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The Velvet Touch

 The Velvet Touch
type
TVTItem
 The Velvet Touch
label
The Velvet Touch
 The Velvet Touch
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TheVelvetTouch
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The Velvet Touch is a 1948 film directed by Jack Gage.Rosalind Russell stars as Valerie Stanton, a Broadway actress. Stanton has had a successful career as a star of light comedies produced by Gordon Dunning, who is also Valerie's lover. Valerie wants out of both her personal and professional relationships with Gordon. Professionally, she doesn't want to do Gordon's light comedies anymore, and has accepted an offer of a dramatic starring role in a production of Hedda Gabler. Personally, Valerie has fallen in love with Michael Morrell, a charming architect, and wants to break it off with Gordon.Gordon absolutely refuses to allow this to happen. He swears that if Valerie leaves him, he will blacken her name all over the city, making her unemployable and ruining her relationship with Michael. When the argument gets really ugly and Gordon grabs Valerie, she grabs an award from his desk, cracks him over the head with it, and kills him. A panicked Valerie makes a hasty retreat from Gordon's apartment. Will the police, led by Capt. Danbury (Sydney Greenstreet) catch her?
 The Velvet Touch
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2023-11-11T15:14:39Z
 The Velvet Touch
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2023-11-11T15:14:39Z
 The Velvet Touch
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Dropped link to CallBack: Not a Feature - ITEM
 The Velvet Touch
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DBTropes
 The Velvet Touch / int_1501e2dd
type
Hero Antagonist
 The Velvet Touch / int_1501e2dd
comment
Hero Antagonist: Capt. Danbury, the cop trying to solve Gordon's murder. The evidence points to Marian but he seems to have a suspicion right away that Valerie actually did it. He hangs around her a lot with a vaguely Columbo manner, and his very presence obviously pushes her to crack.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_1bf3f4af
type
The Svengali
 The Velvet Touch / int_1bf3f4af
comment
The Svengali: Gordon, who keeps Valerie as a lover and exercises complete control over her professional career. He refuses to give her up either personally or professionally.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_1c3d047e
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The Rival
 The Velvet Touch / int_1c3d047e
comment
The Rival: Marian Webster, an actress in Gordon's company. She used to hold Marian's position as both Gordon's lover and his star, but got kicked out of his bed when he took up with Marion and relegated to supporting parts on stage. Marian hates Valerie's guts.
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The Velvet Touch / int_1c3d047e
 The Velvet Touch / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 The Velvet Touch / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: Michael, gently mocking Valerie's whole snobby diva manner, notes how she never takes her fancy opera gloves off. Not doing so means that she didn't leave fingerprints behind when she killed Gordon.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_4968ed35
type
Door-Closes Ending
 The Velvet Touch / int_4968ed35
comment
Door-Closes Ending: The film ends with the curtain coming down on the stage, after Valerie takes her last curtain call at the end of Hedda Gabler, and before she's taken away by Capt. Danbury.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_53c9fc92
type
Flashback
 The Velvet Touch / int_53c9fc92
comment
Flashback: After the first scene shows Valerie killing Gordon, the next half-hour or so is an extended flashback that shows how things came to that point. Valerie was tired of the comedies Gordon kept putting her in and wanted to show her dramatic chops, but her meeting Michael and falling in love was what really spurred her to tell Gordon they were through.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_619bc34b
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High-Class Gloves
 The Velvet Touch / int_619bc34b
comment
High-Class Gloves: Michael makes a joke about how Valerie always wears fancy velvet opera gloves. It's true, and it turns out to be a good thing when she kills a guy but doesn't leave fingerprints.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_6d332aea
type
Driven to Suicide
 The Velvet Touch / int_6d332aea
comment
Driven to Suicide: Marian kills herself, which just adds to the weight of Valerie's guilt.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_722b3319
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Camp Gay
 The Velvet Touch / int_722b3319
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Camp Gay: Jeff Trent, the gossip columnist, has an overtly effiminate manner (and he's a gossip columnist!).
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 The Velvet Touch / int_8ed5c6e4
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Asshole Victim
 The Velvet Touch / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Gordon Dunning, a controlling sexist pig and sexual harasser.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_8ee710e7
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Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon
 The Velvet Touch / int_8ee710e7
comment
Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon: Like an idiot, Marian picks up the award that caved in Gordon's skull, and takes the blame for the murder—although Capt. Danbury seems to realize all along that Valerie is the killer.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_a0a838fe
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Bait-and-Switch Gunshot
 The Velvet Touch / int_a0a838fe
comment
Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: It's heavily implied that Valerie will shoot herself for real when her character shoots herself at the end of Hedda Gabler. And indeed when the curtain call comes, Valerie isn't there—until she is, the fake gunshot having turned out to be a fake gunshot after all. Instead she surrenders to Capt. Danbury at the end.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_a7ec3027
type
Rom Com Job
 The Velvet Touch / int_a7ec3027
comment
Rom Com Job: It isn't a rom com, but still, Valerie is a big star on the Broadway stage and Michael is an architect.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_bc7e1c5b
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These Gloves Are Made for Killin'
 The Velvet Touch / int_bc7e1c5b
comment
These Gloves Are Made for Killin': Played With. Valerie impulsively kills Gordon during an argument. Fortunately for her, her prints are not on the statuette she struck him with since she almost always wears velvet gloves to go with her outfits.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_ce165390
type
Casting Couch
 The Velvet Touch / int_ce165390
comment
Casting Couch: It isn't quite spelled out as The Hays Code wouldn't allow that, but it's very strongly implied that Valerie owes her career on the Broadway stage to her willingness to provide Gordon with sex.
 The Velvet Touch / int_ce165390
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The Velvet Touch / int_ce165390
 The Velvet Touch / int_e2366cc3
type
FlashbackEffect
 The Velvet Touch / int_e2366cc3
comment
Flashback Effect: A standard "everything goes blurry" effect segues from the murder to a lengthy flashback that shows how matters came to this point.
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 The Velvet Touch / int_f1c19ec1
type
Tom Hanks Syndrome
 The Velvet Touch / int_f1c19ec1
comment
Tom Hanks Syndrome: In-Universe. Valerie's career as a star of Broadway comedies is humming along quite nicely, but she wants to try her hand at drama. Gordon refuses to let her.
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The Velvet Touch

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 The Velvet Touch
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Tom Hanks Syndrome / int_7c12600