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Blonde Venus  /  The Love Parade

Blonde Venus (1932)
December 19, 2015 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Janet Bergstrom, UCLA.

Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive in cooperation with Universal Pictures with funding provided by the AFI/NEA.

Blonde Venus  (1932)


Marlene Dietrich portrays a former cabaret singer, forced to return to work to support her husband's desperately needed medical treatments.  Famed as the "Blonde Venus" of nightclub life (and not incidentally, photographed to shimmering perfection in astounding performances), she nonetheless becomes the mistress of a wealthy man, all for the sake of the husband who comes to despise her, forcing her to decide where she really belongs.

35mm, b/w, 93 min.  Production: Paramount Publix Corp.  Distribution: Paramount Publix Corp.  Producer: Josef von Sternberg.  Director: Josef von Sternberg.  Screenwriter: S. K. Lauren.  Cinematographer: Bert Glennon.  With: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Dickie Moore, Gene Morgan.

Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive in cooperation with Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures with funding provided by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The Love Parade  (1929)


Director Ernst Lubitsch believed music was the basis for all the arts, so naturally his first talkie was a musical.  This whimsical love story between a queen and her consort became a significant cinematic milestone, as Lubitsch crossed the European operetta and the American revue, combining satirical lyrics with flowing melodies.  The film was Maurice Chevalier's first success in America, and Jeannette MacDonald's film debut.

35mm, b/w, 107 min. Production: Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.  Distribution: Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.  Director: Ernst Lubitsch.  Based on the novel Le prince consort by Leon Xanrof, Jules Chancel.  Screenwriter: Ernest Vajda.  Cinematographer: Victor Milner.  Production Design: Hans Dreier.  Editor: Merrill White.  Composer: Victor Schertzinger.  With: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Lupino Lane, Lillian Roth, Edgar Norton.  35mm, b/w, 107 min.