User reviews

"The Velvet Touch" is a wonderful film starring Rosalind Russell as a glamorous Broadway star, Valerie Stanton, who accidentally kills her boyfriend-producer.

The movie's dialogue is sophisticated and so is its New York theater atmosphere - the parties, the clothes, the rivalries, and the lush theater itself which looks like the real thing, but is an elaborate set. Russell's costars include Sydney Greenstreet, Claire Trevor, and Leon Ames. Greenstreet's portrayal of the clever police detective is excellent, and you can see where he would get on Russell's frayed nerves. Trevor, as a rival of Valerie's, gives a marvelous performance. There is a clever juxtaposition between the film's plot and the play in which Valerie Stanton is appearing, Hedda Gabler. I've always considered this movie an unsung gem.

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

The murder mystery genre is carried out here well by some capable, veteran Hollywood regulars. While this was not Rosalind Russell's high point (that occurred in the film "Auntie Mame" ten years after this one was made), she does acquit herself well as the diva restless to go her own way and thus finds herself in a trap of her own making. The police detective captain played by Sydney Greenstreet is right up there with his unforgettable presence in the "Maltese Falcon" but here he parries the dialog with oiled charm in contrast to La Russel's soigne bearing of hateur a la the 'grande dame' actress she portrays. While the cast is uniformly good, and the story told in an unconventional way, it is not these things that stand out for me, since such a setting of a murder in a theatre was done before in such as the "G-string Murders" and others.

What does stand out for this film, however, is the background of a truly sumptuous theatre that you would swear was the real thing. Since I write about the draperies and passementeries used in theatres (as a member of the Theatre Historical Society of America), I was anxious to learn just where this monument with its gorgeous textiles was, and inquired of the American Film Institute through their web site. Their librarian graciously replied from their "AFI Catalog of Feature Films" that the theatre building was in fact a very elaborate set (said to be the largest and most elaborate to date)! They quote articles in the "Hollywood Reporter" of 1947 and '48 as their source of the details of this 1-1/2 million dollar film. The multi-swaged Grand Drapery and the stage's House Curtain with its 3-foot appliqued border above a 2-foot fringe is but an example of the gorgeous textiles they had created for presumably just this one use, along with all the elaborate decor and detailing. The attention to detail was so great that it is still hard to believe that one is not in a real building! Such work today would command many millions more dollars, but I guess that Hollywood could not arrange to get a suitable New York 'Broadway' theatre for rent for the filming at the right price and time, so they splurged on this set which is among several other good ones in the film. For those who appreciate movie settings as much as the story and acting, this one will please you.

ROSALIND RUSSELL is a stage actress who accidentally murders a lecherous producer (LEON AMES) in this melodramatic show biz story that has Russell trapped in a web of deception after killing Ames. Their stormy relationship is revealed in flashbacks as Russell thinks back on what led up to the murder.

Unfortunately, Russell lends not a velvet touch to the proceedings, but an artificial one. Her stage actress is full of Russell's most studied mannerisms, including shifty-eyed side glances whenever pangs of guilt are displayed. She's all artifice, but because she's playing a stage actress I suppose it's forgivable. Still, a little less posturing and more real acting would have helped.

CLAIRE TREVOR, as her rival on and off the stage, does a less mannered job as the hard-boiled other woman. LEO GENN is the architect who never goes to the theater and doesn't know Russell at all. It is he who comes between Ames and Russell once she decides she loves him.

Some of the plot contrivances are not exactly believable. Genn's sudden interest in the actress is one of them, as is their quickly falling in love. Forty-five minutes into the story SYDENY GREENSTREET makes his appearance to investigate the case and from this point on interest in the outcome mounts steadily as the investigation goes forward.

But the whole story is hardly handled with any subtlety. No melodramatic moment is overlooked by actress Russell or director John Gage. And that goes for the cat-and-mouse game Greenstreet plays with Russell. He plays his role with finesse, but it's the script that finally defeats everyone, especially Russell whose guilt complex is overplayed throughout.

