Did Marlene Dietrich participate in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 75 years ago?

We're pleased to share this contribution from Horst Zumkley. You can also read it in German at Werner Sudendorf's Alte Filme site. 

I. The first trial before the International Military Tribunal against the main war criminals of the Nazi regime was held in Nuremberg 75 years ago, from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The trial, which made legal history, was a major media event from the outset, with some 250 accredited newspaper and radio reporters from around the world [1].

The author Eva Gesine Baur writes in her biography of Marlene Dietrich that Dietrich took part in the Nuremberg Trial on November 27, 1945; the idea of a visit there was suggested to her by Billy Wilder (Baur, 2017, p. 311). Dietrich had been sitting on the guest balcony in American uniform and in the evening she had been smiling and signing autographs in a pompous bar, surrounded by a swarm of people (p. 312).

Six months later, in his double biography about Dietrich and her sister Liesel, Heinrich Thies also writes that in 1945 Dietrich "witnessed for a few hours how things actually happened at the Nuremberg Trials. The Americans had secretly provided her with a seat in the visitors' gallery" (Thies, 2017, p. 303). As source for this he cites the Baur book (Thies, 2017, p. 405).

If this was true, it would be real and not unimportant news in the biography of Marlene Dietrich, which has remained completely unknown so far. 

Except for the Baur biography, I was not aware of any references, reports, testimonies or evidence that mentioned, confirmed, or substantiated this trial visit: Neither in the Dietrich’s autobiography nor in her many interviews, neither in the the Dietrich biography by her daughter Maria Riva nor in the book and documentary by her grandson J.David Riva is there anything about it. And there is no mention of it in the many Dietrich biographies (e.g., by Bach, Higham, Spoto, Sudendorf, Walker); nor in the exhibition catalogue of the "Memorial Hall Oberhausen" (2016), which documents Dietrich's resistance activities against the Nazi regime.

Therefore, the question arises: Can this be true? Because the Baur book is a "fictionalized" biography in which source-related facts are freely supplemented and combined into a new, novel-like whole [2]. One wonders: Is Dietrich's trial visit in November 1945 a fact or a novelistic invention? On what evidence or "sources" does Eva Gesine Baur base her report? And can the true facts of the case be clarified? Is there any reliable evidence?

II. The only source Baur refers to is a book by Boris N. Polewoi, who was then accredited as Pravda correspondent at the 1st Nuremberg Trial [1]. His "Nuremberg Diary" was published in 1971 as a translation from Russian in the former GDR. However, his book is not a diary in the usual sense, but he has "now, more than 20 years after the trial...literally edited the records of that time, trying to preserve the spirit of those days and my view of things at that time" (p. 6). The whole text is written like a novel (and is advertised as a book as well), without any precise or anchoring data of that time.

What Polewoi (1971) writes about the Dietrich visit at the Nuremberg Trial is spread over several pages in short sections. There it says [in English translation]:

"I arrived on the sixth day of the trial [3] and I realized already in the car that I had missed a lot. More than three hundred reporters, photographers, film people and press artists had come from all corners of the world. (p. 13).

"The colonel ... led us to the guest corridor where an honorable audience crowded in. He let me take a seat next to a very pretty, not quite young woman, who wore an American uniform and somehow looked familiar to me" (p. 15).

"My beautiful neighbor asked me something in English, and her melodious voice immediately brought me back...to the large hall lined with oak and green stone. She did not understand my silence, asked again, and I answered with the only sentence I knew in English: “I don't speak English" (p. 17).

At lunchtime, Polewoi and friends "went to the pompous bar, sparkling with marble and chrome, where gorgeous, long-legged girls, as it were emerging from the front pages of New York magazines, served the guests coffee, juice or Coca Cola, this, it seemed, obligatory attribute of the American way of life.

By the way, I rediscovered my neighbour in the bar, who was surrounded by a swarm of people. Smiling, she handed out autographs, in notebooks, on business cards and even on playing cards.

"Who is she?" I asked the photojournalist of Pravda, Viktor Tjomin. "Ignorant," he scornfully threw down, "and in gala uniform to boot! That is Marlene Dietrich herself!"

As the trial went on, I took my seat in the front row again, next to my famous neighbour. Without taking off her headphones she looked tiredly into the hall. Then she pulled a tin of sweets out of her purse, put one in her mouth and held another one out to me. I took the candy and politely spoke my second English sentence, which I had already learned in Nuremberg: "Thank you." It may have sounded rather funny, like "thank cow", but I was glad that I didn't embarrass myself worse in front of the famous actress" (p. 20).

What's a person to think? Polewoi meets a (bonbon-sucking) woman in uniform in the visitors' gallery of the courtroom, whom he doesn't know, who signs autographs in a bar during the lunch break [for Baur it's "in the evening"] and whose name is then given to him by a colleague: "Marlene Dietrich". 

Is this really serious, or is it rather a joke that his colleague Tjomin has allowed himself to make? 

Or maybe just a fruit of his "literary adaptation" 20 years later, shortly after the film "Judgement at Nuremberg" was released?

III. Dietrich was well known for her films and her involvement in the war, and it is unlikely that her appearance at the trial would have been hidden from the hundreds of journalists and the many prominent writers [1] who reported from there. But there were no reports about it at the time.

