A still from Shanghai Express (1932). Josef von Sternberg used butterfly lighting to enhance Dietrich's features.
Marlene Dietrich was a German -American actress .
In the 1920s, she acted on the Berlin stage and in silent films , making her film debut in 1922. She was propelled to international fame by director Josef von Sternberg , who cast her as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930). The film's commercial success brought her a contract with Paramount Pictures in the United States .
Paramount sought to market Dietrich as a German answer to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 's Swedish sensation, Greta Garbo . Her first American film, Morocco (1930), directed by Sternberg, earned Dietrich her only Oscar nomination. She would appear in several other films directed by Sternberg, including Dishonored (1931), Blonde Venus (1932), and Shanghai Express (1932).
Dietrich and Sternberg's last two film collaborations, The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935)—the most styled of their collaborations—were their least successful at the box office. Her first sound film without Sternberg was 1933's The Song of Songs , directed by Rouben Mamoulian , although she and Sternberg would later work together another two times.
But without Sternberg, Dietrich—along with Joan Crawford , Mae West , Greta Garbo , Katharine Hepburn and others—was labeled "box office poison " after the movie Knight Without Armour (1937) proved an expensive box office failure . In 1939, however, her stardom was revived when she played a cowboy saloon girl in the light-hearted western Destry Rides Again opposite James Stewart , singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have ".
While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in movies, including appearances for such distinguished directors as Billy Wilder , Alfred Hitchcock , and Orson Welles , in successful films that included A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Touch of Evil (1958), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). Her final film appearance was as herself in the 1984 documentary , Marlene .
In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich as the ninth-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema .
Filmography [ edit ]
Silent feature films [ edit ]
Year
Title
Role
Director
Other cast members & Notes
1919
Im Schatten des Glücks
(Unconfirmed Role)
Jacob Fleck
Sybil Smolova, Hans Adalbert Schlettow (Dietrich's appearance in the film has not been verified.)
1923
The Little Napoleon
Kathrin
Georg Jacoby
Egon Von Hagen, Paul Heidemann
1923
Tragedy of Love
Lucy
Joe May
Mia May , Emil Jannings
1923
Man by the Wayside
Kramerstochter
William Dieterle
Alexander Granach, William Dieterle
1924
The Monk from Santarem
Uncredited
Lothar Mendes
Alf Blucheter, Emmy Forster
1924
Leap Into Life
Mädchen am Strand
Johannes Guter
Xenia Desni , Walter Rilla
1925
Dancing Mad
Dance Extra
Alexander Korda
Victor Varconi , María Corda
1925
The Joyless Street
Minor Role (Uncredited)
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Greta Garbo , Asta Nielsen
1926
Manon Lescaut
Micheline
Arthur Robison
Lya De Putti , Vladimir Gajdarov
1926
Madame Wants No Children
Dancer (Uncredited)
Alexander Korda
María Corda , Harry Liedtke
1927
A Modern Dubarry
Kokotte
Alexander Korda
María Corda , Alfred Abel
1927
The Imaginary Baron
Sophie
Willi Wolff
Karl Beckman, Henry Bender
1927
Heads Up, Charley
Edmee Marchand
Willi Wolff
Ellen Richter , Michael Bonhen
1927
His Greatest Bluff
Yvette
Henrik Galeen
Harry Piel , Toni Tetzlaff
1927
Cafe Elektric
Erni
Gustav Ucicky
Willi Forst , Fritz Alberti
1928
Princess Olala
Chichotte de Gastone
Robert Land
Hermann Botcher, Walter Rilla
1929
Dangers of the Engagement Period
Evelyne
Fred Sauer
Willi Forst , Lotte Lorring
1929
I Kiss Your Hand, Madame
Laurence Gerard (Lucille in USA)
Robert Land
Harry Liedtke , Pierre de Guingand
1929
The Woman One Longs For
Stascha
Curtis Bernhardt
Fritz Kortner , Frida Richard
1929
The Ship of Lost Souls
Ethel Marley
Maurice Tourneur
Fritz Kortner , Robin Irvine
Sound feature films [ edit ]
Year
Title
Role
Director
Other cast members & Notes
1930
The Blue Angel
Lola-Lola
Josef von Sternberg
Emil Jannings , Kurt Gerron (Separate German and English versions were shot simultaneously.)
