Crush of the Week - Marlene Dietrich

The Divine Dietrich. Marlene. The institution who helped overseas in the war effort during WW II. Sternberg's creation. The Kraut, as Hemingway playfully called her. Her career lasted from 1923 's Little Napoleon to 1978's Just A Gigolo with several ups and down's that any career with such longevity is bound to have. Known for her fabulous legs, deep, masculine singing voice, gender bending wardrobe and perfectionism when it came to her image, Marlene made major impact on the film world in Sternberg's 1929 German classic ' The Blue Angel ' as  Lola-Lola. Singer-slut in a cheap cabaret in pre-Nazi Berlin, she seduces and degrades educator Professor Unrat played by Emil Jannings, a great star of silent German cinema. From that smash hit she followed Sternberg to America and starred in ' Morocco ' with Gary Cooper. In all Sternberg and Marlene made 7 films together in 6 years the last being the intoxicating ' The Devil is a Woman ',1935. Her career was running out of steam by the late 30's until she went comic in the western classic ' Destry Rides Again ' with Jimmy Stewart. This image of Dietrich the saloon girl, Frenchie, is probably her best known to the general public. It was a tremendous hit for her, put her back on top of the film world and for the next 3 years took on roles that were variations of that film. This is the Dietrich that was wonderfully parodied by Madeline Kahn as Lily Von Schtup in the great spoof ' Blazing Saddles'. 

Above, ' Destry Rides Again ' 1939.

The Blue Angel, 1929

Hot Voodoo from ' Blonde Venus' 1932

Going androgynous, 'Morocco', 1930

'Scarlet Empress', 1934

                                After the war, a newer, more mature Dietrich appeared in Billy Wilder's ' A Foreign Affair ' as singer/spy Erica Von Schluetow , taking her back to Berlin for the first time since the pre-Nazi days. In 1948 she became a grandmother at 47. Life magazine called her the World's Most Glamorous Grandma. Can't argue with that. Other roles included: Hitchcock's 'Stage Fright', memorable turns in Wilder's 'Witness for the Prosecution' and Welles's' Touch of Evil 'as  the fortune teller Tanya. The last role of any consequence was in 1961's' Judgement at Nuremberg ' opposite Spencer Tracy. During the remaining 60's and most of the 70's she appeared on stage taking her cabaret style show around the world, singing the songs that she helped make famous: Falling in Love Again, The Boys in the Backroom, Lilli Marlene, I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby. In 1982 actor/director Maximilian Schell persuaded Dietrich to appear in the documentary he was making about her, but at the last minute she refused to be filmed. Consequently she was only heard [often being cranky] although many clips from her films were used. This added an extra, haunting quality that the film may not otherwise have had. Marlene died in Paris on May 6, 1992 at age 90.

My favorite Marlene movies: Blue Angel, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Devil is a Woman, Destry Rides Again, Blonde Venus, A Foreign Affair, Touch of Evil. But I repeatedly watch anything she appeared in.