One of these journalists accredited at the time was Markus Wolf [4], who later became head of the GDR's foreign secret service. He was the only German correspondent (of “Berlin Radio” of the Soviet Occupation Zone) allowed to report  from the first day of the trial (Krösche, 2009, p. 59). Wolf (2006) contributed to J. David Riva's book on Dietrich’s activities during World War II. In it he extensively honors among other things the "anti-fascist resistance" (p.100) of Dietrich during the war. And he also praises her role in the film "Judgement at Nuremberg". He recalls that he himself experienced practically the entire Nuremberg Trial and that Stanley Kramer's film captured the atmosphere of the trial very authentically. If the journalist Wolf had known of a visit of Dietrich at the trial at that time, he would certainly have mentioned this in his book contribution here.

IV. Inquiries were made to two institutions that had original documents from the time, whether there was any evidence of a visit by Dietrich to the Nuremberg Trial: A) At the "Memorium Nuremberg Trials" in Nuremberg [5] and (B) at the "Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin" (MDCB) [6].

A) Request at the "Memorium": Although the Nuremberg Trial was public, the access of the participants was strictly regulated and was precisely recorded (cf. Krösche, 2009). Polewoi also writes of "American military police officers who checked the admission tickets" (1971, p. 19). It is hard to believe that Dietrich could simply walk into the courtroom. So the question arises whether the name "Marlene Dietrich" appears on an accreditation or visitor list.

The research inquiry at the museum "Memorium", whether a visit of Dietrich on that day is known and on record, resulted in the following answer:

"In any case, she is not on the accreditation list compiled by the Americans and she would have got there through the US delegation. And she probably would have been on the list at that early stage. It is at most possible that she could have been there as a spectator on that day. Perhaps as part of a visit to the troop care centre. Unfortunately, I cannot say anything about that" (Fischer, 2020).

This means that there is no evidence of a visit by Dietrich on that day in the original trial documents.

Concerning a possible visit of Dietrich on November 27, 1945 in Nuremberg in the context of the troop support of the USO Camp Shows (United Service Organizations), this can be excluded, as can be seen on the USO homepage:

“Marlene Dietrich was also a familiar face on the Foxhole Circuit in Europe, making two USO tours there during the war. According to the Library of Congress, ‘The first was to North Africa and Italy, where she became the first entertainer to reach rescued soldiers at Anzio. During her second tour [after D-Day], lasting 11 months, she entertained near the front in France and Germany’” [7].

Because D-Day (the beginning of the landing of Allied troops in Normandy) was June 6, 1944, this means that in November 1945, her second USO tour had ended months earlier. Sudendorf (2001, p. 137) dates her second USO tour from September 1944 to July 1945.

B) Request to the "MDCB”: In 1993 the State of Berlin took over the estate of Marlene Dietrich. The extensive holdings of this personal archive of the “Deutsche Kinemathek” document almost completely the biography of the actress and singer. The inquiry there concerning the trial visit of Dietrich in Nuremberg resulted in the following answer:

"According to the material in the estate and to my knowledge, there is nothing that supports or proves the claim of the visit to the Nuremberg Trials.

In November 1945, Marlene Dietrich was first in Paris. On November 4 she learned that her mother had died the day before. She was not able to reach Berlin until November 9; in addition to the formalities, there was hardly any or no flying for several days due to very heavy fog.

After the "night and fog" burial of her mother, Marlene is said to have left for Paris again. There is no proof of this; it seems plausible, especially since Jean Gabin was also in Paris.

If she had travelled to Nuremberg again in November '45 (she was there with the US troops for a few days in April/May 1945), there would certainly have been a corresponding indication somewhere. But neither in the letters to Rudi Sieber, nor in his diary there are any such indications. She herself never referred to it; not even when she talked to Maximilian Schell again much later about the film "Judgement at Nuremberg ". She would certainly have mentioned it, if not even pointed it out, if she had been there herself.

On what occasion? Private, at her own request? At that time it was not possible to get from A to B without further ado. There is no pass or any other document that refers to it. Nor is there any indication that she might have gone there accompanied by others. As far as I know, none of the prominent rapporteurs (Kästner, Hemingway, Erika Mann, John Dos Passos, etc.) has ever mentioned in passing that Marlene had been there. Of course, the rapporteurs did not focus on who else was "seen" there.

The only source seems to be this "Nuremberg Diary", written by a front reporter of the Pravda - who did not recognize the woman herself and who learns from a Pravda colleague of all people that it is Marlene Dietrich.

So there is hardly anything in favour, but a lot against it. On the basis of the facts, however, it cannot be completely ruled out"(Ronneburg, 2018).

Conclusion: As a result of these explanations, the question asked at the beginning must probably be answered with "no". According to the current state of affairs, there are no reliable indications or facts that prove that Marlene Dietrich visited the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 75 years ago (unless new evidence has surfaced).

The only proven connection to the Nuremberg trial is probably Marlene Dietrich's appearance in the film "Judgement at Nuremberg". The world premiere of the film took place in the Berlin Congress Hall on December 14, 1961.

Literature:

     Baur, Eva Gesine (2017). Einsame Klasse - Das Leben der Marlene Dietrich.       München: Verlag C. H. Beck. 

     Fischer, A. (2020). E-Mail vom 02.06.2020 von Axel Fischer, Memorium Nürnberger Prozesse, Nürnberg.

