Manon Lescaut 1926 Arthur Robison UFA B/W

Marlene as Micheline

Marlene played the second lead but reviewers singled her out, citing her beauty more often than her acting ability. The role of Micheline, a Parisian courtesan, drew more from Dietrich’s beauty than could have been reasonably expected. The film provided its star, Lya de Putti, as well as its producer and designer, with a one way ticket to Hollywood and the movie followed them with wider exposure than most foreign films of the time. In the meantime, Marlene, who was not invited to Hollywood, went into two of George Bernard Shaw’s stage plays “Back to Methusaleh” and “Musik und Tanza” (History of History I & II)playing Eve in both.

“The only woman on board!”

The Ship of Lost Men 1929 Maurice Tourneur Max Glab Productions B/W

The trade papers in Berlin trumpeted that this film was written just for Dietrich. And what a part...an American heiress/aviatrix rescued from a crash at sea by an outlaw ship full of randy and depraved men. There was only the sensitive young English doctor to protect her. Maurice Tourneur’s insistence on authenticity (the ship had to be constructed exactly as one built in 1856 using all of 800,000 nails) caused the film’s budget to skyrocket. But while Marlene created talk, the story was almost non-exixtent and so audiences were less than enthusiastic.
Marlene followed this with a trip to the seashore with Maria (called Heidede in those days). Rudi stayed home. It would be the last holiday for mother and daughter before Dietrich left home and hearth behind. In September she began the stage comedy “Bow Ties”, the first musical success of the season and caught the eye of Josef von Sternberg. The revealing of “Marlene” had begun.

The Woman One Longs For 1929 Kurt Bernhardt Terra Berlin Films B/W

The woman!

Marlene (as Stascha) looking out of the icy train window at Henri who is standing on the platform, is the most memorable sequence of the film. Simple but sensational. Since this is a silent film and Dietrich has not yet found her voice (that throaty voice that would thrill millions later) she simply used light to her best advantage. It wasn’t taken favorably by director Bernhardt who complained that Marlene ignored his direction. Ironically, Marlene found the formula for using light to create clarity and drama accidentally in an automatic photo booth using a single overhead light. Thus another piece had been added to the mystique puzzle.
But the reviews for the film were lukewarm and Marlene longed to get back to the more audience-friendly stage work.

Lola Lola was no angel!

The Blue Angel Josef von Sternberg UFA B/W

Now she’s got it! As Lola Lola, Marlene talks! She sings! And she oozes what the critics would call “ a new incarnation of sex”! It was sheer electricity. Emil Jannings, who thought he was the star in this film, could have been wallpaper as far as those on the set and later in the audience were concerned. On the set, director Sternberg could not conceal his obsession with his new star. To add to the whispers, Marlene packed lunches for him at home and brought them to the set where they ate them alone in her dressing room. Jannings threatened to throttle her and almost succeeded in the scene where his character, Rath, goes mad (the publicity department jumped on this and gave the impression to the press she had to be hospitalized) However, the make-up people had to work hard to cover up the bruises on Marlene’s throat.
Paramount sent a scout (Sidney Kent) to watch the filming and Kent’s verdict was “She is sensational...sign her!” B.P.Schulberg, Paramount studio head, took one look at the rushes and heartily approved a contract. Marlene signed for two pictures and a guarantee of $1750 a week with the stipulation that Sternberg would be her only director. She was now P1167, Paramount’s new secret weapon!

Now, P1167 had to be revealed so, in true Hollywood fashion, Paramount threw a big party at the Beverly Wilshire. And of course, in true Hollywood fashion, the guest of honor was fashionably late. But when those double doors at the end of the room opened, you could have heard a pin drop. There she was slowly walking down the path that suddenly opened for her as the head of the studio announced from the dais “Paramount’s new star, Marlene Dietrich”.

In this film, Dietrich plays Amy Jolly, a nightclub singer with a past who must choose between a millionaire (Adolph Menjou) and a Legionnaire (Gary Cooper) in Morocco.She finally decides but it is almost too late. The picture ends as she runs barefoot through the sand to find her Legionnaire.

