Dietrich (a la Tante Valli?) & Clark Gable, Lux Radio Theater
When Marlene Dietrich first performed on Lux Radio Theater, the CBS-run program had recently begun airing from Hollywood with Cecil B. DeMille as its presenter. Not only was Dietrich's Lux Radio Theater debut an adaptation of her American debut film Morocco, it was also Lux Radio Theater's first film adaptation. In this June 1 1936 broadcast, called The Legionnaire and the Lady, Clark Gable took over the role of Gary Cooper, who coincidentally sat in the star-studded audience. Dietrich did not replicate Amy Jolly's drag king act, but she maintained the controlled cadence of her silver screen character, despite having mastered English so well that she had earned a reputation for critiquing her film scripts. Around the time of this broadcast, Dietrich had returned to Los Angeles from Arizona to complete another desert drama, The Garden of Allah, whose dialogue left a taste like rancid halvah in its stars' mouths and which failed to repeat Morocco's success.
Listen to The Legionnaire and the Lady below, or download it from Internet Archive. See photos from the Lux Radio Theater show at IMDB (with inaccurate dates).
Loved listening to Dietrich and Gable. Her wonderful voice must've enchanted listeners sitting by their radios imagining the tale - minus Cooper, plus Gable. Her beauty isn't underrated, but I think her talent and ability often is.
Well, I consider Dietrich's beauty as much a talent/skill/ability as her acting. Many in the entertainment industry (e.g., Josef von Sternberg, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, George Hurrell, Edward G. Robinson, Shirley MacLaine) have praised Dietrich's lighting expertise, with which she perfected her looks. Unlike Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth, who employed others to augment their beauty (or Elizabeth Taylor, who was naturally beautiful), Dietrich controlled the light (and other tools) that flattered her looks.
She did know much about lighting and makeup and the rest of it, but she was also blessed with very fine features to work with. Wonderful bone structure and a figure - those legs. Not to mention her discipline.
I certainly can't argue! Dietrich photographed beautifully in many non-manipulated, non-studio shots throughout most of her life--especially when she was in her 40s. Perhaps I'm guilty of falling for the legend of von Sternberg's tutelage because I find some of Dietrich's older photos incredibly unflattering--particularly this one. Does anyone know who took that? Someone should have smashed his/her camera. No wonder she demeaned herself as "a potato with hair."
To my eye, that unflattering picture is mostly the result of the wrong lipstick look and a wrinkled, not-very-stylish dress. von Sternberg said that he didn't give Dietrich anything she didn't already have, he just made it visible for all to see. I won't argue with that. I've read that Alexander Korda hired von Sternberg for "I, Claudius" because he hoped the director might do for Merle Oberon what he had done for Dietrich. However, Merle Oberon, though also beautiful, was no Dietrich. When "Morocco" came out, one of the trades wrote that von Sternberg not only gave Dietrich the picture, but she took it. A lesser actress/ stylist/ star couldn't have done that. And you are so right about less formal shots of Dietrich in her 40s, Joseph - the "potato with hair" look was gone.
It's unfortunate Dietrich and Gable never teamed up on screen, because on radio their chemistry is superb. Clark worked well with all sorts of leading ladies, and it seemed Marlene drew that out as well as anyone. And both were better at their craft than people give them credit for.
I've seen differing views of Dietrich's acting, which can be summed up as follows: talented but worked with mediocre material (a common assessment in most NYT reviews), played herself (a common contemporary view--just Google the terms "marlene dietrich," "play" and "herself" together), and professional but not noted as talented (Edward G. Robinson, Billy Wilder, and Hitchcock, for example). The only person with whom Dietrich worked who may have an overwhelmingly negative opinion of her acting talents and abilities would be Fritz Lang (perhaps faulty memory on my part, though, because I lack a source at the moment), but Dietrich compared him to a tyrant and a sadist (here). As for Clark Gable and Dietrich's chances of working together, Gable's nearly exclusive professional relationship with MGM perhaps limited such a possibility. Dietrich only worked with MGM once in Kismet, which failed to garner the box office success that would have convinced MGM to sign her for any other films.
Lady Eve, that wrinkled look of the dress is indeed the least flattering aspect of the photo, but I also find that lighting of Dietrich's face too harsh. Dietrich didn't have such prominent facial contours without lighting when she was more zaftig. Once she lost weight in her mid-30s, she could cut through diamonds with her cheekbones. Also, I've read about "I, Claudius" in a monograph I have about v.S. and am thoroughly confused about why that project fizzled. Apparently, Oberon had a car accident, but her injuries were overstated and Korda used them as an excuse to ditch v.S., who was spending too much money. I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but I think it's called The films of Josef von Sternberg by Andrew Sarris.
Lady Eve, I forgot to ask: did you read about "I, Claudius" in that recent v.S. bio by John Baxter? I've wanted to ask people who have read it some questions because I read one of Baxter's old books about v.S. (The cinema of Josef von Sternberg) and wanted to know how it differed from the recent bio.
Joseph - There is a wonderful 1965 BBC documentary, "The Epic That Never Was," about the "I, Claudius" debacle. Oberon was interviewed, von Sternberg, Emlyn Williams, Flora Robson, Korda's long-time script girl, Robert Graves...others. I blogged about it at the TCM Classic Film Union site a while ago...here's a link...