Summing up: Interesting with some good moments but obvious. Trevor and Greenstreet steal the show, but Genn is wasted and Russell is ultimately a disappointment.

Trivia note: Expensive theater tickets were $4.80 in 1948.

Some willingness to believe the unlikely is necessary for most movies, but this one asks us to be too gullible to live. Rosalind Russell is threatened by her producer/former lover that, if she marries, he will tell her fiance things about her that will make him shrink from her in disgust and regard her as unclean. Roz Russell? The sophisticated, competent, affable woman who clearly has her head screwed on straight? Who would believe THAT? And yet, from the way Roz reacts, it seems he does have the goods on her.

Then there's Sydney Greenstreet as the head of the NY homicide squad. That's right--for a job like that, who else would they get but a fat old slow-moving Englishman with a horror-movie laugh? Who investigates the murder by going to a suspect's house for cocktails?

Intelligent and soigne, Roz is always good value, and the theatre setting is appealing, with its somewhat curdled glamour. But any Broadway play with such ludicrous implausibilities would be laughed off the stage.

Some fine performances by Rosalind Russell, Sydney Greenstreet and Leo Genn, although Russell's fear could be a little less obvious and more subdued. Good dialogue between Russell and Greenstreet. There are some strange shots of Greenstreet's face, shot from a lower angle, that seem to distort his features and make him look like he is quite ill.

Film makes it seem like Greenstreet knows more than he lets on, and I had to find out at the end what he knew. It was disappointing.

Also, there's an interesting connection between the film and the play, Hedda Gabler, within the film.

Don't miss this! The incomparable Roz, totally believable as a Broadway legend. What a delight to see her playing off the underrated, irreplaceable Claire Trevor. Clever mystery set in the environs of the theater with a real feel for atmosphere. It really seems like it was filmed on location on not on RKO soundstages. That is always one of the real treats of unappreciated the RKO product. Throw in a sly performance from Greenstreet. This one is a real gem!

Broadway diva Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell) is in love with Michael Morrell. She wants to retire. Her producer Gordon Dunning refuses to let her quit and blackmails her into staying. She hits him over the head in the struggle. He's dead and actress Marian Webster becomes the prime suspect as police Captain Danbury investigates the case.

The opening is great. The story needs to move forward after that and not backwards. I don't like the flashbacks. It's not necessary to understand the minutia of her relationship with Gordon. Quite frankly, the opening reveals all the important parts and Gordon says it all in his rant. The movie is still interesting as it follows the investigation and Valerie's moral dilemma in a paranoid thriller. She could try harder to cover up the incident. It's just that the flashbacks really saps the intensity out of any thriller elements early in the movie.

At first, THE VELVET TOUCH seems like it will be a traditional noirish murder mystery, with a sinister slaying at a theatre followed by a detective investigation into the various suspects. But no, we learn the identity of the murder at the beginning and the film instead becomes a character drama as we learn what the effects of guilt and suspicion have on a person.

Unfortunately I found this film to be entirely routine and, it has to be said, dated. The acting is over the top, with exaggerated mannerisms from the likes of Rosalind Russell, although Claire Trevor (LADY OF DECEIT) is better in support. After the opening murder not much really happens and the script just isn't engaging or the characters authentic enough to care about. I'm slowly becoming a fan of films from this era but THE VELVET TOUCH is the one that's left me cold so far.

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?

Rosalind Russell has a field day playing a Broadway diva murderess The Velvet Touch. With the viewer witness to the act we watch as Russell's character tries to act her way out of moments as she calls on her stage mannerisms rather than face reality.

Vallerie Stanton (Russell) is the toast of Broadway drawing room comedy but wants a shot at some serious Ibsen. Her manager (Leon Ames) sees nothing but folly behind it as well a career killer. They argue after a closing and she murders him and escapes detection. An ex-girlfriend actress (Claire Trevor) becomes a major suspect while we watch Val nervously attempt to evade the suspicions of Captain Danbury (Sydney Greenstreet).

