Review: Marlene Dietrich & Josef Von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935

Blu-ray: Marlene Dietrich & Josef Von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935

Gosh how I love Indicator box sets, they give us beautifully restored films with the most amazing extras. So being able to experience this particular collection featuring the six Hollywood films made between 1930 and 1935 by Josef von Sternberg and starring his ‘creation’ Marlene Dietrich is quite a thrill. We’re all familiar with Dietrich (mainly from her singing \”Fallink in love again\”), but perhaps not so many of us have actually seen one of her very early Hollywood films.

The Dietrich-Sternburg collaboration started with The Blue Angel, and this German classic led to a contract at Paramount that resulted in these six films directed by Von Sternberg and starring Dietrich from 1930 to 1935. Two of them would produce Best Director and Best Actress Academy Award nominations for the pair, and one of those films would even be the highest-grossing film of its year of release.

Watching them over eighty years later it’s amazing to see how Sternberg knew how to ‘use’ Marlene, from story to the way he lit her luminescent face.  I admit I wasn’t a fan of all the films but the way he frames her is never less than fascinating. It’s a perfect marriage of director and star, making her the ultimate erotic fantasy for both men and women.  

German-born, multi-lingual, beautiful, sultry, available and a bi-seductress who could act, (sort of) sing, and dance. Not unlike Greta Garbo, Dietrich oozed European mystery to the American audiences of the early Depression years. Her gender-bending wardrobe and mannerisms, made her quite sexually ambiguous and dangerous.

Morocco (1930), co-starring Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou, the story takes place in Morocco and follows Amy Jolly (Dietrich), a character based on a real-life cabaret singer, involves the two men in a love triangle while war wages in the desert. Morocco received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress (Dietrich), Director (von Sternberg), Cinematography.

Dishonored (1931), co-starring Victor McLaglen and Warner Oland. Dietrich plays a Mata Hari character—a spy called “X-27,” Marie Kolverer, who works for Vienna during World War I. She is assigned to take down an Austrian and a Russian who have hooks in Austrian Intelligence. While beautifully photographed Dietrich performs well, McLaglen is miscast, and grins like a loon too much of the time. Still, the star and her wardrobes steal the show.

Shanghai Express (1932), co-starring Clive Brook, Warner Oland, and Anna May Wong. This is seen as one of the classics of her early career, and the film is infamous for employing a lot of Chinese extras (although white actor Oland is unfortunately cast in one of his many ‘Oriental’ roles, something that’s been commonplace in Hollywood). This film received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Director, and Garmes won the Cinematography Oscar.

Blonde Venus (1932), co-starring Herbert Marshall and Cary Grant. Dietrich plays yet another nightclub singer who marries Marshall but carries on an affair with Grant (a bit of a cad in this early supporting role). Pre-Code decadence and sin is on full display. Dietrich has some of her better musical numbers in this one and nearly manages to sing in tune.

The Scarlet Empress (1934), co-starring John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, and Louise Dresser. This is my favourite film in this set. Dietrich plays Catherine the Great in 18^thCentury Russia, the period settings and costumes are really spectacular, as are the amazing weirdly scary statues/carvings looming over the cast. Released just after the Production Code went into effect, the film amazingly got away with scenes of erotic imagery and torture.

The Devil is a Woman (1935), co-starring Lionel Atwill and Cesar Romero. Dietrich herself claimed this title to be her favourite among the films she made with von Sternberg. Although it looks fantastic and her acting is rather better than some of the other films, I did find this film hard work. Taking place in Spain at the end of the 19^thCentury, Dietrich plays Concha Perez, a cruel but seductive femme fatalewho sets about ruining the men who love her. Maybe that’s why she liked it the best. Apparently, nearly twenty minutes had to be cut from the film by order of the censors, including a musical number that was instead released as a hit record for Dietrich!  

All six films feature either 2K or 4K digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks. They look truly fabulous, of course they’re not widescreen but you’d swear they were made last week, and of course Marlene looks nothing short of ….mesmerising. You really get to see the allure, and understand why she became such an icon.

Supplements spread over the six disks are in line with Indicator releases, prolific and all of them are made to such a high standard – informative but most importantly entertaining.

A truly wonderful box set.

INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:

Limited Edition of 6,000 copies

Marlene Dietrich & Josef Von Sternberg at Paramount, 1930-1935 is released on 26th August 2019.

Review by Tina from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.

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