Oh, Lady Eve, thanks for bringing that to my attention! After reading your blog entry on the documentary, I am very interested in watching it. Incidentally, I was wrong about the book I have--it's in fact called Josef von Sternberg: A Critical Study by Herman G. Weinberg. Weinberg positioned himself as an obnoxious elitist (e.g., "What the layman or average observer fails to comprehend is that the creative process makes its own demands and that the greatest of these demands is upon the work itself"), though, which infuriated me because there wasn't enough room in the margins to write my reactions.
Loved listening to Dietrich and Gable. Her wonderful voice must've enchanted listeners sitting by their radios imagining the tale - minus Cooper, plus Gable. Her beauty isn't underrated, but I think her talent and ability often is.
ReplyDeleteWell, I consider Dietrich's beauty as much a talent/skill/ability as her acting. Many in the entertainment industry (e.g., Josef von Sternberg, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, George Hurrell, Edward G. Robinson, Shirley MacLaine) have praised Dietrich's lighting expertise, with which she perfected her looks. Unlike Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth, who employed others to augment their beauty (or Elizabeth Taylor, who was naturally beautiful), Dietrich controlled the light (and other tools) that flattered her looks.
ReplyDeleteShe did know much about lighting and makeup and the rest of it, but she was also blessed with very fine features to work with. Wonderful bone structure and a figure - those legs. Not to mention her discipline.
ReplyDeleteI certainly can't argue! Dietrich photographed beautifully in many non-manipulated, non-studio shots throughout most of her life--especially when she was in her 40s. Perhaps I'm guilty of falling for the legend of von Sternberg's tutelage because I find some of Dietrich's older photos incredibly unflattering--particularly this one. Does anyone know who took that? Someone should have smashed his/her camera. No wonder she demeaned herself as "a potato with hair."
ReplyDeleteTo my eye, that unflattering picture is mostly the result of the wrong lipstick look and a wrinkled, not-very-stylish dress. von Sternberg said that he didn't give Dietrich anything she didn't already have, he just made it visible for all to see. I won't argue with that. I've read that Alexander Korda hired von Sternberg for "I, Claudius" because he hoped the director might do for Merle Oberon what he had done for Dietrich. However, Merle Oberon, though also beautiful, was no Dietrich.
ReplyDeleteWhen "Morocco" came out, one of the trades wrote that von Sternberg not only gave Dietrich the picture, but she took it. A lesser actress/ stylist/ star couldn't have done that.
And you are so right about less formal shots of Dietrich in her 40s, Joseph - the "potato with hair" look was gone.
It's unfortunate Dietrich and Gable never teamed up on screen, because on radio their chemistry is superb. Clark worked well with all sorts of leading ladies, and it seemed Marlene drew that out as well as anyone. And both were better at their craft than people give them credit for.
ReplyDeleteI've seen differing views of Dietrich's acting, which can be summed up as follows: talented but worked with mediocre material (a common assessment in most NYT reviews), played herself (a common contemporary view--just Google the terms "marlene dietrich," "play" and "herself" together), and professional but not noted as talented (Edward G. Robinson, Billy Wilder, and Hitchcock, for example). The only person with whom Dietrich worked who may have an overwhelmingly negative opinion of her acting talents and abilities would be Fritz Lang (perhaps faulty memory on my part, though, because I lack a source at the moment), but Dietrich compared him to a tyrant and a sadist (here). As for Clark Gable and Dietrich's chances of working together, Gable's nearly exclusive professional relationship with MGM perhaps limited such a possibility. Dietrich only worked with MGM once in Kismet, which failed to garner the box office success that would have convinced MGM to sign her for any other films.
ReplyDeleteLady Eve, that wrinkled look of the dress is indeed the least flattering aspect of the photo, but I also find that lighting of Dietrich's face too harsh. Dietrich didn't have such prominent facial contours without lighting when she was more zaftig. Once she lost weight in her mid-30s, she could cut through diamonds with her cheekbones. Also, I've read about "I, Claudius" in a monograph I have about v.S. and am thoroughly confused about why that project fizzled. Apparently, Oberon had a car accident, but her injuries were overstated and Korda used them as an excuse to ditch v.S., who was spending too much money. I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but I think it's called The films of Josef von Sternberg by Andrew Sarris.
Lady Eve, I forgot to ask: did you read about "I, Claudius" in that recent v.S. bio by John Baxter? I've wanted to ask people who have read it some questions because I read one of Baxter's old books about v.S. (The cinema of Josef von Sternberg) and wanted to know how it differed from the recent bio.
ReplyDeleteJoseph - There is a wonderful 1965 BBC documentary, "The Epic That Never Was," about the "I, Claudius" debacle. Oberon was interviewed, von Sternberg, Emlyn Williams, Flora Robson, Korda's long-time script girl, Robert Graves...others. I blogged about it at the TCM Classic Film Union site a while ago...here's a link...
ReplyDeletehttp://fan.tcm.com/_I-Claudius-37-what-happened/blog/3212836/66470.html
Oh, Lady Eve, thanks for bringing that to my attention! After reading your blog entry on the documentary, I am very interested in watching it. Incidentally, I was wrong about the book I have--it's in fact called Josef von Sternberg: A Critical Study by Herman G. Weinberg. Weinberg positioned himself as an obnoxious elitist (e.g., "What the layman or average observer fails to comprehend is that the creative process makes its own demands and that the greatest of these demands is upon the work itself"), though, which infuriated me because there wasn't enough room in the margins to write my reactions.
ReplyDelete