A light and dark Broadway murder mystery featuring a fittingly played, slightly over the top Russell matching wits with Greenstreet in a very rear, good guy role for him. The brutality played out early, it becomes a fun, we know who did it with a charming and outstanding supporting cast.

Joe Walker's camera work captures a Hollywood theatre set that I swore I had been in along with establishing a genuine NY theatre feel with its myriad of players. The Velvet Touch has just that.

Higher production values and A list actors results in both an improvement and degradation of this so-called noir. So many great noir films possess the similar elements. But with the big budget and ambitious productions here, the tension, darkness and grit give way in this film to light, romance and big stage productions. Sure there are things to like in this movie, but let's be honest and not call it noir. Just because there is a murder, it gets lost in dream sequences which quickly abandon the crime in service of the backstory. The investigation into the murder - which often brings the real tension to noir - doesn't get started until 45 minutes into the film - thank goodness for Sydney Greenstreet. Serviceable mystery, yes. Film noir, nope.

Undeservedly obscure, efficiently made little drama with a twist of noir thrown in. Told mostly in flashback after a tense opening this has a breezy charm in its first half that lessens as matters become more serious.

That's all to the good since the material is being handled by acting masters. The main quartet of players, Rosalind Russell, Claire Trevor, Sydney Greenstreet and Leon Ames, are great as a group and individually.

Ames has less screen time but makes the most of what he has. A gifted supporting actor who could play warm, understanding men, usually fathers and venal bastards with equal skill. He's the latter here and manages to not make him one note but there's no question he's a low deceitful man.

Sydney Greenstreet doesn't show up until almost the middle of the picture but he's absolutely terrific as the jovial police inspector. Bending his established screen persona slightly from ominous malevolence to convivial affability with a razor sharp perception laying underneath he and Rosalind do a fascinating dance of cat and mouse.

Now to the ladies, Rosalind taking a break from her customary comedies is properly anguished as the chic actress whose desperate act sets the film in motion. She's classy and able to handle both the lightness necessary at the beginning as well as the tension needed to sustain the mood of the story as it progresses.

Claire Trevor in a pivotal role gives one of her very best performances in a career full of them. She shades Marian with so many emotions, often within a single scene, she's riveting when on screen and you miss her when she's gone. She and Roz spark off each other and make their scenes crackle, the hospital scene positively seethes with loathing.

Injecting a note of much needed levity into the film is Dan Tobin as an acid tongued gossip columnist Jeff Trent, he's a delight whenever he pops in. The only real dud is Leo Genn as Roz's new paramour, a fine actor and he's not really bad but his part is a filler and up against such great actors working at top speed he slips into the woodwork.

Smoothly paced and directed in a straightforward manner by John Gage in his only theatrical feature. It's the great performances from Rosalind Russell, Claire Trevor and Sydney Greenstreet plus an enjoyable story with a great ending that makes this one well worth seeking out!

As always, Rosalind Russell gives a superb performance in "The Velvet Touch." She gets a lot of great support from veteran pro Claire Trevor, who is on to her as well as Leo Genn and Leon Ames.

As Valerie Stanton, an ambitious actress who knows her craft quite well, Russell etched a memorable portrait of a woman bent on self-destruction. She knows that she can switch from comedy to drama and she will do anything to prove the point. Of course, killing Ames is by accident, but it happened and she did cover it up.

Genn loves her as tragically reveals that he knows what she has done.

Sidney Greenstreet plays the police inspector with that Peter Falk-like Columbo attitude. He is polite but yet knows that something is amiss with Valerie.

Leave it to Roz Russell to play that ending scene while waiting in the wings is Greenstreet. He is ready to escort her to a new destination. Yet, he allows her to take her final bows. Bravo!

