CREDITS
Pages viii and ix: Marianne Raschig, Hand und Persönlichkeit: Einführung in das System der Handlehre (Hamburg: Gebrüder Enoch Verlag, 1931), p. 109 (top) and 121 (top).
Insert photographs:
Rolls Press / Popperfoto / Contributor / Getty Images.
Harvard Art Museums / Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Lufthansa
German Airlines.
Harvard Art Museums / Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Lufthansa
German Airlines.
bpk, Berlin / Art Resource, NY.
Associated Press.
bpk, Berlin / Art Resource, NY.
© Martin Munkacsi / Howard Greenberg Gallery / Art Resource.
bpk, Berlin / Art Resource, NY.
HIP / Art Resource, NY.
© Laszlo Willinger / Art Resource, NY.
Hulton Archive / Stringer / Getty Images.
Associated Press.
bpk, Berlin / Art Resource, NY.
Keystone-France / Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Marlene Dietrich at age five, January 1, 1906.
Marlene Dietrich with Josef (“Jo”) von Sternberg in Berlin, 1928.
Marlene Dietrich, actress Anna May Wong, and Leni Riefenstahl at Berlin Ball, 1928.
Still from the film The Blue Angel (1929; director: Josef von Sternberg) with Marlene Dietrich and Rosa Valetti.
Marlene Dietrich poses with her husband, Rudolf Sieber, and their daughter, Maria, in Hollywood, 1931.
Leni Riefenstahl meeting with Adolf Hitler in 1934.
Leni Riefenstahl photographed by Martin Munkacsi on a shoot that also produced Munkacsi’s cover for Time in 1936.
Opening of the 1936 Olympic Games by Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympic Stadium. On the balcony, from left: Werner von Blomberg, Rudolf Hess, William Frick, Count Henry de Baillet-Latour, Adolf Hitler, unknown, Theodor Lewald, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, Leni Riefenstahl.
Leni Riefenstahl at the camera, 1930s.
Marlene Dietrich, 1942.
Marlene Dietrich with French actor Jean Gabin at the restaurant and nightclub Ciro’s, Los Angeles, California, November 15, 1941.
Marlene Dietrich greets veterans on the Monticello after the ship docked in New York City on July 20, 1945.
Leni Riefenstahl and her lawyer before the district court in Munich, November 25, 1949.
Leni Riefenstahl, at the age of seventy-six, on a submarine adventure in the Caribbean Sea to make a series of photographs, August 2, 1979.
INDEX
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Acosta, Mercedes de, 223–24
Adalbert, Prince, 77
Adler, Gusti, 59
Adorno, Theodor W., 35, 532n38
Adventures of a Ten-Mark Note (film), 130
Africa:
Kau people in, 444, 515
Nuba people of, 436–44, 446–47, 514, 520, 521–22
tourists in, 445
AGFA, 134, 555n80
Aherne, Brian, 224–25, 503
Albers, Hans, 157, 263
Albu, Ruth, 250
Allgeier, Sepp:
and Fanck, 103, 109, 442
Leni’s relationship with, 267
and mountain films, 91, 94, 115, 281, 442
and Nazi party films, 267, 268, 279, 280, 281, 321, 327, 442
as skier, 94, 103, 120, 281
and Trenker, 120, 267
and World War I, 120
Allianz-Verleih, 428
All Quiet on the Western Front (film), 148
Amann, Max, 431, 432,
566n1
Ambler, Eric, 504
Angel (film), 243
Angst, Richard, 109, 111, 115, 119, 122, 123
“Annie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (song), 364
an-Numeiri, Jaafar Mohammed, 573n8
Anti-Nazi League, 314
Archipenko, Alexander, 242
Arch of Triumph (film), 389
Arendt, Hannah, 235
Arnoldi, Frau, 47–48
Arthur, Jean, 391
Attenborough, Richard, 450
Attolico, Bernardo, 296
Auden, W. H., 452
August Wilhelm, Prince, 261