     Gedenkhalle Oberhausen (Hrsg.).(2016). Marlene Dietrich. Die Diva. Ihre Haltung. Und die Nazis. Oberhausen: Verlag Karl Maria Laufen. [Katalogbuch zur Ausstellung in der Gedenkhalle Oberhausen vom 12.6.2016 bis 11.12.2016].

     Krösche, Heike (2009). Zwischen Vergangenheitsdiskurs und Wiederaufbau. Die Reaktion der deutschen Öffentlichkeit auf den Nürnberger Prozess gegen die Hauptkriegsverbrecher 1945/46, den Ulmer Einsatzgruppenprozess und den Sommer-Prozess 1958. Phil. Diss., Universität Oldenburg [http://oops.uni-oldenburg.de/1913/1/krozwi09.pdf]. 

     Polewoi, Boris (1971). Nürnberger Tagebuch. Berlin: Verlag Volk und Welt.

     Riva, J. David (Ed.) (2006). A woman at war: Marlene Dietrich Remembered (Painted Turtle Books). Wayne St. Univ. Press.

     Ronneburg, S. (2018). E-Mail vom 18.04.2018 von Silke Ronneburg, MDCB der Deutschen Kinemathek, Berlin. 

     Sudendorf, W. (2001). Marlene Dietrich. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.

     Thies, Heinrich (2017). Fesche Lola, brave Liesel. Marlene Dietrich und ihre verleugnete Schwester. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe. 

     Wolf, M. (2006). Chapter pp. 95-101. In: Riva, J. David (Ed.) (2006). A woman at war: Marlene Dietrich Remembered (Painted Turtle Books). Wayne St. Univ. Press.

Notes:

[1]https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrnberger_Prozess_gegen_die_Hauptkriegsverbrecher  

[2] http://lastgoddess.blogspot.com/2017/07/einsame-klasse-by-eva-gesine-baur-review.html

[3] Aus der Angabe „sechster Prozesstag“ rekonstruierte Baur das genaue Datum, den 27.11.1945 / Baur reconstructed the exact date from the information "sixth process day“:

http://www.zeno.org/Geschichte/M/Der+N%C3%BCrnberger+Proze%C3%9F/Hauptverhandlungen

[4] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Wolf 

[5] https://museen.nuernberg.de/memorium-nuernberger-prozesse/

[6] https://www.deutsche-kinemathek.de/de/sammlungen-archive/sammlung-digital/marlene-dietrich-collection-berlin

[7] https://www.uso.org/stories/2368-uso-camp-shows-d-day-and-entertaining-troops-on-the-european-front-lines-in-wwii

Einsame Klasse by Eva Gesine Baur: A Review

When the readers of this blog become contributors, I'm ecstatic because I've always envisioned this space as a collaborative one with no borders and no language barriers. Below is a review by Horst Zumkley of one of the latest German-language Marlene Dietrich biographies, as well as my clunky English translation. Please share your thoughts in the comments section, especially if you've read the book!

The Testatrix Is Willing

Totally unrelated. Fred MacMurray & Marlene Dietrich
on the set of The Lady is Willing.;)

Marlene Dietrich's last will and testament as well as its codicil became public record after it was granted probate by the New York County Surrogate's Court in September 1992. Even though private recorded conversations and letters between Marlene and her friends as well as photographs of Marlene's wounded leg after her 1973 fall at Shady Grove Music Fair have circulated among Dietrich fans for years, her will--accessible to anyone--never appears to have emerged. Until now.

A Bilingual Review of Alfred Polgar's Marlene: Bild einer berühmten Zeitgenossin

Polgar, Alfred (2015). Marlene: Bild einer berühmten Zeitgenossin. Wien: Paul Zsolnay Verlag. [160 pages; € 17,90]

Blog reader Horst Zumkley has kindly contributed the following reviews in English and German of the latest Marlene Dietrich-related publication, Alfred Polgar's Marlene: Bild einer berühmten Zeitgenossin, edited and with an afterword by Ulrich Weinzierl, which is currently available at Amazon.de.

During the 1920s, Alfred Polgar (1873-1955) was a well-known Austrian critic and columnist who lived in Berlin. He later had to flee the Nazis and relied on the help of others also in exile. Through the mediation of a Swiss friend, Polgar received financial support from Marlene Dietrich. Sort of in return, Polgar agreed to write a portrait of her, which he composed during 1937 and 1938.

In 1984, Ulrich Weinzierl, who had edited Polgar's posthumously published works and written a biography about Polgar, found the biographical portrait in a suitcase in the New York apartment of Selma (Sally) Ell, the widow of Polgar's stepson Erik G. Ell. At that time, Weinzierl did not publish it because the circumstances under which the manuscript was written were still unclear.

Now, 60 years after Polgar’s death and nearly 80 years after its creation, Polgar’s manuscript finally appears in print as the first part of the book, Marlene: Bild einer berühmten Zeitgenossin. Polgar’s text traces the career of Marlene during the period between 1927 and 1937 and describes the "famous contemporary" as a quasi-god, gifted artist, and perfect human being

The second part of the book was written by Weinzierl, who retraces "the history" of this manuscript and contextualizes its emergence and meaning in Polgar's life as a Jewish emigrant.

This portrait of Marlene is more a book for Polgar fans than Dietrich admirers. The text, until now unknown, is pure hagiographical prose and brings nothing new; nevertheless, its belated publication is welcome.

