by Donald Spoto
Unheedful of the damp chill in the studio, she remained a long while at her dressing table. Motionless, silent, statuesque, she simply sat gazing into the mirror. And so in perhaps the truest sense she was at home, content at last with the half-glimpsed memories and dreams—with the illusions of Marlene created and recreated for decades by Maria Magdalene. She smiled.
notes
FOR BREVITY, DETAILS OF INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED for this book are supplied only at the first citation; unless otherwise stated, subsequent quotations from the same source derive from the interview with that source.
CHAPTER ONE
1-her jaw set: Hughes Pierce, “Aged 77—and she still looks stunning,” The Sunday Times, March 7, 1978.
2-I will sing: Quoted in Newsweek, Aug. 7, 1978.
CHAPTER TWO
4-He who writes: Suzanne Everett, Lost Berlin (New York: Gallery Books, 1979), p. 18.
9-Sie selbst glich: Marlene Dietrich, Ich bin, Gott sei Dank, Berlinerin (Berlin: Ullstein, 1987), p. 31. (For an account of Dietrich’s publishing history, see my comments on page 294.) (New York: Grove, 1989), a translation by Salvator Attanasio of Ich bin.
9-Tu etwas: Ibid., p. 58.
9-My whole upbringing: Leslie Frewin, Dietrich (New York: Stein and Day, 1967), pp. 15–16.
13-We lived in: Marlene Dietrich, Marlene (New York: Grove, 1989), p. 22.
14-Every face looks: Everett, p. 24.
15-did not seem: Marlene, p. 22.
16-No. You can’t: MD to Maximilian Schell, in his film Marlene (1983).
16-She didn’t want: Marlene, pp. 14–15.
CHAPTER THREE
20-a wonderful affair: Quoted in Werner Frisch and K. W. Obermeyer, Brecht in Augsburg (Frankfurt, 1976), translated in Ronald Hayman, Brecht (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 53.
23-a completely negative: Nora Hodges (trans.), George Grosz: An Autobiography (New York: Imago/Macmillan, 1983), p. 149.
26-She was anything: Geza von Cziffra (trans. Jon Zimmermann), in Renate Seydel, Marlene Dietrich: Eine Chronik ihres Lebens in Bildern und Dokumenten (Munich: Nymphenburger, 1984), p. 82.
26-a very strange: Lotte Andor to DS, May 25, 1990.
27-And if they: William Dieterle, in Seydel, p. 82.
28-Wie dann dein: Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Death and the Fool (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1914); trans. Elisabeth Walter.
29-One day, Held: Unpublished memoirs of Grete Mosheim, published here with the kind permission of Mosheim’s family.
30-She tried: Stefan Lorant to DS, May 16, 1991.
32-This is too: Quoted in Mosheim memoirs.
34-One had the: William Dieterle, in Seydel, p. 82.
CHAPTER FOUR
37-The role should: Berliner Tageblatt, Feb. 22, 1926.
38-wearing neither: Elisabeth Lennartz in Seydel, p. 82.
38-It was chic: Bill Davidson, “The Dietrich Legend,” McCall’s, March 1960, p. 170.
38-Only one woman: Käte Haack, ibid.
39-Take some pictures: New York Times, Sept. 5, 1976.
42-constantly pursued: Mia May, ibid.
43-Oh, don’t worry: Quoted by Stefan Lorant to DS, May 16, 1991.
44-She showed only: Karl Hartl in Seydel, p. 83 (trans. Jon Zimmermann).
45-I haven’t a: Quoted in Sheridan Morley, Marlene Dietrich (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976).
45-Among the girls: Neve Freie Presse, Nov. 30, 1927.
47-Marlene Dietrich sings: Herbert Jhering, in the Berliner Bösen-Courier, May 16, 1928.
48-When Dietrich mimes: Unsigned review in Film-Kurier, Sept. 6, 1928 (trans. Jon Zimmermann).
49-She simply sat: Lili Darvas, in Seydel, p. 85 (trans. Henriette Fremont).
49-Marlene waged intrigues: Mary Kiersch (interviewer), Curtis Bernhardt (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1986), p. 38.
50-rare Garboesque: New York Times, Sept. 9, 1929, p. 30.
51-plump but agile: Erich Urban, in Börsen-Zeitung, Sept. 6, 1929.
51–52-with a cold: Josef von Sternberg, Fun in a Chinese Laundry (New York: Macmillan, 1965), p. 231.
CHAPTER FIVE
53-I feel as: Film-Kurier, Aug. 17, 1929.
54-without my knowledge: Von Sternberg, p. 154.
56-bovine listlessness: Ibid., p. 233.
56-She came to life: Ibid., p. 237.
57-von Sternberg had: Marlene, p. 51.
