IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Maddyclassicfilms One Touch of Venus is directed by William A. Seiter, has a screenplay by Harry Kurnitz and Frank Tashlin. The film stars Robert Walker Sr, Ava Gardner, Eve Arden and Tom Conway.Eddie Hatch (Robert Walker Sr)is a window dresser in a large department store. Eddie is arranging a statue of Venus which is to be unveiled and to his surprise Venus(Ava Gardner)comes to life. The statue disappears because she has come to life. Store owner Whitfield Savoury(Tom Conway)suspects Hatch of stealing the statue. Comedy ensues when Venus falls in love with this mortal man who has brought her to life.Ava is perfect casting for the role of goddess taking human form, she is at her most beautiful here and there is an ethereal air about her. Ava and Robert work so well together, it's a shame they never made another film together.Robert usually starred in more dramatic films but here he proved what a good comic he could too. He conveys Hatch's bemusement and panic at the situation he has found himself in so well.Conway is good as the store owner and Eve Arden is good as always as Savoury's assistant.

James Hitchcock Supernatural fantasies were popular on both sides of the Atlantic during the late forties and early fifties, possibly because the heavy death toll during World War II had made people think about the possibility of an afterlife. "One Touch of Venus" is one of a number of such films from this period; others include "It's a Wonderful Life" "Portrait of Jennie", "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" and, from Britain, "A Matter of Life and Death" and "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman".The story of "One Touch of Venus" is loosely based upon the Pygmalion myth. (In turn it inspired the two "Mannequin" films of the late eighties and early nineties). Whitfield Savory, a wealthy department- store owner, buys a statue of the goddess Venus for $200,000 and plans to exhibit it in the store. Eddie Hatch, a window dresser, kisses the statue on the lips, which has the effect of bringing Venus to life. The film then explores the various complications which arise when the newly awakened Venus falls in love with Eddie, Whitfield falls in love with Venus, Eddie's jealous girlfriend Gloria falls in love with his best friend Joe and Eddie himself is arrested on a charge of stealing the statue, there being no other way to account for its mysterious disappearance. The film started life as a Broadway musical, but most of the music composed for it by Kurt Weill is left out. I have never seen the stage version, so I cannot comment on the quality of the omitted musical numbers, but I felt that the film might have worked better as a large- scale Hollywood musical in colour than it does in the black-and-white version that was actually made, which is less a musical comedy than a romantic comedy with songs. None of these songs are particularly memorable, although the film did confirm my view that Ava Gardner had a fine singing voice. (Her vocals for "Showboat" are often regarded as superior to those we actually hear in the film, provided by a professional singer hired to dub her voice, and were used when the soundtrack was released as a gramophone record). As an actress rather than as a singer, however, this is not one of Ava's most memorable performances, and she is never asked to do much more than to look sexy and glamorous. (I must, however, admit that that is a task which she could perform better than almost any other actress of the period). Robert Walker never struck me as a natural romantic lead- his most memorable appearance was as the villainous Bruno in "Strangers on a Train"- and he is poor here, although it should be pointed on that the film was made when he was going through a serious crisis in his personal life. The best acting comes from Eve Arden as Whitfield's secretary Molly. Molly is that stock Hollywood figure, the bespectacled secretary whose dowdy appearance belies the fact that she is in fact extremely attractive and whose brisk, efficient manner hides a secretly romantic and passionate personality; like most examples of this stock figure she is secretly in love with her boss. The main problem with this movie is that it is too brief and perfunctory. It revolves around not a love-triangle, or even a love- quadrilateral, but a love-hexagon, whose corners are Eddie, Venus, Whitfield, Molly, Gloria and Joe. To do justice to such a fantastic, and convoluted, plot would require both a longer running time and a more carefully written script to explore all the various angles, and as I said making it as a musical might have helped. (Musicals could often get away with fanciful plots that would have seemed ridiculous in the context of any other film). The film that actually exists left me with the distinct impression that the producers simply wanted to cash in on the success of a Broadway hit, but wanted to do so as quickly and cheaply as possible. 4/10

morganoneill This is a fabulous film. I was lucky to get this in VHS 7 years ago. what a great cast, and a great story for robert walker and ava gardner..they are like hepburn and tracy in their rapport for each other, so much comedy and love.....not a musical at all....great story and lively script wish they had gone on to make lots of movies together. two tragic stars who worked so well together and he died so young . what a loss of robert walker, so diverse his acting roles and every one was better than the last..see all his movies you wont be disappointed, and ava of course, a great beauty, but so serious in all her roles...in venus she shows her great comedy potential..see it.

FloatingOpera7 One Touch of Venus (1948): Starring Ava Gardner, Robert Walker, Eve ARden, Dick Haymes, Olga San Juan, Tom Conway, James Flavin, Sara Allgood, Hugh Herbert, Mary Benoit, Ralph Brooks, Russ Conway, Gino Corrado, Ralph Peters, George J. Lewis, Eddie Parker, Pat Parrish...Director William A. Seiter, Screenplay Harry Kurnitz, Frank Tashlin, S.J. Perelman, Ogden Nash, Musical Based on the novel by F. Anstey.Musicals were not rare in the 30's and 40's, though they were less memorable than the more famous musicals which hit Broadway from the 60's and onward when names like Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Stephen Sondheim became mainstream. Before that you had musicals like this one. One Touch of Venus, released in 1948, is a delightful romantic comedy with a fantasy twist. An unassuming and meek department store worker, Eddie Hatch (Robert Walker) is unhappy about his life. He has no prospects in his career, he has a dull and possessive girlfriend, and feels nothing exciting will ever happen to him. He kisses a mannequin of the ancient Roman love goddess Venus and she comes to life, played by Ava Gardner. Things suddenly begin to look up for Eddie Hatch. He becomes more respected in his job, girls are suddenly more attracted to him and he has Venus by his side. The lessons he learns ultimately change him for the better. There are not as many dance numbers and songs as musicals would get later on, and without the music, it would be a fine comic romance. Ava Gardner is always wonderful, carrying the film with charm and intelligence. She is not merely a piece of Old Hollywood eye candy, though Ava Gardner, along with other actresses like Lana Turner and Lola Lolabriggida were sexual icons of their time. She plays Venus as she would a modern, liberated independent woman. She is a goddess after all, but she never seems to be using spells or magic to ensnare Eddie Hatch. He falls for her as naturally as if she were a human girl. The musical score is by Kurt Weill, a total surprise to me. Weill was a serious composer of the 20th century and his music include orchestral and opera. Why he would lend his talents for this non-artsy film is beyond me. As trite as it may be, it's a good, old fashioned feel-good romantic comedy. It has no real sexual innuendo, no vulgar language and nothing R rated so the family can enjoy this, though even as such it's a film best appreciated by fans of Ava Gardner and old Hollywood.