Likely, Polgar played no special role for Marlene; he was one of many emigrants whom she helped. In Dietrich's autobiography, the name Polgar does not appear, and the manuscript, in which she participated, is not mentioned. Nor is the name Polgar mentioned in the Dietrich biographies by Maria Riva (Marlene's daughter), Bach, Freeman, Higham, Spoto, Walker, etc. Only in the biography by Werner Sudendorf (2001, p 124) is there is a mention of Polgar's support by Marlene and their cooperation in his book about her.

In contrast, Dietrich and the portrait that Polgar wrote about her were of particular importance for Polgar during his emigration period. This is convincingly pointed out by Weinzierl in his epilogue.

The best and most unique parts about this book are the subject, the previously unknown history of the origin of the manuscript, and its subsequent odyssey. It is a document of emigration history, interesting, sometimes grotesque, and certainly characteristic of that time.

--Horst Zumkley

Please read Zumkley's German-language review as well:

An Interview with Sauli Miettinen

Marlene Dietrich: Nainen ja tähti 
[Marlene Dietrich: A Woman and A Star]
by Sauli Miettinen

Last year, I interviewed Sauli Miettinen, the author of the Finnish language Marlene Dietrich biography, Marlene Dietrich: Nainen ja tähti [Marlene Dietrich: A Woman and A Star], which will hopefully be translated into German and English. The questions that I posed to him had developed out of my interest in factors such as one's geographical location, linguistic abilities, age, as well as technological and media access that can affect one's ability to receive and seek information about a celebrity such as Marlene Dietrich. I also wanted to discover how Miettinen researched Dietrich's life and career and what his thoughts were on other Dietrich biographies--and on biographies in general. Miettinen answered these questions and more, and I now eagerly await the day when I can read his book in English translation. As you read this interview, please think of any questions that you may have. Hopefully, Miettinen will be able to respond in the comments section and turn this interview into an ongoing conversation about biographies and biographical research in relation to Dietrich and in general.

Maria Riva's Blind Items Pt. 7

¿Quién es esa niña?

Due to my lack of motivation, Maria Riva's blind items have been on the blog's back burner, but some kind words from superliz6 at Tumblr have encouraged me to turn the heat up on them because many mysterious identities remain in Riva's oeuvre about her mother, Marlene Dietrich, including this one that superliz6 has brought to my attention.

During Christmas of 1963, a children's book writer barged in on Massy and the Rivas' festivities to carnally console Dietrich, still in mourning after the recent assassination of John F. Kennedy. By 1964, Marlene was lamenting the plane crash death of this "lady author," who was none other than Nancy Spain. Despite Riva's characterization, Spain wrote much more than juvenile literature, including perhaps this account.

Finding reference to Spain in other Dietrich bios has been quite a chore. In fact, I had to dust off Leslie Frewin's reworked 1967 book, Dietrich: The Story of a Star, to find mention of Spain. According to Frewin, Spain hurled threats at him to keep him from writing his Dietrich bio. Frewin incorrectly locates Dietrich's first meeting with Spain at the Theatre de l'Etoile in 1959, where they realized they shared fashion tastes. Frewin also describes an extensive interview that Spain conducted with Dietrich the following day. In addition to Marlene's revelation that she medicated roses with aspirin, the two "talked of clothes and beauty and men." Obviously, the most unfathomable part of that sentence is that men were a topic of their conversation. Please share this interview if you have it because David Bret wrote that it was "thought to have been [Dietrich's] most explicit ever." Bret may be the only other Anglophone Dietrich biographer to recognize Spain, quoting Marlene as saying that Nancy introduced her to Gilbert Becaud, the composer of "Marie, Marie." Those of you more knowledgeable of Nancy Spain will certainly flesh out the details of this blind item, as I have only just ordered Nancy's cookbook and memoir.

Marti, Marlene and Mother

In her memoir, singer Eileen Farrell remembers the time she and a friend, Shirley Cowell, were invited by Marti Stevens' mother, Pansy Schenck, to catch Marlene's show in Miami .

[Marti Stevens]

(Pansy's husband was one-time 20th Century-Fox executive, Joe Schenck.):

"Now, I don't think Pansy had much of a clue about what any of her children were up to, but I thought she must have heard the rumours that Marti was having an affair with Marlene Dietrich, because it was fairly common gossip in show business circles.

The show was absolutely fabulous, even though Marlene couldn't sing worth a damn. Afterward, the three went backstage to meet Dietrich. Pansy introduced herself:

'Hello,' she said, 'I'm Mrs Joe Schenck. I think you know my daughter, Marti.'

There was a perfectly timed pause. Then Marlene said with a knowing smile, 'Oh yes. I do.'

Shirley and I wanted to die right then and there. Pansy just kept chattering away, and I don't think she ever figured out  why Shirley and I were so tongue-tied."

 (From: Can't Help Singing: The Life of Eileen Farrell, by Eileen Farrell and Brian Kellow. UPNE, 1999.)

Dressed to Kill Must Have Been Marlene Dietrich's Fav Angie Dickinson Flick!

Don't you think?

