While touring a museum, Rodney Hatch, an unremarkable barber, places an engagement ring intended for his girlfriend on the hand of a statue of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. From Mount Olympus, Venus witnesses the event and decides to visit Rodney on Earth by magically inhabiting the statue. Hilarity ensues when she starts to fall in love with Rodney and competes with his girlfriend for his attentions. This television version of Kurt Weill's successful Broadway musical is much more faithful to the stage version than the 1948 Ava Gardner film, which changed the story considerably and cut most of the songs.
Janet Blair
Venus
Russell Nype
Rodney Hatch
George Gaynes
Whitelaw Savory
Laurel Shelby
Molly Grant
Mort Marshall
Taxi Black
Iggie Wolfington
Stanley
Val Avery
Bus Starter
Len Doyle
Officer
Arny Freeman
Anatolian
Peter Gumeny
Second Trucker
Fred Hillebrand
Major Domo
Glenn Kezer
Police Lieutenant
William LeMassena
Zuvetli
Louis Nye
Dr. Rook
Adnia Rice
Mrs. Kramer
Georgia Simmons
Mrs. Moats
Mildred Trares
Gloria Kramer
Dick Wilson
First Trucker
Director, Adaptation
George Schaefer
Adaptation
John Gerstad
Lyricist, Theatre Play
Ogden Nash
Novel
F. Anstey
Theatre Play
S.J. Perelman
November 14, 2022
6
This is probably most notable as an example of a televised live performance. Neither the story nor the cast deliver anything particularly scintillating, otherwise. The story is quite fun: "Rodney" (Russell Nype) tries out his soon-to-be-fiancée's engagement ring on a statue of Venus. She (Janet Blair) promptly comes alive and decides to get shot of the girlfriend and claim him for herself. Blair is actually OK, but the rest of this hasn't really stood the test of time so well. Clearly the actors are under lot of pressure by the nature of the presentation, and so the performances - especially the singing - are really quite stilted and wooden. The stars way too worried about fluffing their lines, missing their cues etc. - and unlike the theatrical performers, seemed to have nowhere near enough confidence to make this other than a tough watch for us viewers. Worth a watch because of it's innovative nature but not much more.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00