But the most revealing sequence of the film occurs when Marlene, wearing that now famous tuxedo and top hat, carries off a gender-bending kiss with a female patron, flicks back her hat and hands a flower to an awestruck Cooper who puts it behind his ear. When Marlene disappears into the desert in the finale, the audience knows that somewhere out there Coop is in big trouble.
The picture won Academy Award nominations for Sternberg, Dietrich, photography and sound recording. Morocco shared the award for sound with Dishonored, another Dietrich film of that year.

This was not Sternberg’s best effort and the casting (with the exception of Dietrich) left a lot to be desired. Sternberg wanted Gary Cooper but Coop refused to work with him again. Instead, Victor McLaglen was given the role as Marlene’s lover and the chemistry never happened. The story also lacked definition because Sternberg manipulated the dialogue from Daniel Rubin’s screenplay or simply removed it in lieu of longer periods of silence forgetting this was not a silent film. Marlene plays a prostitute who is recruited as a “love spy”, plying her enemy with favors to lure him into spilling his secrets. But she falls in love with her prey and helps him escape. On the day of her execution, X-27 (Marlene) asks to be dressed in the uniform she wore when “I served my countrymen instead of my country” and puts on her hooker attire. She refuses a blindfold, fixes her stockings (giving everyone another look at those fabulous legs) and her lipstick, and the execution proceeds and when it is over, the head of the Secret service salutes her dead body. It is probably the best part of the film and pure Dietrich. The movie got four Academy nominations...Best Director, Best Picture and won Best Photography shared with “Morocco”.

Trouble on the train!

Shanghai Express 1930 Josef von Sternberg Paramount B/W

The movie almost took a back seat to the scandal that preceded its production. Mrs. von Sternberg was seething about her husband’s obsession with Marlene and slapped la Dietrich with two lawsuits, one asking $500,000 for alienation of affections and another for libel for some remark Marlene had made during an old interview. Newspapers and fan magazines printed headlines that read “Is Marlene a love pirate?” The studio quickly brought Rudi and Maria home for hausfrau pictures with Sternberg beaming father-like at the trio.

Marlene plays the part of Shanghai Lily (formerly and ironically named Magdalen) “The notorious white flower of China”. She was traveling with Hui Lei, played convincingly by Anna May Wong, aboard the Shanghai Express with passengers who all had something to hide. One of them was an old love, Doc Harvey (Clive Brook). They were all kidnapped en route by a Chinese war lord, Chang played by Warner Oland. Well, Hue Lei kills Chang, Lily gets Doc and the passengers all get to Shanghai. The credit for the film’s success should go to Dietrich, Wong and of course, the train!

Meanwhile, back on the set, Marlene was making time with French star Maurice Chevalier. He had the dressing room right next door while he was making “Love Me Tonight” for Paramount with Jeanette MacDonald! Madame Chevalier was threatening to sue for divorce..and did!
The picture got Academy nominations for Best Director, Best Picture and won for Best Photography. Dietrich deserved one but was overlooked again.

Blonde Venus 1932 Josef von Sternberg Paramount B/W

Venus ascends!

The story was co-written by Sternberg and Dietrich (Dietrich agreed to have credit withheld but was paid $12,000 for her part in writing the story) and Dietrich used the threat of her round-trip ticket to push for the movie. However, the studio could see trouble ahead unless the script was cleaned up so that adultery, prostitution and kidnapping would not appear to be condoned.
Sternberg refused and the studio sued to the tune of $100,000 (so low that Sternberg was insulted) and both Sternberg and Dietrich were suspended. When the studio legal eagles made it impossible for the two of them to work anywhere else, both star and director capitulated.

When all was said and done, the objectionable stuff was still in the script but hidden under different names. Helen Faraday became a nightclub singer instead of a prostitute, she abandoned her husband for another man but she took the child with her (no actual kidnapping since the Lindbergh case was still fresh) and she wasn’t rewarded for her misdeeds (if you forget that fabulous wardrobe she got from her lover).

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Marlene was getting kidnap threats of her own demanding $20,000 to keep Maria from harm. Later a Paramount ex-employee was charged with the threats.

Queens (of royal birth ) were everywhere in Hollywood those days and they were all in trouble. Greta Garbo was playing Queen Christina, the Swedish queen who gave up her throne for her lover. Norma Shearer as MarieAntoinette and Katharine Hepburn as Mary, Queen of Scots, both “lost” their heads. So Sternberg decided Marlene would play Catherine the Great of Russia who sent rather than went to the chopping block and bedded almost the entire Russian Army! But Sternberg’s inability to give the character any measure of humanity was considered to contribute to the poor reception of the film. Another movie by Alexander Korda and starring Elisabeth Bergner in the title role of Catherine had a more impressive opening.