When I read Burt Bacharach's autobiography, Anyone Who Had a Heart, I realized that lyricists Hal David and Carole Bayer Sager performed a crucial role by putting words to the Gershwin Prize-winning composer's music. Without their poetic nuances and Bacharach's Sybil-esque signature shifts, Burt's story in prose reads more like a raw interview transcript, yet from this candor emerges some amusing accounts.

Overlooking the laudatory excerpt from Marlene Dietrich's own memoirs, I will gloss over the Dietrich-related anecdotes in Burt's book. Like in Josef von Sternberg's Fun in a Chinese Laundry, Marlene is the subject of an entire chapter. Burt entitles his the unimaginative "The Blue Angel" and even repeats almost verbatim his recollections published in A Woman at War: Marlene Dietrich Remembered and Charlotte Chandler's Dietrich bio. Burt's already-documented memories include meeting Marlene through Peter Matz, sipping on her beef tea after a game of tennis, facing bomb threats during Dietrich's 1960 German tour (in Duesseldorf or Wiesbaden? Burt says the former in the earlier publications), Quincy Jones questioning why a hit songwriter like Bacharach was still going on the road with Dietrich, and Marlene's unrealized plans to record "Any Day Now" with Burt during her seclusion on Avenue Montaigne. Despite Burt's lack of literary prowess, he did manage to capture Marlene's indignation over Frank Sinatra snubbing "Warm and Tender" far better than professional biographer Charlotte Chandler.

Don't let me mislead you into believing that Burt's book will leave you thirsty. Mr. Bacharach has got pitchers of tea to spill! Despite creating such passionate and poignant arrangements for Marlene, Burt admits that he wasn't a fan of her repertoire. Conversely, Marlene didn't like his protege, Stan Freeman. Burt even reveals that--on one drunken night in Vegas--he rejected Marlene's kisses and invitation to her room. Perhaps Burt has a hazy memory, though, because he also informs us that Dietrich could speak Spanish. Then, Burt throws a curve ball of a story about a juggler accidentally dropping a ball on Dietrich's head before her Leningrad show, causing her to suffer temporary lyrical amnesia. Please tell me there is extant footage of this performance!

As I had expected, the sweetest drops of Burt's book are the bile that Marlene spewed over Angie Dickinson. On the Daily Mail website, you can read an excerpt from Burt's book about the tension between the two ladies, which led to Marlene engaging in witchcraft. Be aware, however, that the language was toned down because--according to Burt's book--Marlene did not merely call Angie a slut but also a, um, well, the word that rhymes with "stunt." Forget about that, though. Can you imagine Marlene eating Kentucky Fried Chicken?

Maria Riva's eBook: The Tea and (no) Sympathy

All, this will be an uncharacteristically brief post from me. I contacted Random House about the eBook release of Maria Riva's biography, Marlene Dietrich, and received a cordial yet appalling reply:

Thank you for contacting Random House, Inc.  We appreciate your feedback and continued interest in our publications.

Our current production schedule shows the electronic release of Maria Riva's "Marlene Dietrich" is 3/11/2014.  This date can change at any time.

To be notified of when new releases for Ms. Riva are available we invite you to sign up for "author alerts" at the following link:

http://www.randomhouse.com/author/at.pperl?authorid=25657&action=age_check

Thanks so much for your time.

2014??? Please let your interest in Maria's eBook be known! Read this post on how you can contact Random House. If you have more potential contacts, let me know.

Random House, I Beseech Thee!

I have been excited about the eBook release of the original manuscript of Maria Riva's book, Marlene Dietrich, ever since I read about it on the "office" Marlene website. Unfortunately, there seems to be a delay.

On November 5, a person asked about the book on the official Marlene Dietrich Facebook page, and "Marlene Dietrich" stated that "Random House is dragging its heels." Well, I would like to express my interest in this release to Random House, and--if you share my sentiments--I urge you to do the same.

Contact Random House on Facebook to let them know that you want to purchase this eBook.

Contact Random House on Twitter to request its release, too. Please use the hashtag #teammariariva so that we can make our campaign trend.

Contact Random House on its website as well. If you have any specific, influential contacts at Random House, share them in the comments section. Better yet, ask on the official Marlene Dietrich Facebook page whom to contact at Random House. If you use my link, please feel free to copy-and-paste the following text in the Question/Comment box (or share what you have sent in the comments section):

Hello,

I am an avid reader who is looking forward to the eBook release of Maria Riva's biography about her mother, Marlene Dietrich. It appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for several weeks in 1993 and will certainly find renewed success in electronic format.

Please let me know whom I should contact to express my interest in its release because I was hoping to purchase it during the upcoming holidays for myself as well as to buy more copies as gifts for all my friends and family members. I certainly don't want to resort to buying the Charlotte Chandler biography published by Simon & Schuster, which would be like putting coal in my loved ones' stockings.

Regards,
[Your name]

Dietrich Apocrypha: Eryk Hanut's I Wish You Love

The second blog entry in a series about Marlene Dietrich biographies that have not joined Maria Riva and Steven Bach's books in the Dietrich canon.

When I began writing this entry, my opening line was, "Like any genre, biographies tend to be cannibalistic." What hogwash! Those who have written biographical accounts about Marlene Dietrich may have often referenced each other, but I can't deny that they presented untapped sources that always stop me from throwing out their biographical babies with the bathwater. For example, Donald Spoto impressively managed to quote the then-unpublished memoirs of Marlene's acting school pal, Grete Mosheim, in his book, whereas the great Steven Bach merely cited Charles Higham's brief account about the two Berthold Held neophytes.

