, and a gorilla make this Dietrich film a true essential to cinema history. If you haven't seen "Blonde Venus," then you've not truly appreciated Marlene Dietrich.

As testament to her large array of skills, yet I have seen it only in this film, and never discussed by anyone elsewhere:As opposed to the low alto voice she used in 'Destry Rides Again' and all other performances I am aware of, in a very early, short scene in this movie, just after she has met her future husband Herbert Marshall, she is riding back to town from swimming with her friends, when she breaks out in a very short song with an amazingly beautiful, operatic-quality SOPRANO voice.Why she chose to always sing in the lower, more speaking-quality voice later in her career, when I assume she could have shown off her vocal range, has always intrigued me.