Concha and Antonio

The Devil is a Woman 1935 Josef von Sternberg Paramount B/W

The movie was based on a novel by Pierre Louys “La Femme et le Pantin” (The Woman and the Puppet) already filmed before in 1920 and 1929. It is the tale of heartless Concha Perez, her old love Pasqual (Lionel Atwill) and her new dalliance with Antonio (Cesar Romero). Romero was Sternberg’s second choice after he fired Joel McCrea for insubordination (Josef often thought he was leading an army). McCrea was probably relieved. But the reviews for the film were bad and the repercussions were worse. The Hays Office called it an “amateurish effort”. The New York Sun said it was “the dullest picture of the year” and the Herald Tribune said it was “almost entirely devoid of dramatic content”. Spain complained through its ambassador about the portrayal of the Guardia Civil that drank and frequented low dives and threatened to close Paramount down. The film was withdrawn but it was the beginning of the end for Josef von Sternberg. Marlene also felt the lash when Paramount dropped her contract after two more films. She was box office poison and later left for England to work there.

I Loved A Soldier (1936) (never finished) Henry Hathaway Paramount B/W

In costume with nowhere to go.

With no script, no budget, twenty-two days of production lost and no designated director around yet(it was supposed to be Ernst Lubitsch) Paramount decided to throw in the towel. They fired Lubitsch who wasn’t even around to get the pink slip.Henry Hathaway got the nod but Marlene walked and the picture was never made. It was later filmed as “Hotel Imperial” in 1939 with isa Miranda and Ray Milland and even later, as “Five Graves to Cairo” by Billy Wilder with Anne Baxter and Erich von Stroheim.

Destry and Frenchy in bar brawl

Destry Rides Again (1939) George Marshall Universal B/W

The title should have been “Dietrich Rides Again” because it was considered to be the greatest single comeback in screen history. No one (except Joe Pasternak) would have believed Marlene could play a dance hall gangster’s moll in a film with horses, cows, cowboys and gunfights. Not to mention one of the best “catfights” (with Una Merkel) ever filmed. Dietrich even learned to roll her own cigarettes! And even more ironic, they never had a script..it was a write-as-you-go movie!
The crowning moment was Marlene , on top of the bar, singing “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have”. They say Jimmy Stewart fell head over heels for Marlene and so did the audience. Unfortunately this was a blockbuster movie in a year of blockbusters (“Gone With the Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” to name a few). But it remains a classic masterpiece and one of Arabella’s favorites.

As the tale goes, Marlene was walking through the studio commissary with Director Garnett when she spotted Big John Wayne lounging in a doorway. Dietrich wafted by him, did a half-turn, looked him up and down and, in a stage whisper heard by everyone, said “Daddy, buy me that”! True or not, Marlene got him for this picture and two more.
Marlene plays Bijou Blanche, a chanteuse with an eye for sailors and a penchant for mayhem. She falls in love with Lt. Bruce Whitney (Wayne) but gives him up to the governor’s daughter rather than ruin his career. Marlene sings a couple of great songs, one of them “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby”. You can’t go wrong with songs like that. She also gets to wear the first of her memorable “nude dresses”, a gown made of sequins scattered on net. Any questions?

Witness For The Prosecution 1958 Billy Wilder United Artists B/W

Christine takes the stand!

There was never any doubt Marlene would play Christine Vole and Charlie Laughton would get the role of wily barrister Sir Wilfrid but what leading actor would accept the almost secondary role of a husband whose wife seemed determined to see him hung and get most of the audience’s attention? Finally Tyrone Power took the role with the incentive of $300,000 each for “Witness...” and “Solomon and Sheba” (a picture he never lived to finish). Another problem arose when the script called for Christine to dress as a Cockney woman to fool the rotund lawyer. The makeup and wig turned her into a caricature and was a total disaster. Marlene solved the problem by creating a look where less was certainly more and it worked. The film was a big success and received six Academy Award nominations. But Dietrich was forgotten again even though critics say it was her finest performance.

More Marlene......

	Marlene and those fabuulous legs!
Dietrich wears one of her see-through dresses!
	The tuxedo look!