The Velvet Touch (1948)
Directed by Jack Gage

Film Review

By the mid-1940s, Rosalind Russell had established herself as one of the most bankable comedy performers in Hollywood, with a string of successful film comedies behind her.  These included The Women (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), The Feminine Touch (1941) and Take a Letter, Darling (1942).  Russell may have found her niche but she was eager to broaden out and demonstrate her versatility as an actress.  The Velvet Touch, the first film produced by Independent Artists, the company she set up with her husband Frederick Brisson, allowed her to do just that: a suspense crime-drama in which Russell plays a character who is in a similar predicament to her own.

Unfortunately for Russell she had to contend with two film noir heavyweights, in the form of Claire Trevor and Sydney Greenstreet, both of whom have no difficulty eclipsing her whenever they share a scene with her.  Trevor's hard-bitten, sensual 'other woman' is a far more enticing proposition than Russell's self-obsessed and mildly neurotic Broadway diva, but it is Greenstreet who ultimately steals the film, oozing avuncular charm and a hint of something much more sinister as he subjects Russell to the old Lieutenant Columbo routine, sticking to her like a limpet until she cracks.  It's a shame that Greenstreet doesn't show up until the second half of the film as his is by far the most interesting character in the film (how can we not love a big man who mocks his own girth?).  For the first half of the film Russell is pretty well on her own, and struggles to hold our attention as she stumbles lamely over the old film noir clichés.  

For his generally admirable directorial debut, Jack Gage opts for a theatrical approach which marries well with the theatrical world in which the drama is set.  Some stylish expressionistic touches, whilst a little self-conscious, add to the growing sense of entrapment that overtakes the heroine when she falls prey to her uneasy conscience.  The plot may be somewhat more predictable than your average film noir but Gage and his screenwriter Leo Rosten do a reasonable job of sustaining the tension right up until the final dramatic sequence.  Russell's solution to her thwarted career aspirations was less drastic than that of the character she plays here - she returned to Broadway and pretty well gave up her film work.  Greenstreet would appear in just three more films before retiring in 1949.  Claire Trevor's career was only just beginning - the following year she would win an Oscar for her supporting role in John Huston's Key Largo (1948).

Film Synopsis

Not satisfied with her success as a popular Broadway actress, Valerie Stanton desperately wants to broaden her repertoire by appearing in serious plays like Ibsen's Hedda Gabler instead of the usual frothy nonsense she is known for.  Unfortunately, her theatrical producer and one-time lover Gordon Dunning has other ideas and has no intention of granting Valerie the freedom she desires.  One evening, in the course of a violent argument, Valerie accidentally kills Dunning.  The murder is pinned on Marian Webster, another, less well-known actress who was infatuated with the producer - her fingerprints were found on the murder weapon and she had a motive for killing Dunning.  It appears to be an open and shut case but police Captain Danbury proceeds with his investigation, and Valerie begins to fear that he may suspect her of being the murderer...