User Reviews

Seldom is it possible to find three unusual elements in the same film; these three I claim are a brilliant part for a female lead, an absorbing and tense duel between heroine and pursuer, and an ethically satisfying excuse for murder. I claim that "The Velvet Touch" presents all three elements quite successfully. It is a very well-directed film, set in theaters, interior rooms and apartments; and I suggest it has one of the simplest story lines of any first-rate film. An actress has been groomed by her mentor-agent-Svengali and has become Broadway's leading comedic star. He wants her to do a new comedy, after her most recent triumph; she wants to do a dramatic play. They quarrel; he threatens to run her reputation, her career, her life, and in a moment of fear an loathing she kills him with a blunt instrument. The remainder of the film consists of the actress's preparation for an achievement of the dramatic triumph she had thought but not been certain she could earn to, even while she is being pursued by a portly and wise police inspector who after her opening night success, which he allows her to complete, escorts her to what the viewer knows will be a trial for murder of some sort. Of course there is a new fiancée, and a woman falsely accused connected with the deceased, but essentially that is the entire storyline. What this narrative does not convey however is the skill with which Sydney Greenstreet plays the deferential but brilliant detective; nor does it hint at the possibilities of the main part, played in this film by Rosalind Russell who brings out many of those potentials. Powerful Leo Genn plays the fiancée, Claire Trevor the other woman suspected of murder and Leon Ames the despicable murder victim. Others in the cast include Frank McHugh, Walter Kingsford, Dan Tobin, Nydia Westman, Bill Erwin and Martha Hyer, among others. The director of the film, Jack Gage, handled the entire project very well; his blocking and photographing of interior scenes makes the action flowq dramatically, and never seemed "staged". Then there are other technical contributions and subordinate creations: Travis Banton's gowns; cinematography by Joseph Walker, set decorations by Darrell Silvera and Maurice Yates and music by Leigh Harline. Miss Russell produced this film for herself with her husband, and she comes close to making it work perfectly in my view. The part, in my judgment as a writer, cannot be "played"; it requires charisma, highly-trained Shakespearean ability in comedy and the equal ability to perform drama; perhaps one actor in a hundred could even approach such a combination. The mood of the piece is somber, the lighting subdued, the B/W photography dense and well-lighted at the same time. This is a very interesting and moving work throughout; we know Valerie did not mean to kill the tyrannical business partner who wanted do dominate her; but her desire to prove that she had been right about playing this dramatic part she had chosen becomes the viewer's importance as well. She is willing to confess to save an innocent accusee; but the play's the thing in "The Velvet Touch". And that she succeeds vindicates her judgment doubly--that the man trying to ruin her life had been wrong and that his brutal manners and lack of ethics were not desperation to save her at all but something far more sinister. A stirring ending caps off a memorable motion picture as Valeris and the Captain of detectives walk from the theater like royalty, not like those involved in a murder.

The beginning of the film shows how Broadway actress Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) came to accidentally kill her mentor, producer, and past lover Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames). Yes, he was threatening to tell her fiancé, architect Michael Morrell (Leo Genn) about their torrid affair - exaggerating if he had to - so he could keep her around professionally, but this is really a personal obsession in his case.

However, Dunning actually is assaulting her and physically refusing to let her leave his office by grabbing her. It's not a stretch to think someone as off balance as Dunning was at that moment could have been capable of rape. So technically Valerie was within her rights to strike him as hard as she had to in order to get away. It's just unfortunate that when she strikes him with his own award statue that she kills him.

If Valerie had called the police right then, chances are she would not have even been charged. But no, she simply leaves the office - it is late, long after her final performance of this particular show - and descends the theater staircase and escapes the scene undetected. The ace in the hole is that she always wears long gloves - an idea of Dunning's - so ironically Dunning has set up his killer to leave no fingerprints.

To make matters even easier on Valerie, a woman who loved Dunning before Valerie came along and took him away, Claire Trevor as Marian Webster, finds the body, picks up the statuette, and cries out in horror and loss over the body of the man she has always loved but who has not loved her in a very long time. She is suspect number one, tied down in a mental hospital.

Valerie can leave the scene and allow the law to make the obvious judgment that a jealous Marian killed Dunning, but she cannot leave her conscience behind.

Rosalind Russell is terrific as a woman who basically emotionally unravels ... until she settles on a course of action. Sydney Greenstreet is the police detective sent out to see if this case is as open and shut as it seems. He plays the role with elegant charm, and you never know if, like Columbo, he has suspected what really happened all along. Genn plays the fiancé who turns out to be more insightful than he has been putting on, and nobody plays the mistreated woman who won't let go no matter what like Claire Trevor.

The score does not reflect a noir or a crime drama, but the elegance of Broadway as it is portrayed here - the restaurants, the parties, the rehearsals, and the ornate theaters that are shrines to great architecture. I'd recommend this one.

Vintage film buffs are here offered a cast to die for from the top-billed Roz Russell through Leon Ames, Clare Trevor and Sydney Greenstreet, who turns up four and a half reels in and immediately embarks on a cat-and- mouse duel with Russell. Although there have been a sprinkling - Stage Door, Morning Glory, All About Eve - the theatre hasn't featured too often in film so The Velvet Touch fills an all-too real gap. God knows how much Sardi's shelled out for product placement but it was worth it for the theatre-buff viewers who will lap up the atmosphere. The plot fits where it touches but this time around it's a case of the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts.