Auschwitz concentration camp, 338–39, 391, 517
Austria:
Allied occupation of, 414–15
German invasion of, 308
Leni’s deportation from, 419
liberation of, 411
Seebichl House in, 412–13, 415, 416
Avalanche (film), 114–20, 127, 128, 162, 435
Bach, Steven, 287
Bacharach, Burt, 460–61, 462, 466, 467, 479–80, 483–84, 487
Baker, Josephine, 62
Balázs, Béla:
and The Blue Light, 126, 127–28, 129, 130–31,
136, 137, 312, 513, 556–57n97
early years of, 129–30
and Leni’s changing memories, 312, 552n39, 556–57n97
and Leni’s power of attorney, 275
Leni’s use of, 278
and Madame Doesn’t Want Children, 68
“The Revolutionary Film” by, 68
Balbo, Italo, 261, 327–28
Balmain, 452
Bankhead, Tallulah, 448
Banton, Travis, 200, 220, 458, 545n42
Bardot, Brigitte, 432
Barry, Iris, 512
Battleship Potemkin (film), 263
Bauer, Herbert (Balász), 129
Baum, Vicki, 24, 233
Beckett, Samuel, 452
Beinhorn, Elly, 139
Bel Ami (film), 70
Belling, Rudolf, 242
Below, Nicolaus von, 323, 557n2
Bendow, Wilhelm, 62
Benitz, Albert, 122
Berber, Anita, 14–15, 18
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 463
Berger, Helmut, 545n32
Bergman, Ingrid, 246, 389
Bergner, Elisabeth, 57, 75, 128, 238, 259
Berlin:
beauty ideal in, 85
boxing in, 59, 60, 85
Brandenburg Gate, 22
dance in, 18–20, 23, 26
death squads in, 277
Deutsches Theater, 56–59, 80, 163, 246–47
Dietrich home in, 3, 76
film ball (1955), 432
as film setting, 391, 394
food rationing in, 316
immigrants in, 7
industry and technology in, 8, 12, 13
instability in, 191, 203–4, 208, 262
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, 75, 153
Komödie Theater, 71
lack of tradition in, 23–24, 76–77
Marlene’s films shown in, 207, 210, 213, 240, 351
Marlene’s stage performances in, 462–66
Nazi party in, 211, 213
nightlife in, 74–75, 79
Olympic Games (1936) in, 294, 295, 296, 297–98
post-World War I in, 22–24, 45–46, 53–54, 59–60, 76–77
post–World War II in, 380–81
pre–World War II politics in, 203–4, 208
Reinhardt theaters in, 56, 62, 71, 80, 162
revolution in, 45, 59, 60
Schauspielschule Ernst Busch, 530n6
Schwannecke wine bar in, 74–75, 79, 113
sexual ambiguities in, 62, 63, 72–73, 74, 86, 154
theater in, 56, 57
Thielscher Girls in, 61–62
Tiller Girls in, 61
Titania Palace Theater, 462–63
trendy, 84–85
World War I in, 11, 22, 38, 41–43
World War II in, 339, 353
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (film), 278
Berlin Symphony Orchestra, 306
Bernhardt, Kurt, 77, 263
Bertelsmann, publisher, 500
Binswanger, Herbert, 529n18
&nb
sp; Birkin, Jane, 507
Black Cargo (film), 434–35
Black Fox (film), 470–71
“Black Market” (song), 392
Black Thursday, 160
Blonde Venus (film), 204–7, 208, 210
Blue Angel, The (film), 162–73, 183, 211
authors of, 155–56, 162, 169, 170
Jannings as star in, 155, 156, 158, 163–64, 166–68, 169, 172
Marlene created by von Sternberg in, 159, 165, 167, 172, 476
Marlene in, 155, 163–73, 349, 370, 385, 473
Marlene’s casting in, 112–13, 157–59
Marlene’s triumph in, 169, 172–73, 178–79
music for, 163, 168, 191
preliminaries for, 152–59
premiere of, 171–72
remakes of, 383, 394, 482, 505
set of, 542–43n87
as sound film, 162, 166, 171
story of, 169–71
U.S. version of, 169
Blue Light, The (film), 126–29, 130–38
awards and honors for, 137, 307, 572n5
and Balázs, 126, 127–28, 130–31, 136, 137, 139, 312, 556–57n97
cast and crew for, 127–29, 130, 513, 556–57n97
comparisons with, 135, 333
critical reception of, 137–38
