When Josef von Sternberg returned to America after directing The Blue Angel (1930) in Germany, he brought with him a new discovery: Marlene Dietrich, who he featured in six lavish, lush productions that brought Hollywood art and craft to stories of sexuality and power with exotic overtones and fetishistic undercurrents. Dietrich made her American debut as a sultry cabaret singer opposite Gary Cooper in Morocco (1930), a French Foreign Legion melodrama that dressed Dietrich in a man's tuxedo and earned Oscar nominations for both Dietrich and director von Sternberg. And she played a Mata Hari-like spy in Dishonored (1931), sent to seduce Russian officer Victor McLaglen, and starred as a nightclub entertainer in Blonde Venus (1932) who battles her jealous husband (Herbert Marshall) for custody of their child. Dietrich and von Sternberg’s greatest collaborations are arguably Shanghai Express (1932), starring Dietrich as a high-class prostitute on a train carrying civilian evacuees from war-torn Peking, and The Scarlet Empress (1934), with Dietrich as Russia’s Catherine the Great. Less an historical epic than a self-aware creation of expressionist decadence, The Scarlet Empress was a commercial flop, as was the pair’s last collaboration The Devil Is a Woman (1935), a beautiful but narratively austere melodrama. Taken together, these films combine ornate set design, delicate lighting, and a battery of hanging nets, smoke, and cross-hatched slats to create a dense visual canvas while addressing issues of sexuality and power through both imagery and melodramatic narratives. Von Sternberg was able to conjure up a unique kind of glamour that has never been replicated by any other director. All six films are newly remastered and are accompanied by a wide array of extras, including new and archival documentaries and featurettes on Dietrich and von Sternberg, new and archival interviews with film historians and experts, a video essay by critics Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin, a Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Morocco featuring Dietrich and Clark Gable, the song "If It Isn’t Pain" (removed by censors from The Devil Is a Woman), and an 80-page book with essays. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (S. Axmaker)
Dietrich & Von Sternberg in Hollywood
Criterion, 6 discs, 542 min., not rated, DVD or Blu-ray: $124.99 Volume 33, Issue 5
Dietrich & Von Sternberg in Hollywood
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: