X

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

Continue with Facebook Continue with email

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

Get That Venus

Wealthy Georgina Van Aster, whose primary interest in life is horses, decides to sell the celebrated "Asterville Venus," a painting that has attracted people from around the world to the quaint New York town of Asterville. As the painting is the only thing of prominence in Asterville, managing editor Nash of the Asterville Clarion , plans to start a fund to buy it for the town's new library. Mrs. Van Aster, however, refuses to sell the painting to anyone locally because of a dispute with townspeople regarding damage to their property because of her fox hunt. Nash plans with reporter Tim Wilson, whose primary interest is flirting with women, a way to procure the painting. After Dutch cheese manufacturer Hugo Tannenberg, offers Mrs. Van Aster $100,000 for the painting, which he says he may use as a trademark for his cheeses, Tim goes to talk with befuddled art connoisseur Rendleby, a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum who now runs a curio shop in Asterville with his daughter Margaret. When Tim sees Margaret at the window of the shop, he immediately falls in love with her, and after paying an organ grinder to play a waltz, he dances with Margaret into the parlor. Rendleby, who is awed by the painting, readily agrees to intercede with Mrs. Van Aster. That night, a burglar, Joe Smiley, sneaks into the Rendleby shop. After Rendleby tells a police officer, who had been following Smiley, that Smiley is a guest, Smiley, in gratitude, gives Rendleby his address and offers his services anytime Rendleby needs them. Mrs. Van Aster refuses Rendleby's request that she keep the painting and sells it to Tannenberg. Margaret, when she learns this and sees Tim's elation, rebukes him. Rendleby then finds Smiley and arranges to go with him to steal the painting. Smiley, who, when casing the place, fell for the advances of Mrs. Van Aster's chambermaid Belle, cuts the painting out of its frame. As the police search for clues, Tim deduces from his conversation with Belle that Smiley is the culprit and tells the police sergeant, but then finds Rendleby admiring the painting at his shop. When Smiley, with the police in pursuit, comes to the shop, Tim hides the painting, but the police find it. Tim convinces them not to arrest Rendleby until Tannenberg identifies the painting and then instructs Tannenberg to claim that it is a fake. After the police leave, Tim reveals to Margaret that Tannenberg was hired by the newspaper to buy the painting and that Rendleby can now present it to the library. While Tim is on the phone to Nash, Margaret apologizes, and as Nash yells at Tim, he and Margaret embrace.

Loading. Please wait...

Content not available in your region? ExpressVPN can help you stay connected wherever you are. Get 4 extra months FREE with TV Guide's exclusive offer.

Cast & Crew See All

Ernest Truex
Tom Wilson
Jean Arthur
Margaret Rendleby
Tom Howard
Joe Smiley

You May Also Like See All

Celine and Julie Go Boating
Singin' in the Rain
Pinocchio
City Lights

Popular Movies See all movies

History of the World: Part I

1 hr 32 mins
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
47   Metascore
1981 Comedy, Documentary, Music

Solo Mio

1 hr 36 mins
After being left at the altar in Rome, a man decides to go on his honeymoon alone.
48   Metascore
2026 Comedy, Drama

Popcorn Porn: Watching 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno'

1 hr 14 mins
This film follows the making of Kevin Smith's latest film, Zack and Miri Make A Porno.
2009 Documentary, Comedy

Bugonia

1 hr 58 mins
Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
72   Metascore
2025 Comedy, Suspense, Science Fiction

Yoh! Bestie

1 hr 35 mins
Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
2026 Comedy, Drama

The Wrecking Crew

2 hr 4 mins
Estranged half brothers Jonny, a volatile suspended cop, and James, a disciplined Navy SEAL, who reunite after the mysterious death of their father, private investigator Walter Hale. Initially indifferent and long out of contact, the brothers are forced together when Yakuza operatives begin hunting for a package Walter supposedly sent, pushing them into a dangerous investigation that leads them from Oklahoma to Hawaii. As they dig deeper, they uncover buried family secrets, criminal conspiracies, and the truth behind Walter's murder, all while struggling to rebuild the fractured bond between them.
67   Metascore
2026 Action & Adventure, Comedy, Suspense