Marlene Dietrich

[JackFavell]

I heard a radio interview on ICONS with her grandson, Peter Riva, and he said that at first, she wanted nothing to do with the role in Judgment at Nuremberg. She hated the character portrayed in the film passionately. But she realized that if she portrayed the role in the right way, it would show the hideous hypocrisy, the depth of delusion of those who pretended that they did know what happened. She ended up taking the role to show the world how sickening that argument was. Riva said that if you had seen and heard about the torture and murder of other human beings as Marlene had, you could not help but be upset when others said that "they did not know". To portray a woman who could have stood up and attacked the Nazis, but did nothing, in order to protect her own skin was deeply, deeply repellent to Marlene.

Marlene had difficulty saying the lines in the section where Mrs. Bertholdt denies being a Nazi. Spencer Tracy took her aside and said that it was important to say those very lines, to show the hypocrisy of her character to people at that time and for all future times. Marlene was able to play that scene because of his convincing argument. She hated the Nazis and Hitler to her very core, and would do anything in her power to stop future fascist uprisings. She worked for the OSS during the war and was able to bring many people out of Germany, and also was able to help the resistance movement immeasurably by lending her voice to their secret broadcasts. She traveled to dangerous places to entertain the troops, and no one did more for the war effort. Her mother and sister had stayed behind in Germany. Her sister had married a Nazi film projectionist who worked in a concentration camp. Marlene ended up rescuing them at some point during the war.

Apparently, she made herself quite ill portraying Mrs. Bertholdt. She would throw up every night after her day's work. Peter Riva said that the woman you see on the screen is patterned after Marlene's mom. After performing her crucial scene with Tracy, she left the set and cried for two days.

I don't think she felt guilty, because she had nothing to feel guilty for, being one of the main artists to work actively against Hitler. She was a controversial figure in Germany for a number of years.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thanks for posting that Jack, I appreciate the story behind her portrayal in Judgement at Nuremberg. I've also thought that there was no one better to play that role than one of the world's best known film stars who lived in Germany until her success in American and at first hankered for Germany but severed ties and then became an American citizen when the Nazis took power. That must be an awful feeling being estranged from your family and watching your country ruined by Nazism, then to give that performance. It sounded like Spencer Tracy could get right to the heart of of what was troubling Marlene. I hope she became proud of her portrayal.

[Lzcutter]

Mr. Cutter and I went to see Peter Bogdanovich's one-man show, Sacred Monsters a few years back (there's a write up in the archives about it, as I recall) and during his talk, he dwelled a bit on Jimmy Stewart and Marlene in Destry. Out of the blue, he briefly talked about the torrid affair they had during the making of the movie and the fact that Marlene got pregnant and had an abortion as a result.

I'm a big fan of both actors and was surprised at the news as I had not heard that tidbit before. It would be great if TCM could get Peter Riva to talk about Marlene at next year's Film Festival.

[JackFavell]

WHAAAAAAAT??

[Lzcutter]

WHAAAAAAAT??

Jacks,

Glad to know I am not the only one out of the loop on this one!

[JackFavell]

Ha! No... that one is a complete shocker to me.

[moira finnie]

If you would like further info on the involvement of Jimmy Stewart with Marlene during Destry Rides Again, it is mentioned in several of the Stewart & Marlene bios and Dietrich's 1990 autobiography, Marlene by the actress and Salvator Attanasio. She wasn't really a fan of Jimmy at the end of the day, though she recognized his talent.

Let's just say it got a little messy between the pair, and Dietrich, who liked to do the leaving at the end of her affairs, seemed to bear a grudge against her co-star, though the pair worked together again in No Highway in the Sky without too much friction.

I would chalk Dietrich-Stewart as the most unlikely Hollywood couple, right up there with Olivia de Havilland and John Huston as well as Anthony Quinn and Margaret Leighton, all of whom, it has been acknowledged, were an item for a time.

[JackFavell]

Olivia de Havilland and John Huston as well as Anthony Quinn and Margaret Leighton

WHAAAAT??

[Lzcutter]

Olivia de Havilland and John Huston as well as Anthony Quinn and Margaret Leighton



WHAAAAT??

I think the Huston talks a bit about his romantic dalliance with Olivia in his autobiography, An Open Book.

[charliechaplinfan]

WHAT!!! Well you learn something new everyday around here

I didn't know about a baby that Marlene aborted. I've got up to Destry in the book I'm reading, there hasn't been mention the Stewart affair, it seems she quickly moved on to John Wayne. This is at the same time as being squired around by Erich Maria Remarque and starting a dalliance with Jean Gabin and ending one with Douglas Fairbanks jnr. a little before Destry Fairbanks jnr's went on holiday with Marlene thinking it was just Marlene but he was part of a cosy fivesome, with husband Rudy, mistress Tami and Marlene's daughter Maria. She used to leave Doug's bed at night and toddle down the corridor to Rudy's room, Doug jnr certainly thought that the embers still simmered a little between Marlene and Rudy although it's possible the attraction was to Tami.

What a woman.

[mrsl]

.
I'm still reeling from hearing about Dietriech and Jimmie Stewart, and not too sure I believe it but . . . Never having been a fan of Dietriech at all, this sort of thing happens to me all the time. I'm reading about her work in foreign language films, and the lighting and all that, then someone points out the great things she did during the war. That I had heard of before, and knew she helped get people out, but then after almost changing my feelings to admiration, someone starts ticking off all of her bedroom romps, from this to that, and down the hall from that, etc., etc. Whew, I need to take a deep breath and clear my head.
.

[JackFavell]

My admiration is unabated.

I admire her for her war work, and her stamina.

[charliechaplinfan]

I'll second that.

To the premiere of The Thief of Bagdad she was accompanied by Erich Maria Remarque, John Wayne, Doug Jnr, Jean Gabin, Stefan Lorant, Mercedes De Acosta and Rudi Sieber. The presence of her husband who quell any rumours that anything was wrong with the marriage.

[moira finnie]

I'll second that.

To the premiere of The Thief of Bagdad she was accompanied by Erich Maria Remarque*, John Wayne, Doug Jnr, Jean Gabin, Stefan Lorant, Mercedes De Acosta and Rudi Sieber. The presence of her husband who quell any rumours that anything was wrong with the marriage.

Here, here! That crowd accompanying her to the premiere is just too funny!

I admire Marlene's ability to carve out her own life in a hostile world and in particular for this visit she paid to someone I cherish.

__________________________________________
*FYI: Erich Maria Remarque regarded her as the love of his life, and based the character of Joan Madou in Arch of Triumph on her personality and allure. They might have married, but Paulette Goddard proved more available.

[JackFavell]

Oh criminy, Moira! Now I am awash in tears. Thanks for linking us to that post. I hadn't seen it before.