Rather than generalize all biographies, I should have only called Eryk Hanut's I Wish You Love: Conversations With Marlene Dietrich cannibalistic. It's as if he inverted the narrative of Goya's Saturn by devouring every available biographical account on Dietrich, regurgitating his readings to her, and eventually compiling her reactions in his own biographical account. Pardon me if that sounds unkind because I do in fact appreciate this book as a series of somewhat Socratic dialogues between Dietrich and Hanut. The questions that Hanut poses aren't the insipid fare. There's no "What was Hollywood like?" Well, almost nothing like that. Hanut does admit to asking, "What was it like, the war?" To which Marlene responds, "You are being really stupid" (p. 84). Usually, though, Hanut asks questions such as, "Who are your favorite painters, Marlene?" (p. 70). If you were the least bit cynical, you would probably suspect that Marlene's answer--Cézanne--came from her memoirs rather than any conversation that Hanut had with Dietrich. Who really knows?

I will be unambiguously skeptical about a few details, though, after reading a comment recently made by the inimitable Sauli Miettinen. Hanut recalls seeing Marlene perform in Paris when he was 8 years old. We later learn that Hanut was born in 1967. Let's do the math. 1967 plus 8 makes 1975. I, however, see no indication that Marlene performed in Paris during that year. We could give Hanut the benefit of the doubt because remembering one's childhood in terms of places and dates can be hazy. Perhaps he saw her when he was even younger or somewhere else altogether. I at least found evidence indicating that Hanut contributed to an exhibition of Marlene Dietrich photos, but in Charleroi rather than Brussels.

You're Never Lonely With an eBook

I have been meaning to tell you about the latest eBooks in the Marlene Dietrich library, Marlene and ABC, but most of you are already well-acquainted with both titles, having read them on those blocks of wood pulp rectangles that the ancients called--correct me if I'm wrong--"books."

As you may have guessed, you will enjoy no substantial new material in these eBooks. Marlene's autobiography is almost exactly as it was published in 1989. Poor Travis Banton is still "Benton." I did at least find a new typo, with Jean Gabin metamorphosing into "Cabin"! I blame the typeface used in the Grove Press edition. Alas, the eBook editor(s) denied me the vulgar titillation of seeing the "G"s in "Günter Grass" replaced with "C"s.

Also slightly altered is the index. I haven't tallied the omission(s), but I immediately noticed in the eBook that "Academy Awards" was no longer the first entry. If you were hoping to read about such accolades, you can forgo the index and search "academy awards" yourself. I say good riddance!

Reading this book again has restocked my head with sundry minutiae much more satisfying than Oscars talk. Amidst her misinformation, Marlene recalls some eerily detailed trivia, such as a gift to Edith Piaf--a delicate emerald cross worn by the Parisian "guttersnipe" during her September 20, 1952 wedding to Jacques Peals. Squint to see it in the video below (or click here):

Dietrich's ABC is the same as the revised 1984 Ungar edition, but the e-format suits it better than print! It is as if Marlene had a prophetic sense of organization.

Before I explain that, I want to wave the banner for one of my favorite essays in Dietrich Icon, Amelie Hastie's "The Order of Knowledge and Experience." Hastie finds a filmic structure in ABC due to the cross-references that "capture and display the ephemeral." Well, isn't this how we often experience online text? Are you there, Carolina, or did you close this tab due to the paucity of pretty photos? Or maybe you took a detour by clicking on something I linked?

Such is an eBook experience of ABC--one of link-clicking. Think of it as Wikipedia, if you were only reading stub articles, half of which would probably be flagged for not being notable. Under most circumstances, you may not consider dill worth a second glance, but Marlene will have you reading about it again and again because you fear you will miss a dill dough recipe if you so much as blink.

Otherwise, you might be tempted to click on the cross-reference to dill under "BASIL" simply because you have been impulsively clicking every linked entry you encounter. Why not? It is almost effortless to get lost in ABC as an eBook. No risk of paper cuts as you thumb through the pages. No annoyance when you accidentally skip past the entry you were attempting to find. All you have to do is tap your finger on the screen.

You may have the vague notion that you have been clicking between the same two entries (see "SALK, DR. JONAS" and "SWIMMING POOL") for the past six hours, but you do not mind. The omnipotent link led you there, and you will keep clicking those links until your tablet shuts off, protesting against you for being too distracted to charge it. Then and only then will you return to the hazards of your print copy of ABC. Still, you will yearn for that convenient serial clicking experience, and it is better that you fill the Rivas' coffers than Charlotte Chandler's, whose Marlene biography--in electronic or print form--is akin to a mouthful of parsley.

Thom Nickels' "Daddy, Buy Me That" (Pt. 2)

Many moons ago, I shared the first part of an interview that Thom Nickels conducted with Marlene Dietrich pal John Banks, called "Daddy, Buy Me That!" Well, if you weren't sold on Banks' story, maybe this second part will sway you. Banks discusses Dietrich's envy and jealousy toward Angie Dickinson, his thoughts about Maria Riva's depiction of her mother, the time he gave Marlene a Twiggy make-over, and much more.  I'll add my two-cents in brackets. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I never got around to contributing to the Paramount centennial blogathon, but I will post what I had intended someday--hopefully before the studio celebrates its bicentennial. Now, please enjoy . . .

