Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

utgard14 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.

Neil Doyle 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.

edwagreen 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!

theowinthrop Sidney Greenstreet rarely played roles where he was on the side of the law. Casper Gutman set the stamp that Greenstreet would be usually the villain of the piece. But occasionally he is a legal (or quasi-legal) authoritarian figure. Superintendent Grodman of Scotland Yard (THE VERDICT), Sheriff Titus Semple (FLAMINGO ROAD), Solicitor Jerome K. Arbutny (THREE STRANGERS) are all involved in the law, but all cross the line (although Grodman's crimes are actually to punish a man who was responsible for two murders - one a judicial murder - and also to rid the British public of Grodman's incompetent, but overly ambitious successor Superintendent Buckley). Greenstreet also, occasionally, played sleuths. In CONFLICT he is a psychiatrist who realizes that Humphrey Bogart is a killer, and uses psychological warfare to force Bogart to reveal his hand. And here, in THE VELVET TOUCH, he is a police detective in New York City. And he is determined to solve the murder of Broadway Producer Leon Ames.Greenstreet's technique here is like a possible model for Peter Falk's "Columbo". He studies the case, zeros in on the likely suspect, and never gets out of that person's face - turning up all over the place. He can act naturally (like Columbo does) because he loves the theater, and is a fan of Rosalind Russell. She is slowly aware that he is a fan of her talent, but that he is equally determined never to lose sight of his job and his case.THE VELVET TOUCH is an interesting film noir that never quite gets as noir as one would have suspected. Probably the reason is that the stage atmosphere, with it's sexual tensions (between Ames and Russell, Ames and Trevor, Genn and Russell) are all as interesting, as is the stage rivalry between star Russell and rising rival Trevor. So the noir atmosphere does not dominate as much as it normally would.Russell is a leading lady who has had a well publicized romance with big time producer Ames. But he has been showing a cooling down towards her, and it is directed towards Trevor. Russell confronts him, and in the confrontation she kills him. She is able to leave, but (ironically enough) Trevor shows up at the theater at the same time, and this will come back to haunt Trevor. Russell, meanwhile, has started recovering with Leo Genn, and Greenstreet, quietly notes all this. While a whispering campaign circulates against Trevor, Greenstreet keeps up a subtle pressure on Russell that slowly affects her working and emotional relationships. This intrudes in her new dramatic production - she is playing Ibsen's HEDDA GABLA. SPOILER COMING UP.Trevor commits suicide due to the suspicions against her. But Greenstreet is not impressed (unlike the others). He promises to tell his favorite actress his solution to the murder after watching the first night performance as Hedda. As he watches from the wings, Russell sends him a message confessing to the crime. He is obviously expecting that confession. And the play is approaching it's end, when Hedda commits suicide. We watch the conclusion - will Russell actually kill herself now or will she be a trooper in the end?It is an interesting variation for Greenstreet, and gives Russell a rare chance to play a villain. Genn is good too, trying to give the emotional support to the woman he loves but finding her coming apart at the seams because of Greenstreet's relentlessness. In the end it just is too much for him too handle. And Trevor's collapse and destruction is startling - she rarely goes so totally to pieces. The sole weakness in the plot is that Russell's villainy is not as ruthless as most noir villains (although she encourages rumors against Trevor). But the setting up of the cat and mouse plot is sufficient to make this weakness less important than it seems at first sight.