Back home

The Velvet Touch

30 votes

After accidentally killing her lecherous producer, a famous actress tries to hide her guilt.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1948-07-13

Runtime: 100 mins

Director: Jack Gage

Writer: Leo Rosten

Spoken language: English

Genres: Drama, Thriller

Original title: The Velvet Touch

Production Companies: Independent Artists, RKO Radio Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Rosalind Russell

Leo Genn

Claire Trevor

Sydney Greenstreet

Leon Ames

Frank McHugh

Walter Kingsford

Dan Tobin

Lex Barker

Nydia Westman

Theresa Harris

Russell Hicks

Irving Bacon

Esther Howard

Reviews

Geronimo1967

This is a very glamorous, but rather cyclical, drama about a theatrical impresario "Dunning" (Leon Ames) who discovers "Valerie Stanton" (Rosalind Russell) and turns her into a star of latter day stage equivalents of soap operas. Of course, there is their simultaneous romance that has long since lost it's sparkle and is now just the source of constant rancour between the two who now only need the other for financial reasons. Enter Walter Kingsford who offers her a much meatier part and Leo Genn as a British architect with whom she has actually fallen in love and the story builds to a rather predictable, messy, development. Up to this point, the on-off, up-down relationship/rivalry melodrama rather drags it all down a bit - despite Russell looking like the proverbial million dollars; and it is really only now with the arrival of Sydney Greenstreet as the deceptively charming investigating detective "Capt. Danbury" that the story becomes a little more interesting - he is a theatre buff, but can he see through the façade?

2022-07-09

John Chard

Where did you get your luck, Valerie? Or does God pity the wicked? The Velvet Touch is directed by Jack Gage and collectively written by Leo Rosten, Walter Reilly, William Mercer and Annabel Ross. It stars Rosalind Russell, Leo Genn, Claire Trevor, Sydney Greenstreet and Leon Ames. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Joseph Walker. Ah, now then, is this a murder mystery in reverse? At the beginning we are shown the crime of murder, so we know the main character is guilty. The rest of the picture thrives on if Valerie Stanton (Russell) will either get caught by the law, own up, or become a victim of crime herself? The screenplay contains a flashback and that grand old devil of someone else being pegged for the murder. There's witticisms abound, with some wonderfully choice lines delivered with relish, while the cast turn in decent shows - Greenstreet doesn't show up till the 45 minute mark, but promptly waddles in and steals the film! Set to the background of the theatre it's unsurprising to find this is something of a theatrical drama rather than a film noir of the era. It has found its way into a couple of film noir reference books, without really being film noir as such. Certainly the photography is appealing to noir fans, and there's a dark passage of play that definitely comes out of noirville, but really it's a marginal entry. But hey! It's still a very good film that's recommended. 7/10

2016-02-07

Recommendations

Timon of Athens

2018-04-22

Renowned for his extreme generosity, the Athenian nobleman Timon has fallen prey to flatterers and f

2.9

Wonderful and Loved by All

2007-08-24

Isabella Eklöf is an unemployed actress in her early thirties. Her friends all enjoy stable relation

Revue Starlight ―The LIVE― #2 Transition

2019-02-27

After the events of Revue Starlight ―The LIVE― #1 revival, Seiran General Arts Institute challenges

2.8

Gaiety George

1946-07-15

The life of Irishman George Howard who buys an English theatre and strives to improve the standard o

3.3

Le Repas des fauves

2024-05-03

A Far Off Place

1993-03-12

Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength whe

Richard III

2015-02-04

Richard of Gloucester uses murder and manipulation to claim England's throne.

3.3

Marked Woman

1937-04-10

In the underworld of Manhattan, a woman dares to stand up to one of the city's most powerful gangste

Pouť k milosrdným

1983-01-01

3.2

Blind Faith

1998-11-23

In 1957, black lawyer John Williams has to defend his nephew Charlie, who is accused of strangling a

3.4

The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan

1970-04-18

An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stif

Tod der Engel

1992-11-09

Gerhard Wismuth is said to have killed his two children. The press takes up the case and does good b

3.2

Vantage Point

2008-02-01

During an historic counter-terrorism summit in Spain, the President of the United States is struck d

3.5

Balada z hadrů

1960-08-17

Jan Werich and Miroslav Horníček in the legendary play of the Liberated Theatre.

4.1

Persona

1966-10-18

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in al

3.6

Finding Neverland

2004-10-29

During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—w

Rêve d'automne

2010-01-10

A man and a woman who loved each other find themselves in a cemetery. He is here to attend the funer

3.6

The Last Metro

1980-09-17

In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis

3.4

The Taste of Others

2000-03-01

Unpolished and ultra-pragmatic industrialist Jean-Jacques Castella reluctantly attends Racine's trag

3.6

Henry V

1989-10-05

In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of