The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films by reviewing scripts using the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code MPC) which, while banning forced prostitution (i.e., white slavery), required the subject of a woman engaging in solicitation to be treated carefully.
During negotiations between director Sternberg and the MPPDA regarding scenes where Helen is found by Detective Wilson in New Orleans, any direct solicitation was removed from the script such that, in the film, the interaction between Helen and the private detective becomes ambiguous.
Other aspects of the plot, such as adultery, remain inconsistent with the MPC, which was not strictly enforced until 1934.
This enforcement of the MPC prevented Paramount from reissuing Blonde Venus after 1934.

To promote the film, the September 1932 film magazine Screenland published the story "The Blonde Venus" by Mortimer Franklin.
This was based upon the second version of the script and not the final filmed version, perhaps as this version was more similar to the romances that appealed to the magazine's female readers.
The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films by reviewing scripts using the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code MPC) which, while banning forced prostitution (i.e., white slavery), required the subject of a woman engaging in solicitation to be treated carefully. During negotiations between director Sternberg and the MPPDA regarding scenes where Helen is found by Detective Wilson in New Orleans, any direct solicitation was removed from the script such that, in the film, the interaction between Helen and the private detective becomes ambiguous. Other aspects of the plot, such as adultery, remain inconsistent with the MPC, which was not strictly enforced until 1934. This enforcement of the MPC prevented Paramount from reissuing Blonde Venus after 1934.
To promote the film, the September 1932 film magazine Screenland published the story "The Blonde Venus" by Mortimer Franklin. This was based upon the second version of the script and not the final filmed version, perhaps as this version was more similar to the romances that appealed to the magazine's female readers.
Blonde Venus