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16 March 2013

What The Dresser Saw

Marlene Dietrich and Gene Lovelle
Marlene’s dresser, Gene Lovelle (married to the star’s guitarist, Chic Lovelle) first joined the Dietrich troupe  during its 1966 Warsaw season .
“There was no question of payment. Marlene would be paying my fares and hotels, and I would be together with my husband,” Gene later recalled. “With the enthusiasm of ignorance, I convinced myself that after years as a dresser helping little girls in and out of ballet costumes, I could cope with an international star.” Marlene had dismissed the Polish dresser that had been supplied – “I don’t want a strange dresser round me,  they stare so” – and proceeded to show Gene what would be expected of her.
In 1985, she shared memories of life on the road:
·         New York, 1967: ... at rehearsals she was very demanding and kept everyone on their toes. A violinist was ticked off for wearing short socks ... ‘ they come to see my legs, not yours.

·         San Francisco, 1968: She liked her dressing room to be functional and sparsely furnished, but in San Francisco, it had been furnished and bedecked with beautiful antiques and rich brocades. She took one look and said to me: ‘Let’s move in next door,  honey,  who needs all this!’

·         Paris, 1973: Marlene excelled herself before one of the most exquisitely-dressed and sophisticated audiences we had ever seen. Among the celebrities ... who came backstage after the performance, was a very well-known female singer who, overcome and in tears at Marlene’s performance, embraced her. Marlene seemed equally moved. A moment later she turned to me and whispered,  Who was that,  honey?



·         Palma, Majorca, 1973: ... the orchestra had to be flown in from Spain because there were no musicians on the island. It soon became obvious something was very wrong. Marlene hadn’t even bothered to sing her parts in rehearsal. She realised the situation was hopeless. When the orchestra was trying to play Honeysuckle Rose, she started doing a striptease, no doubt intending to show that their playing reminded her of a sleazy joint. Whenever she was confronted by something like this, she would let go the discipline and laugh it all off. The show on Saturday night was a shambles. Some of the players sounded so many wrong notes that they were told not to play, and the show carried on with just three regular musicians, including Chic.

·         New Orleans, 1975: ... our last date with Marlene. This was due to a contractual misunderstanding between my husband and Marlene .... A few months later I heard the news that Marlene had fallen just as the curtain rose in the theatre in Sydney, Australia ... We still correspond frequently by letter and phone and have remained good friends until the present day.

(From the fabulous Crees Collection – photos via Tumblr)

13 comments:

  1. What an hilarious and fascinating insight into Marlene."Who was that?" I have done that many times myself!Would love to know who she was refering to.Any clues?Thank you.Paul

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    1. Paul, I love that story too!

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  2. Just remembered that after a review in London,mentioning the musicians white ankles,she bought them all long socks.What a perfectionist.Paul

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  3. She probably refers to Nana Mouskouri who in her memoirs has a whole different story about that Espace Cardin meeting...

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    1. Lionel, haven't read Mouskouri's book -- what was her take?

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  4. Nana says that Marlene had been on tour in the UK at the same time as her in the early 70's and that Nana had made a habit of leaving small notes for Marlene in the theaters if Marlene was to appear at the same place -soon there seems to have been several messages left by both Nana and Marlene during those tours...Nana then says that their first real encounter was backstage at the Cardin premiere and that Marlene had welcomed her by calling her 'her nightingale'...a little different from the related story by Marlene's dresser.
    Anyway Nana has always stressed her admiration and respect for Marlene up to this very day-she sang 'Falling in love again' or 'Lili Marlene' in many many concerts all over the world as a tribute to MD

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    1. Lionel, thank you for the story -- their message exchanges sound delightful. Perhaps Gene Lovelle was telling porkies, or Marlene was in a loopy mood the night she met Nana!

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    2. I just searched Nana Mouskouri's memoir, which is only available in snippets on Google Books, but they suffice. Nana recalls that Marlene wrote a note to her on a dressing room mirror in lipstick! Look here and search for terms such as "marlene," "dietrich," or "marlene dietrich."

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  5. This is an interesting look at Dietrich on tour. I love the phrase "enthusiasm of ignorance"! So true!

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  6. Just a note that the 1931-32 Paramount pressbook was recently uploaded online, featuring 128 pages (most in spot color) and Marlene all over the place, as one would guess. You can see it at http://archive.org/details/paramount00para and read what I wrote about it (with some Dietrich images as well as those of Lombard) at http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/586147.html.

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    1. Thanks for sharing! I hope to see more press books online because they were originally intended for exhibitors, and I imagine that movie fans at the time never saw them. I found some scans of an Angel press book, and am curious about this Angel contest. Was it a town pageant for adulteresses?

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  7. I cannot imagine that MD had a clue who Nana was,they were not in the same class,and MD was probably being polite.I have a cutting somewhere where MD left a half opened bottle of champagne for Max Adrian,who was following her into the same Theatre.He was not impressed!Do not forget MD was in a league of her own,and probably tried to be nice,but really Nana Mouskouri!Please!Even in the 70's Nana was second rate,and her appeal was very limited.No wonder she did not have a clue who she was.Paul

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  8. Not quite sure what you mean by 'limited appeal'-she is onre of the best selling female singers in the world-and Marlene living in Paris where Nana was based was surely very much aware of who she was-remember she pretty much knew at least by name most French singers and many in Europe...

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