Daddy, Buy Me That!

part two

by Thom Nickels

 

  Turbulent Sixties

Banks says that the '60s were a hard time for Marlene because she didn't like the fact that age was waning her power.

"In her book, Maria talks about Marlene arriving home from Washington, D.C. and walking in her apartment waving her panties in the air and saying that she'd just had it off with John Kennedy, and that you could still smell him on them, or whatever." Banks thinks this is a crock and maintains that, because Marlene was 60, he doesn't think that John Kennedy would have been interested. "Especially since they'd known each other since they were [e.g., he was?] small. She and Joe Kennedy spent the summer of 1938 or 1939 on the Riviera together when Kennedy was a child. But would a child of his age have kept that image of that super woman until 1960?" Banks says he doubts it.

"When she finally faced age, she realized that things finally had to stop. She could have gone on having affairs right up until her death, but she didn't because she wasn't offering what she had before. She also began to drink in the '60s. She drank as much tea and honey as she drank scotch when I met her," Banks remembers. "She also drank beer. We went to restaurants, and I would always order a Pilsner, and she would always order a half a bottle of champagne. She'd get the champagne, and I'd get the beer, but we'd switch . . . I thought drinking champagne was still very exciting. She was very European. She drank beer at noon. She drank beer with meals. She was German, darling. She was a wonderful German broad."

Thalidomide Babies

 

"What she'd been all her life, even in those pictures that we see of her in the 1920s when she's kind of hefty, was a gorgeous woman. People wrote about her then as being absolutely fabulous looking. She had reddish blond hair. She had this white-white complexion, a great bone structure. I have very few photos of me with Marlene. I would have felt as if I was insulting her if I'd asked to do photographs. I couldn't say to her, 'Can I have my photograph taken with you, please?' I didn't think she would have liked that. I think she rather liked the fact that I didn't.

"She was a funny broad. She had a good sense of humor. The only thing we did not joke about was 'the image.' That was work, and you did not fuck around with work. But, otherwise, she was pretty funny, and she could laugh at herself. She liked practical jokes like tripping people. She had great gallows humor. For instance, she'd make terrible jokes about thalidomide babies and then say, 'Oh, that's terrible!'"

Thom Nickels' "Daddy, Buy Me That" (Pt. 1)

For a blog entry, this is a long read, which is why I'm dividing it into 2 parts. When I first read about Marlene Dietrich's friend John Banks and sought information about him, I learned that a writer named Thom Nickels had published his interview with Banks in 2003. Unfortunately, it was no longer available online, which led to me emailing Nickels to obtain the text. Nickels kindly sent me what was far more than a brief interview. In fact, it's quite a substantial piece called "Daddy, Buy Me That," which I hope will be enlighten those of you who are casual Dietrich admirers and corroborate the beliefs of those of you who are hardcore Marlenephiles. I have made some minor edits (e.g., formatting, punctuation, some names, spelling, and occasional bracketed notes) and added photos, but what you'll read below is almost exactly what appears on Nickels' typed manuscript. As for whether Banks makes any inaccurate statements, I will leave that for you to highlight in the comments section because I'm far more impressed by Banks' extensive knowledge of Marlene.

Because I tend to devour as much as I can when I find writers who interest me, I'll add that I've read the Kindle edition of Nickels' Walking on Water & After All This. I suppose that the two novellas fit within the genre term "speculative fiction," but both are also imbued with humor and cultural references, which is why I intend to read more of Nickels' work. Now, for what you're here to read!

Daddy, Buy Me That!

by Thom Nickels

In Montreal's last remaining Anglo gay bar, La Mystique, the bartender, John Banks, talks with the customers.

The talk is rarely about Marlene Dietrich, if only because John says everyone he knows is sick of hearing about her. The fact is, they've heard it all. How she talked. That her favorite food was hamburger. That when she had people over she'd crave odd foods in the middle of drinks and offer to make ice cream sundaes. That she lived to be 91 years old and spent the last 14 years of her life, like Garbo, in solitude.

Banks knows so much about Marlene Dietrich because for 12 years he worked as her personal assistant both in the United States and Europe.

Dietrich, the icon--the gay icon, as Banks insists--has given the world more than 34 films, including The Blue Angel, Morocco, Blonde Venus, Shanghai Express, The Devil Is a Woman, and The Garden of Allah. Discovered by director Josef von Sternberg in 1929, she came to Hollywood in 1930. A well-educated woman who played the violin and piano and spoke several languages, Banks says she was definitely "not the Hollywood movie star but the kind of well-rounded figure we don't see today."

So it's plenty good, yes, to be shaking the hand that once comforted the great legend in various hotel rooms around the world.

In his home, some 15 minutes by cab from La Mystique, the 60-something Banks opens a bottle of wine. By now I'm fully aware that the precise quality of his speaking voice is matched by a manner that is as unambiguous as his opinions. With us is Edward, a little man from Toronto who attached himself to us in a bar the minute he heard us talking about Dietrich. Inviting him to come along, in  Montreal terms, was easy, since strangers easily become friends here.