57-Even while rehearsals: Willi Frischauer, “The Marlene Dietrich Story,” Reynolds News Service (London), June 13, 1954.
58-Her behavior: Von Sternberg, p. 239.
58-I didn’t know: Quoted in Peter Bogdanovich, “Hollywood,” Esquire, January 1972, p. 56.
59-He pulled out: Quoted in Frank Westmore and Muriel Davidson, The Westmores of Hollywood (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1976), pp. 69–70.
59-I did not: Von Sternberg, p. 227.
60-I am Miss Dietrich: Often quoted by von Sternberg; see, e.g., “Le Montreur d’Ombres,” Cahiers du Cinéma, no. 168 (July 1965), p. 21: “Marlène, c’est moi, et elle le sait mieux que personne.”
63-Regardless: Von Sternberg, p. 242.
63-simply wasn’t ambitious: E.g., Marlene, p. 58.
64-She had pinned: Ruth Landshoff-Yorck, “Sensual Indolence Only Part of Marlene Dietrich’s Allure,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Dec. 29, 1977.
65-In Europe it: Budd Schulberg, Moving Pictures: Memories of a Hollywood Prince (New York: Stein and Day, 1981), p. 278.
CHAPTER SIX
68–69-von Sternberg controlled: John Kobal, People Will Talk (New York: Knopf, 1985), p. 529.
71-They didn’t like: Bogdanovich, art. cit., p. 56.
71-Jo was jealous: Kobal, pp. 298–99.
74-I planned to: Von Sternberg, p. 247.
74-Woman is no: F. A. Macklin, “Interview with Josef von Sternberg,” Film Heritage, vol. 1, no. 2 (Winter 1965–66), pp. 5–6.
75-I would much: E.g., Paramount press release dated May 18, 1937, and, much later, the (London) Evening News, May 31, 1949.
77-The light source: Marlène D., pp. 68–69 (trans. DS); the published English version is not quite accurate in this case.
78-Turn your shoulders: Von Sternberg, p. 253.
79-I made seven: Herman Weinberg, Josef von Sternberg (New York: Dutton, 1967), pp. 126, 83; see also “Le Montreur d’Ombres, déclarations de Josef von Sternberg,” Cahiers du Cinéma, no. 168 (July 1965), p. 19.
CHAPTER SEVEN
85-to be Mr. Dietrich: New York Times, May 6, 1931.
85-Mr. von Sternberg: Quoted in the Los Angeles Herald, Sept. 28, 1931.
86-Mr. von Sternberg: Bogdanovich, art. cit.
86-living in sin: Diane Johnson, Dashiell Hammett: A Life (New York: Random House, 1983), p. 100.
87-to photograph me: Marlene, p. 97.
87-Cooper was very: Bogdanovich, art. cit.
88-Marlene worshipped: Nicholas von Sternberg to DS, May 16, 1989.
88-I had nothing: From a Paramount Studios press release dated Oct. 27, 1933, issued under MD’s name.
88-I never think: Motion Picture Classic, January 1932.
88-She attached no: Von Sternberg, p. 225.
89–90-People have said: Ruth Biery, “Is Dietrich Through?” Photoplay, Jan. 1933, p. 110.
90-I felt: New York Mirror, June 18, 1961, p. 2; see also Selma Robinson, “I couldn’t compete with my Mother,” Ladies Home Journal, October 1951, p. 56.
90-I remember: John Calendo, “Dietrich and the Devil,” Interview, November 1972.
91-I am here: “Charges Bared in Mrs. von Sternberg’s Suits on Film Star,” Los Angeles Herald, Aug. 8, 1931.
93-Clive Brook wanted: Lee Garmes to DS, Aug. 20, 1977.
94-genuine and tremendous: Vanity Fair, December 1931, p. 41.
94-careful elimination: Quoted in Homer Dickens, The Films of Marlene Dietrich (Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1968), p. 103.
95-I have enjoyed: Whitney Williams, “Marlene Dietrich Hints at Quitting Hollywood,” Los Angeles Heral
d, Feb. 7, 1932.
99-a joy to: Sam Coslow, Cocktails for Two (New Rochelle: Arlington House, 1977), p. 127.
99-obviously on close: Dick Moore, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (New York: Harper and Row, 1984), p. 138.
99–100-I do not: Eileen Creelman, “Picture Plays and Players,” New York Sun, Sept. 28, 1933. See also Biery, art. cit., p. 29.
100-It is behind: Creelman, art. cit.
101-All right, George: Whitney Stine, The Hurrell Style: 50 Years of Photographing Hollywood (New York: John Day, 1976), p. 109.
CHAPTER EIGHT
104-Like every German: Los Angeles Times, Jan. 26, 1933.
105-a little blackbird: Jean Howard to DS, July 15, 1990.