1930
Morocco
Mademoiselle Amy Jolly
Josef von Sternberg
Gary Cooper , Adolphe Menjou Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress
1931
Dishonored
Marie Kolverer
Josef von Sternberg
Victor McLaglen , Warner Oland
1932
Shanghai Express
Shanghai Lily
Josef von Sternberg
Clive Brook , Anna May Wong
1932
Blonde Venus
Helen Faraday
Josef von Sternberg
Cary Grant , Herbert Marshall , Andrea Palma
1933
The Song of Songs
Lily Czepanek
Rouben Mamoulian
Brian Aherne , Lionel Atwill
1934
The Scarlet Empress
Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II
Josef von Sternberg
John Lodge , Sam Jaffe , Maria Riva
1935
The Devil is a Woman
Concha Perez
Josef von Sternberg
Lionel Atwill, Edward Everett Horton , Cesar Romero
1936
I Loved a Soldier
Anna Sedlak
Henry Hathaway
Charles Boyer , Akim Tamiroff (Unfinished film)
1936
Desire
Madeleine de Aupre
Frank Borzage
Gary Cooper , John Halliday
1936
The Garden of Allah
Domini Enfilden
Richard Boleslawski
Charles Boyer , Basil Rathbone , John Carradine
1937
Knight Without Armour
Countess Alexandra Vladinoff
Jacques Feyder
Robert Donat , Irene Vanbrugh
1937
Angel
Maria Berker
Ernst Lubitsch
Herbert Marshall , Melvyn Douglas , Edward Everett Horton
1939
Destry Rides Again
Frenchy
George Marshall
James Stewart , Una Merkel
1940
Seven Sinners
Bijou Blanche
Tay Garnett
John Wayne , Broderick Crawford
1941
The Flame of New Orleans
Countess Claire Ledoux
René Clair
Bruce Cabot , Roland Young
1941
Manpower
Fay Duvall
Raoul Walsh
Edward G. Robinson , George Raft
1942
The Lady Is Willing
Elizabeth Madden
Mitchell Leisen
Fred MacMurray , Aline MacMahon
1942
The Spoilers
Cherry Malotte
Ray Enright
John Wayne , Randolph Scott
1942
Pittsburgh
Josey 'Hunky' Winters
Lewis Seiler
John Wayne , Randolph Scott
1944
Kismet
Jamilla
William Dieterle
Ronald Colman , James Craig
1944
Follow the Boys
Herself
A. Edward Sutherland
George Raft , Vera Zorina , Orson Welles
1946
Martin Roumagnac
Blanche Ferrand
Georges Lacombe
Jean Gabin , Jean d'Yd
1947
Golden Earrings
Lydia
Mitchell Leisen
Ray Milland , Murvyn Vye
1948
A Foreign Affair
Erika von Schlütow
Billy Wilder
Jean Arthur , John Lund
1949
Jigsaw
Herself (cameo appearance )
Fletcher Markle
Franchot Tone , Jean Wallace
1950
Stage Fright
Charlotte Inwood
Alfred Hitchcock
Jane Wyman , Michael Wilding , Richard Todd
1951
No Highway in the Sky
Monica Teasdale
Henry Koster
James Stewart , Glynis Johns
1952
Rancho Notorious
Altar Keane
Fritz Lang
Arthur Kennedy , Mel Ferrer
1952
St. Louis, I Love You So
Doris Parker
Cecil B. DeMille
Robert Preston ,
1953
The Toast of St. Louis
Doris Parker
Cecil B. DeMille
Robert Preston ,
1954
By the River of the Roses
Carol Young
Cecil B. DeMille
Robert Preston ,
1956
Around the World in 80 Days
Saloon Hostess (cameo appearance)
Michael Anderson
David Niven , Cantinflas , Shirley MacLaine , Frank Sinatra
1956
The Monte Carlo Story
Maria de Creveçoeur
Samuel A. Taylor
Vittorio De Sica , Arthur O'Connell
1957
Witness for the Prosecution
Christine Vole (Helm) / cockney woman
Billy Wilder
Tyrone Power , Charles Laughton
1958
Touch of Evil
Tanya
Orson Welles
Charlton Heston , Orson Welles , Janet Leigh , Zsa Zsa Gabor
1961
Judgment at Nuremberg
Frau Bertholt
Stanley Kramer
Spencer Tracy , Burt Lancaster , Richard Widmark , Judy Garland
1962
Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
Narrator (voice only)
Louis Clyde Stoumen
1964
Paris When It Sizzles
Herself (cameo appearance)
Richard Quine
Audrey Hepburn , William Holden
1979
Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo
Baroness von Semering
David Hemmings
David Bowie , Kim Novak , Sydne Rome
1984
Marlene
Herself (voice only)
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell , Annie Albers, Bernard Hall (Film received Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.)
Short films [ edit ]
Year
Title
Notes
1928
Die gluckliche Mutter
Dietrich Biographer Steven Bach notes that the release of this film has not been verified.
1935
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
Promotional short film publicizing costumes designed by Travis Banton .
1937
Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 7
1943
Show Business at War
1944
Memo for Joe
Television [ edit ]
Complete list of television appearances (excluding news footage):
Unicef Gala (Düsseldorf, 1962): Guest Appearance
Cirque d'hiver (Paris, 9 March 1963): Cameo as "Garcon de Piste"
Deutsche-Schlager-Festspiele (Baden-Baden, 1963): Guest Appearance
Grand Gala du Disque (Edison Awards ) (The Hague, 1963): Guest Appearance
Galakväll pa Berns (Stockholm, 1963): Concert, with introduction by Karl Gerhardt and orchestra conducted by Burt Bacharach
Royal Variety Performance (London, 4 November 1963): Guest Appearance
The Stars Shine for Jack Hylton (London, 1965): Guest Appearance
The Magic of Marlene (Melbourne, March 1968): Concert, with orchestra conducted by William Blezard .
The 22nd Annual Tony Awards (New York, 21 April 1968): Acceptance Speech
Guest Star Marlene Dietrich (Copenhagen – for Swedish Television, 1970): Interview
I Wish You Love (An Evening with Marlene Dietrich) (London, 23 & 24 November 1972): Concert TV Special, with orchestra conducted by Stan Freeman .
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
Year
Work
Result
Award
Category
1932
Morocco
Nominated
Academy Awards, USA
Best Actress in a Leading Role
1958
Witness for the Prosecution
Nominated
Golden Globe
Best Actress - Drama
1958
Witness for the Prosecution
2nd place - Golden Laurel
Laurel Awards
Top Female Dramatic Performance
1960
Motion Picture (On 8 February 1960. At 6400 Hollywood Blvd)
Won
Walk of Fame
Star on the Walk of Fame
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
Won
David di Donatello Awards
For her performance.
1980
For her contributions to the German film over the years.
Won
German Film Awards
Honorary Award
2003
Acting
Won
Online Film & Television Association
OFTA Film Hall of Fame
References [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]
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