Blonde Venus is Sternberg's only Dietrich film set in this country, but Sternberg's America, like his Russia or China, exists on no map we're ever likely to see. Dietrich plays an ex-cabaret performer who resumes her career in order to finance treatment for her husband's rare disease. She accepts money from a playboy (Cary Grant) who falls in love with her; when the husband (Herbert Marshall) misunderstands, she sets out on a journey across America with her son. Leading an increasingly impoverished existence, they move south to New Orleans and the Mexican border.

Highlights of Blonde Venus include Dietrich singing “Hot Voodoo” in an ape suit, and a luminous New Orleans bordello sequence that matches anything Sternberg has shot. Our print includes the interesting introductory sequence set in Germany which is often missing from 16mm prints.