105-seemed such: Mercedes de Acosta, Here Lies the Heart (New York: Reynal, 1960), pp. 72, 74, 103.
106-put records on: Ibid., p. 215.
106-I was moving: Ibid., p. 271.
106-sometimes twice: Ibid., p. 243.
106-You are the: Ibid., pp. 242ff.
108-This created: Davidson, art. cit., pp. 166–67.
108-I had the: Bogdanovich, art. cit., p. 57.
110-I am very: New York World-Telegram, July 29, 1933.
111-everything bad: Anthony Heilbut, Exiled in Paradise (New York: Viking, 1983), p. 34.
111-We poor Germans: Ibid., p. 321.
114-They say von Sternberg: Jack Grant, “Marlene Dietrich Answers Her Critics,” a 1934 interview: reprinted in Martin Levin, ed., Hollywood and the Great Fan Magazines (New York: Arbor House, 1970), p. 178.
114-If you want: Quoted by Joel McCrea in Kobal, p. 301.
115-He was killing: Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, Dark Star (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985), p. 247.
115-loveliest dreams: Scott Donaldson, By Force of Will (New York: Viking, 1977), p. 189.
116-I never ask: A. E. Hotchner, Papa Hemingway (New York: William Morrow, 1983), p. 25.
116-run by the stars: Donaldson, p. 232.
116-She is a complete: Los Angeles Examiner, Oct. 12, 1934.
119-Von Sternberg made: Cesar Romero to DS, Oct. 2, 1988.
120-an insult to: Daily Telegraph (London), Oct. 30, 1935.
120-I am no longer: Edwin Schallert, “Dietrich Discloses Why She Left von Sternberg,” Los Angeles Times, March 3, 1935.
120-He dreaded the day: Marlène D., pp. 85, 93–94.
121-My salary is: Evening Standard (London), Jan. 4, 1936.
CHAPTER NINE
124-fragrant and cool: Basil Rathbone, In and Out of Character (New York: Doubleday, 1962), p. 147.
125-Permitted to walk: Frank S. Nugent, New York Times, April 13, 1936, p. 15.
125-She was a: Edith Head and Paddy Calistro, Edith Head’s Hollywood (New York: Dutton, 1983), p. 29.
126-Falling into: Engstead, p. 76.
127-I adored: Fountain, p. 257.
129-I told her: Rudy Behlmer, ed., Memo from David O. Selznick (New York: Viking, 1972), pp. 100–101.
130-It’s twash: Joshua Logan, Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life (New York: Delacorte, 1976), pp. 87–104.
131-It isn’t that: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Feb. 23, 1936.
132-she only makes: Jacques Feyder and Françoise Rosay, Le Cinéma—notre métier (Geneva: Pierre Cailler, 1946), pp. 56–58. For Harry Stradling’s recollections, see Richard Whitehall, “The Blue Angel,” Films and Filming, Oct. 1962, p. 20.
133-slipped and sprawled: Time, vol. 28, no. 22 (Nov. 30, 1936), p. 41.
133-You can have: Willi Frischauer, European Commuter (New York: Macmillan, 1964), p. 113.
135-really like brother: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., to DS, March 29, 1990.
135-only her passing: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., The Salad Days (New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 260.
136-rarely seemed: Ibid., pp. 30–31.
at the root: Frank Nugent, New York Times, Nov. 4, 1937, p. 29.
140-Marlene Dietrich: Der Stürmer, Oct. 6, 1937 (trans. in New York Times, Oct. 7, 1937, from Reuters).
141-really a rather: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., to DS, March 29, 1990.
CHAPTER TEN
145-motions of secrecy: Fairbanks, pp. 273, 275.
146-I am glad: Los Angeles Examiner, June 10, 1939.
148-His melancholy: Dietrich, p. 152.
149-Nobody knows: Davidson, art. cit., p. 168.
156-sailor’s daughter: Ibid., p. 175. Remarque wrote as he felt.
156–57-an exciting and forlorn: Erich Maria Remarque (trans. Walter Sorell and Denver Lindley), Arch of Triumph (London: Hutchinson Library Services, 1946), pp. 92, 101, 103, 120.
157-Joan, he said: Ibid., pp. 145, 203.
one of the first: Dietrich, p. 153.
158-The greatest compliment: In Ed Sullivan’s syndicated column “Hollywood” (e.g., Los Angeles Herald, New York Daily News), Jan. 17, 1940.
159-I had no friends: Selma Robinson, “I couldn’t compete with my Mother,” Ladies Home Journal, October 1951, p. 56.
159-I was always: Ibid.
160-Maria is as: Duncan Underhill, “Marlene Dietrich in Pants for Seven Sinners Role,” New York World-Telegram, July 6, 1940.