and Fanck, 126–27, 136
filming of, 131, 134–35
and Hitler, 145, 148, 150–51
Leni’s acting in, 135, 136, 137
Leni’s directorial debut with, 126–27, 136, 137, 278
premiere of, 136–37, 148
revival of, 275, 312, 313, 436, 512
screenplay for, 126, 129, 131, 136
story of, 131–33, 135–36
success of, 259
tour with, 143
Blumenthal, Mr., 180–81
Bogdanovich, Peter, 230
Bois, Curt, 62
Böll, Heinrich, 500
Borchert, Wolfgang, 500
Bormann, Martin, 334, 335, 341, 413, 422
Borzage, Frank, 231
Bouché, René, 487
Boursier, Marcel, 214
Bowie, David, 500
“Boys in the Back Room, The” (song), 348, 349, 364, 451
Brancusi, Constantin, 242
Brandt, Willy, 465
Braun, Eva, 334, 423
Braun, Lily, 34
Braun, Otto, 34
Brauner, Atze, 465
Brecht, Bertolt, 59, 60, 75, 384
Drums in the Night, 54
Brecht, Bertolt, and Kurt Weill:
Mahagonny, 532n38
Songspiele, 532n38
The Threepenny Opera, 86, 153, 532n38
Bronnen, Arnolt, Parricide, 54
Brooks, Louise, 68–69
Brückner, Wilhelm, 145, 149
Bruhn, Ada, 19
Brundage, Avery, 314
Brüning, Heinrich, 147, 149, 171, 203
Brynner, Yul, 403–5, 454–55, 459, 461–62, 477, 480
Buchanan, Jack, 450
By Divine Right (film), 196
Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, The (film), 128, 297
Café de Paris, London, 450–52
Café Electric (film), 69, 70
Cagney, James, 137
Cameron, David, 465
Cannes Film Festival, 510
Capote, Truman, 459
Card, James, 512
Carmen (film), 45
Carné, Marcel, 357, 383
Carpenter, Ken, 302
Carstairs, Marion Barbara “Joe,” 251–52
Cartellieri, Carmen, 536n94
Casablanca (film), 130
Catherine the Great (film), 238
Cerrutti, Vittorio, 260
Chanel, Coco, 486
Charell, Erik, 62–63
Chekhova, Olga, 137
Chevalier, Maurice, 208, 209, 213, 224, 462
Chicago Art Festival, 514
Chirac, Jacques, 501
Chopin, Frédéric, 80
Christie, Agatha, 89
Witness for the Prosecution, 458
Churchill, Winston, 89, 350
Ciano, Countess Edda Mussolini, 296
Cinémathèque Française, 512
Clair, René, 278, 351
Clift, Montgomery, 469
Cobalt 60 (film), 432
Cocteau, Jean, 462
Cohen, Alexander, 487
Cohen, Emanuel, 205
Collignon, Ilse, 557n7
Columbia Pictures, 460
Cooper, Gary, 183, 184, 188, 471
Coppola, Francis Ford, 446, 512
Correll, Ernst Hugo, 161
Coward, Noël, 403, 450, 454, 462, 481, 482, 488, 492, 499
Crawford, Joan, 137, 240, 247
Cruise, Tom, 521
Curtiz, Michael (Mihály Kertész), 130
Czechoslovakia, German threats against, 313, 315
Czinner, Paul, 128
Dagover, Lil, 77
d’Albert, Eugen, 330
dance:
abstraction of, 83
ballroom, 23
body as temple of, 18–19
classical ballet, 21, 23
expression through the body in, 22, 23, 46, 82, 83
and gymnastics, 18, 23, 46, 83, 85
harmony of mind and body, 19
Mazdaznan movement, 83
méthode rhythmique, 19
modern, 18–20, 21, 24–26, 80
physical elasticity achieved via, 85
as rhythmic thinking, 82
women in, 20, 23, 26–27
Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg (film), 536n94
Davis, Joe, 460
Dayan, Moshe, 467
Day of Freedom—Our Wehrmacht—Nuremberg 1935 (film), 290, 291–92, 323, 415, 416–17, 515
DeBakey, Michael, 489
de Gaulle, Charles, 361, 368, 486–87
Dehmel, Richard, 34
Delahaye, Michel, 305
Delon, Alain, 462
De Sica, Vittorio, 426, 432, 456
Desire (film), 231–32, 240
Dessau, Paul, 115
De Stijl movement, 533n55
Destry Rides Again (film), 347–49, 354, 406
Deutsche Grammophon, 468
Devil Is a Woman, The (film), 227–28, 240
Devil’s General, The (film), 106
Diaghilev, Serge, 19
Diem, Carl, 294
Diessl, Gustav, 108, 121
Dieterle, William, 362, 465
