Marlene Dietrich Got Top Nod For A Foreign Affair

Trailer screenshot via Wikimedia Commons

On July 1 1948, The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther praised A Foreign Affair, singling out Marlene Dietrich's Erika von Schlütow for doing "the most fascinating job" by embodying the film's "romantic allure" and "vagrant cynicism."

Dietrich, John Lund, and Billy Wilder later reteamed for the radio series, "Screen Director's Playhouse," which you can explore and download at Internet Archive. I will, however, embed Dietrich's reprisals below. Note that the first recording aired on March 6 1949, and the second broadcast on March 1 1951. Should I spoil the surprise for those who've never heard these shows? Yes! Rosalind Russell and Lucille Ball took on the role of Congresswoman Phoebe Frost in the 1949 and 1951 programs respectively! If either Lucy or Auntie Mame had shared motion picture credits with Dietrich, the boys surely would have burst in their theater seats like Fourth of July fireworks!