THE VELVET TOUCH is a great witty drama about Valerie Stanton (Rosalind Russell), a Broadway actress living the high life who's wrought with guilt when she kills her lover/impresario Gordon (Leon Ames) after he threatened to end her career. We see the deadly confrontation at the beginning and thanks to some flashbacks we see how it all led to that moment and the rest of the film is spent on how Valerie deals with her guilt while the murder is being investigated. THE VELVET TOUCH is NOT a murder mystery because we see Valerie killing Gordon at the beginning. Sydney Greenstreet is the investigator involved in solving the crime. He's a big fan of Valerie and the story is about how privileged people living in a privileged world are treated somewhat differently in these circumstances than the average folk. Because it's not a standard murder mystery with the usual penchant for suspense, this story is much more complex and actually asks questions that standard mysteries or film noirs wouldn't ask, all with wit and intelligence. The McGuffin in THE VELVET TOUCH is Valerie's guilt: how can she live with herself? Will she ever tell that she's the killer? How will she tell? Who already knows she's the murderer and the fact that they don't care. Very interesting points rarely touched in films of those days or even today. The lack of focus on suspense is refreshingly original and sorta anti-Hitchcock.

The witty dialogue, certainly during the first hour, is some of the best writing I've ever heard in any film. It's positively brilliant and delivered to perfection by the stellar cast: Russell, Claire Trevor, Greenstreet and certainly Leo Genn all shine. Theresa Harris, as Valerie's dresser is also good in a supporting role. The ending is poignant without being sappy or melodramatic.

Aside from the script and the cast, there are two things that really standout in THE VELVET TOUCH: Rosalind Russell and the B&W cinematography. Rosalind looks amazing and underplays what could have been a role that could have easily fallen into melodramatic nonsense. Her confrontations with Claire Trevor are priceless. She's truly a star in this film and towers over so many other actresses of her time whom are more well-known than her.

And lastly, the black & white cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The levels of black here are truly rich and well, velvety. It's a beautiful film to look at and makes me wish more B&W films were made today.

The only sour note in THE VELVET TOUCH is the theme song. It's all wrong. But that's just a minor point in an otherwise excellent production.

Great story, great script, great cast. Until it appeared on TCM the other day I had never heard of "The Velvet Touch". It was released through RKO and was produced by comparatively unknown Independent Artists, and then presumably dropped out of sight - you can't find this picture in any format nowadays, but it deserves to be seen.

The script is the thing here, reminiscent of 'All About Eve" with the same type of crackling dialogue and one-line zingers. Can't find any fault with the cast as all fit perfectly into their parts, especially Rosalind Russell in the lead role and Leon Ames as her Svengali-like producer/nemesis. I thought Sidney Greenstreet as the Police Captain was a neat bit of off-beat casting and I hardly noticed his upper class British accent. Saving the best for last, as Claire Trevor put out another outstanding performance as 'the other woman'. She was one of our most underrated actresses and I can't think of one bad job ever turned in by this Westchester,NY native.

Can't think of a single flaw in 'The Velvet Touch". Nearly perfect filmmaking, which hardly ever happens anymore. This sort of Hollywood product was once the norm and is now the exception, in a medium which, sadly, has become form over substance.

Despite what the terrible opening theme song might lead you to believe, this is not a romantic comedy. Rosalind Russell plays a Broadway actress who has a heated argument with her producer (and former lover) and kills him. Through flashbacks, Roz looks back on the events that led up to this. Unfortunately this is all pretty dull. It does pick up some when Sydney Greenstreet's police captain shows up. But it never becomes more than a time-passer.

I suppose this was Russell's attempt at a movie like Mildred Pierce or The Letter but it's not on the level of those classics. There isn't much of a mystery and consequently little suspense. Roz is OK but a little overwrought. Not her best work. Claire Trevor does fine but she really deserved a better part. Sydney Greenstreet steals every scene he's in. Roz's wardrobe is the movie's real star.