161-With that wonderful: Tay Garnett with Fredda Dudley Balling, Light Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights (New Rochelle: Arlington House, 1973), p. 245.
161-It’s very early: Pilar Wayne, with Alex Thorleifson, John Wayne—My Life with the Duke (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987), p. 39.
161-one that wouldn’t: Ibid., p. 40.
162-Unpleasant people: Dietrich, pp. 183–84.
163-giving one of the: Hollywood Reporter, Oct. 24, 1940.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
165-One American critic: Charles Thomas Samuels, Encountering Directors (New York: Putnam, 1972), pp. 79–80.
166-a flop: Marlene, p. 184.
166-he wasn’t exactly: Ibid., p. 132.
166-an awfully stupid: Ibid., p. 184.
167-like an orphan: Ibid., p. 135.
168-He called her: Jean Renoir, My Life and My Films (New York: Atheneum, 1974), p. 226.
169-Oh, hello: Fred Lawrence Guiles, Tyrone Power: The Last Idol (New York: Doubleday, 1979), p. 144.
169-Gabin glanced: Ibid., pp. 144–45.
169-The mothering: Quoted to Dean Goodman by Maria Sieber in 1943; Dean Goodman to DS, May 27, 1989.
169-She is mother: Edward G. Robinson, with Leonard Spiegelgass, All My Yesterdays (New York: Hawthorn, 1973), p. 219.
169–70-almost overnight: New York Journal-American, June 21, 1941.
170-so subtly: Robinson, ibid.
171-Oh, Georgie: New York Post, May 27, 1941.
171-Watch Mama: Life, Aug. 18, 1952, p. 90.
172-She couldn’t understand: David Chierichetti, Hollywood Director (New York: Curtis, 1973), p. 177.
176-I’m not thinking: Associated Press wire release, March 9, 1942.
176-not only contributed: Bette Davis, The Lonely Life (New York: Putnam, 1962), p. 261.
177-but she also: Cheryl Crawford to DS, Aug. 18, 1983; see also her book One Naked Individual (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977), pp. 117–24.
180-I cannot play: Crawford, p. 124.
181-Maria was the: Dean Goodman to DS, May 27, 1989.
183-Do you have: Juliet Benita Colman, Ronald Colman (New York: Morrow, 1975), p. 214.
184-I don’t want: Selma Robinson, art. cit.
CHAPTER TWELVE
187-He taught me: John Fisher, Call Them Irreplaceable (New York: Stein and Day, 1974), p. 143.
190-Wherever I went: Arthur Pollock, “Theater Time,” syndicated column (e.g., New York Journal-American), June 1, 1944.
190-attached themselves: Danny Thomas, with Bill Davidson, Make Room for Danny (New York: Putnam, 1991), p. 138.
190-I was more afraid: Marlene, p. 206.
190-It was my first: “Marlene Sees Night Air Fight,” United Press International wire dispatch dated Algiers, April 12, 1944.
191-I went in: Thomas, p. 139.
193-Being made prisoner: J
ean-Pierre Aumont, Le Soleil et les Ombres (Paris: Laffont, 1976), p. 125; trans. DS. See also Aumont’s Souvenirs Provisoires (Paris: René Julliard, 1957), p. 229.
194-If they don’t: Louis Berg, “Dietrich Rides Again,” This Week, Aug. 13, 1944, p. 10.
194-Anyone who has: New York Post, July 2, 1944.
194-It gave me: Willi Frischauer, “The Marlene Dietrich Story,” Reynolds News (London), June 13, 1954; see also “Dietrich, the body and the soul,” Collier’s, May 14, 1954, p. 27.
194-The Germany I knew: Mel Heimer, “Dietrich ‘Home’ Again,” New York Journal-American, Aug. 26, 1944, p. 2.
195-Only the door: Col. Barney Oldfield, USAF (Ret.) to DS, May 29, 1989.
196-Dietrich was a: Ibid.
197–98-the Paris command: Baker, p. 444.
198-But Marlene: Renoir, p. 226.
199-but I would: Marlene, p. 201.
199-But, darling: Billy Wilder to DS, Nov. 19, 1991.
201-I am through: Frank Conniff, “Marlene Dietrich Quits as Film Actress,” syndicated for International News Service (e.g., New York Journal-American), Feb. 2, 1945.
203-Patton seemed to: James M. Gavin, On to Berlin (New York: Viking, 1978), p. 244.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
206-Her feet: Barbara Learning, Orson Welles (New York: Viking, 1985), p. 309.
206-She is the: Sidney Skolsky, “Tintypes,” Hollywood Citizen-News, Aug. 30, 1945.
207-Marlene had stipulated: Marcel Carné, La Vie à belles dents (Paris: Jean-Vuarnet, 1979), p. 257 (trans. DS).