Blonde Venus

The 1930s was the so-called pre-Code era when censorship was lax and Hollywood made the most of it. As such, Blonde Venus was unabashed about flaunting the sexuality of Marlene Dietrich. The plot, though, is just about as trite as the average Cantonese soap: Man (Herbert Marshall) falls in love and marries cabaret singer. Husband falls gravely ill and wife returns to her former life to finance his treatment. Wife becomes popular as the ‘Blonde Venus' and takes up with a millionaire (played by the irresistible Cary Grant), succumbing to his charms and desires... Director von Sternberg created an iconic portrait of his muse in the famous ‘Hot Voodoo' number, an erotic set-piece that culminates in Dietrich slowly and lasciviously peeling herself out of a gorilla costume. Pak Yin was not unlike her peers brought up on Hollywood films in finding intrigue and inspiration from pre-Code stars as Norma Shearer and Marlene Dietrich. The way she carried herself with allure and poise in her earliest roles, in particular, reads like a leaf taken out of a pre-Code Dietrich book.

Print courtesy of Filmmuseum Berlin - Deutsche Kinemathek

Date	Time	Venue
1/4/2017 (Sat)	7:30pm	Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

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