For most of my life I didn't realize that Rosiland Russell was such a prolific screen actress. I thought of her as mostly being a Broadway actress. Only in recent years have I discovered many of her films, and quite a few are very entertaining. However, there have been times -- and this film is one of them -- when I see what I consider to be "overacting" in her films. It almost seems to be some exaggerated "looks" that might be appropriate on the stage, but which look almost silent-film quality on the big screen. I noticed the trait here, particularly in the early scenes of the film surrounding a death.

However, this is an interesting film. I was interested in Leo Genn's performance, that here is so much better than his rather stilted performance in "Plymouth Adventure". A very good romantic lead here. And what makes his performance all the more intriguing is the witty (and sometimes cutting) dialog between Genn and Russell early in the film. It's delicious! Genn also supplies the biggest plot twist! And the way they lead into the conclusion is rather refreshing.

Overall, this is a psychological drama that's rather good, it's main problem being the slight overacting in a few places by Rosiland Russell. However, overall the film is good enough to overshadow that issue.

Claire Trevor is interesting here. I always thought she was a somewhat underrated actress. I was less impressed with Leon Ames. Ames had his place in films, as a supporting actor, but here his role is quite central, and he is no more than satisfactory. Frank McHugh is here in a rather unimpressive supporting role; which was more the level I always thought he was deserving of.

The story itself is quite good. A leading actress (Russell) chaffs at being under the romantic control of a Broadway producer (Ames). It's unintentional, but during a quarrel, she kills him, and the blame eventually falls on a supporting actress who does love him (Trevor). Who is sent in to investigate? Sydney Greenstreet (although he doesn't come into the film until 47 minutes into the film. Greenstreet is entertaining (as always), but let's face it, he only had one on screen persona).

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.

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.

When the opening credits come up, you think that this film is going to be a musical as a chorus serenades us with "The Velvet Touch", a thoroughly forgettable song. It's an extremely strange beginning for a murder drama; however, it swings into the story in short order and is off and running.

Roz plays an established Broadway star partnered with Leon Ames, her producer and long-time paramour. She falls for the rather bland Leo Genn and seeks to break off her collaboration, both professional and personal with Ames. He's not having it and she clubs him over the head. Exit Mr. Ames. Claire Trevor, looking a bit frumpy here, is the long suffering and rejected lover of Ames. She is blamed for the murder and commits suicide. Will Roz confess, kill herself out of guilt on stage while appearing in "Hedda Gabler" or get away with murder? That is the question. Add the excellent Sidney Greenstreet as a New York police detective (who came up with that casting?)and some good character parts with Frank McHugh and Esther Howard and you should have a winner. But the story, partly told in flashback, while satisfactory, is not particularly spell binding. The film really begins to drag after the opening murder scenes and doesn't seem to have that extra punch/suspense/plot twist necessary to fully hold your interest. It's not bad, it's just not that good.

The star of this movie (Rosalind Russell) and its producer (who was also Russell's husband), created "Independent Artists Ltd" and for their first production, selected a story about a murder that was committed because of the conflict that existed between a top actress and her producer!! Fortunately, this wasn't autobiographical and provided the basis for an entertaining melodrama that features a colourful collection of characters, a wonderfully witty script and an on-going sense of tension that's created because of the circumstances of the murder and its unexpected repercussions. Guilt, jealousy and bitterness are just a few of the emotions that fuel the passions of the story's main characters and ensure that what takes place behind the scenes at a Broadway theatre, is every bit as the dramatic as anything that takes place on stage.

For the last ten years, top Broadway star Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) and her producer, Gordon Dunning (Leon Ames) have worked together on a series of light comedies that have all been highly successful. Problems arise, however, when their latest hit comes to the end of its run and Valerie decides that she wants to develop her career by taking on more serious roles. In Gordon's office, the two ex-lovers get into a heated argument because he doesn't want to end their relationship (personally or professionally). In his desperation, he also threatens to reveal some unflattering information about her past which would undoubtedly threaten her current relationship with Michael Morrell (Leo Genn) who's a well-respected architect. As their argument starts to become more physical, Valerie picks up a statuette from Gordon's desk and hits him over the head with it and then, recognising that she's killed him, leaves the theatre shortly after.

Marian Webster (Claire Trevor), who had regularly been one of Valerie's co-stars during her association with Gordon, discovers the producer's dead body and is heartbroken because she'd been his lover until Valerie came along and had remained in love with him ever since. Her distress is so great that she immediately falls into a deep state of shock and has to be hospitalised. When the police investigation begins, Captain Danbury (Sydney Greenstreet) is assigned to the case and Marian Webster becomes the prime suspect because her fingerprints are the only ones found on the statuette. Unfortunately, because of her condition, Marian isn't well enough to be questioned by the police and so Danbury pursues his investigation by calling the whole theatre group together to discuss what they knew about what had transpired in Gordon's office. Nothing new seems to emerge from this process and so Marian Webster remains under suspicion and it seems that Valerie's going to get away with murder.

During the weeks that follow, Valerie becomes increasingly tormented by the guilt she feels about what's happened to Marian (despite the fact that the two women hate each other) and is also fearful about whether the police will discover that she's Gordon's killer. This makes her rehearsals for Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" extremely challenging and also makes it uncertain whether she'll ever be able to achieve her ultimate ambition and prove herself as a serious actress.

Rosalind Russell and Claire Trevor are both superb in their roles with Russell doing a great job of making her character's anguish recognisable whilst still conducting herself with her usual confidence. Leon Ames is brilliantly cast as the shrewd producer who has some cynical attitudes to the whole notion of love and Leo Genn is incredibly smug as the architect who patronises Valerie from the very first time he meets her. The outstanding performance, however, comes from Sydney Greenstreet who illuminates every scene he's in with his offbeat humour and his ability to convey non-verbally that he consistently knows more than he outwardly acknowledges.