Dietrich, Elisabeth Ottilie (sister):
birth of, 5
childhood of, 6–7
death of, 468, 488
discipline instilled in, 6–7, 66
and family background, 3–7
financial support from Marlene, 468–69
letters to and from Marlene, 468
post–World War II, 399, 468–69
as teacher, 53
teen years of, 30, 31, 38, 43
Dietrich, Hermann (uncle), 65–66
Dietrich, Josefine (Wilhelmina Elisabeth Josefine Felsing) (mother):
in Berlin, 194, 202–3, 212, 225, 351, 352, 363, 380, 381, 503
death of, 381, 382, 385
and family life, 31–32, 37–39, 44, 66
first husband of, 5, 6
hopes resting on her children, 38–39, 66
Marlene in U.S., 171, 194, 208, 236–38, 351
Marlene’s financial support of, 208
and Marlene’s marriage, 64
and Marlene’s schooling, 46–49
and Prussian pride, 31
punctuality and discipline enforced by, 6–7, 30, 31, 37, 39, 44, 55, 66, 78
second husband of, 30–31, 37–38
social status as concern of, 31, 43, 56, 61, 64, 76
and World War I, 37–38, 46
Dietrich, Louis Erich Otto (father), 3–6, 43
Dietrich, Marie Magdalene, see Dietrich, Marlene
Dietrich, Marlene:
and acting career, 55–56, 5
7–61, 71, 78–79, 230
affairs of, 70–71, 75, 167–68, 196, 209, 222–25, 240–41, 243–45, 251, 353–59, 364–65, 368, 371, 379–80, 381, 385, 401, 403–5, 454–55, 457, 460–62, 479, 480; see also specific names
and agents, 231, 247, 255, 387, 399–400, 402, 406, 450
and aging, 222, 229, 230, 350, 360, 375, 383, 387–88, 402, 403, 404, 405, 407, 410, 449–50, 452, 459, 468, 475, 477, 480, 483–84, 486, 490–93, 497–510
ambition of, 58, 61, 66, 77, 79, 164
awards and honors to, 395, 452, 464, 466, 467, 474, 487, 509, 563n26
birth and background of, 3–7
book collection of, 509
boxing lessons taken by, 59
as businesswoman, 467–68, 489–90, 501–2
charity work of, 402
childhood of, 6–7, 36, 363, 499
citizenship of, 65, 246–47, 255, 256, 349, 351, 352
in commercials, 485
and cosmetic surgery, 491
critical reviews of, 68, 69, 73, 350, 361, 451, 500
death of, 510, 572n22
descriptions of, 59, 79, 408–9, 464, 484
diary and dreams of, 30, 32–34, 36, 38, 39–41, 42, 44, 55, 69, 79
discipline instilled in, 6–7, 30, 31, 37, 39, 78, 230, 374, 406, 489
entertaining U.S. troops, 70, 362–67, 370–71, 373–76, 463
estate of, 508–10
fading popularity of, 246, 247, 254, 350–51, 355, 383, 385, 387, 388, 399, 402
falls from the stage, 466, 479, 488–89, 493, 499
and fame, 72, 75, 186, 190, 192, 232–33, 255
and family ideal, 32, 39, 40, 43, 167, 193, 250, 257, 401–2
and Fanck, 139
fears of, 374, 384, 385, 387, 397, 405, 509
financial support of others, 71, 76, 79, 208, 215, 222, 223, 251, 255, 359, 369, 371, 396–97, 399, 455–56, 468–69, 477, 492–93
friends of, 408–9, 480, 482, 503, 504
as grandmother, 395–96, 397, 398, 401, 403, 459, 462, 476
health issues of, 387, 388, 474, 477–79, 486, 489, 490, 491, 493, 508, 510
and her daughter, 66; see also Riva, Maria
and her grandmother, 32–33, 36, 43, 53, 59, 60, 401
and her mother, see Dietrich, Josefine
home movies of, 241, 256, 358
homesick and unhappy in U.S., 181–82, 183, 190, 193, 194, 208, 212, 215, 225, 233–34, 390
income and finances of, 56, 60, 187, 192, 208, 209, 238, 251, 255, 256, 351, 359, 360, 369, 371–72, 379, 387, 391, 396–97, 399, 449, 456, 463, 464, 467–68, 487, 488, 500, 505, 509–10, 570n45
isolation of, 178, 382, 388–90, 449, 471, 475, 478, 479, 504–10
Just Take My Life, 481–82, 498–99, 500–501, 503, 505
Dietrich & Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives Page 60