Maria Riva's Blind Items Pt. 6

For those of you new to the game, Maria Riva gives lots of people funny nicknames in her biography about her mother, Marlene Dietrich, just barely obscuring their identities. In many cases, these blind items were still alive when Maria's book was published in 1993 and could have put up a stink had Maria been audacious enough to name them directly. This blind item is a piece of cake--especially because Maria includes not one but two photos of him--but I figured I'd get him out of the way.

The Knight & his Dame at the London premiere of Accused

During 1936, Dietrich was in London filming Knight Without Armour, and she coincidentally acquired an American lover who aspired to be knighted. Thus, Maria Riva calls him the Knight throughout her book, and we learn--thanks to Heidede's photographic memory--that Mutti mocked her lover's social climbing, questioning how a person with a rope-swinging, possibly Jewish father could ever become a Sir. If these hints haven't given it away, I regret to inform you that you're as thick as two short planks. The Knight is Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who eventually got the title he desired in 1949.

While Maria was apparently nibbling on her Norwegian roommate's brunost care packages at Brillantmont, Dietrich moved to 20 Grosvenor Square (address just included at Mapping Marlene Dietrich), in the apartment below her Knight's. By 1937, Marlene convinced her Knight to follow his daddy's swashbuckling footsteps and play the villain in a David O. Selznick feature. If I have to tell you the name of that film (The Prisoner of Zenda), go do something else because you're a novice!

Anyway, when Dietrich returned stateside to make Angel, her Knight followed. The two broke up at some point, but the Knight gave Dietrich something to remember (but unfortunately not regift): a gold cigarette case engraved with his nickname for her, Dushka, which Maria jokingly associates with Marlene's post-coitus ablutions. You can see a photo of it (the ciggy case, not the ablutions!) in the book, Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories.

To read my guesses about Maria Riva's other blind items, click here!

Marlene Dietrich's Photographers: The Concert Years

Dietrich photographed by Claxton
(Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, 1959)

[UPDATE: Thanks for your responses, all! I've added more entries on February 16, 2013 and will continue doing so!]

Help! I'm beginning to wrangle disparate online Marlene Dietrich resources into quasi-bibliographies. This is a long-term project, and you can contribute by adding links to content in the comments section.

Because many of you are particularly fond of Dietrich's concert career, I've decided to start with this period. I've also chosen to focus first on the photographers who had the honor of gazing at Marlene through their lenses.

After you share links with me, I'll edit this fledgling bibliography to reflect our collective information, which will hopefully become comprehensive and organized. Specifically, you can direct me to photographers I've failed to mention, links to photos or sites with photos, specific dates, places, events, etc. Also, if any prints are available for purchase, let me know where and for what price.

To show you how much I need your participation, I'll begin this bibliography with an sparse list of Marlene Dietrich photographers. Remember, you need to aid me in making this decent because apathetic consumption makes me weary.

Aarons, Slim

New York City (1959)

April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

images

• one (Getty Images Gallery) *Prints are available for purchase at the site from UK£65-190; currently at Ebay for US$149.99

Arnold, Eve

Paris (May 1962) 

The Olympia

images

• one (Magnum Photos) *6 photos from Dietrich's dress rehearsal

Basch, Peter

Edinburgh (August 23-28?, 1965)

Royal Lyceum Theater?

images

• one (Diva Dietrich Tumblr) *3 photos

Claxton, William

Las Vegas (Spring 1959)

Sands Hotel

images

• one (Fahey/Klein Gallery)
• two (Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin) 
• three (Fahey/Klein Gallery)

text/video

• one (Digital Journalist) *Claxton recalls his meeting with Dietrich in a video interview; includes transcript

Dauman, Henri

New York City (1959)

[April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel?]

images

• one (Dauman Pictures) *limited edition prints possibly available for purchase

Dean, Loomis 

Las Vegas (December? 1953)

The Sahara Hotel and Casino

images

•   one (Getty Images) *3 photos

Eijsten, Lili

Netherlands (1963)

images

• one (Getty Images) *2 copies of same photo?

Erwitt, Elliott

New York City (1959)

April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

images

• one (Magnum Photos) *2 photos
• two (artvalue.com) *value estimated between US$3,000-4,500; sold for ?

Fischer, Walter

Las Vegas (February 19-March 21?, 1962)

Riviera Club

images

• one (DivaDietrich Tumblr) *7 photos

Fournier, Pierre

Paris (May 1962) 

The Olympia

images

• one (Corbis Images) *3 photos; erroneously dated April 20?

Freston, George 

London (November 4, 1963)

Prince of Wales Theatre

images

• one (Getty Images) *2 photos, 1 w/ the Beatles & 1 w/ the Queen Mother
  

Gragnon, François 

Paris (November 27, 1959)

Theatre de l'Etoile 

images

• one (La Galerie de l'Instant)
• two (Staley Wise Gallery) *same photo as above
  

Hanekroot, Gijsbert

Amsterdam (January 27, 1975)

Theatre Carre

images

• one (Getty Images)

List, Herbert

Munich (May 27, 1960)

Deutsches Theater

images

• one (Fahey/Klein Gallery)
• two (Herbert List Estate)
• three (Magnum Photos) *4 photos, 2 of which are also available at the above links

McDowall, Roddy

New York City (October 1967)

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

images

• one (Julien's Live) *Winning bid was US$1,375.

Meisert, Harald

Bad Kissingen (May 20, 1960)

Kurhaus

images

• one (artvalue.com)

Morphet, Chris

London (November 1962)

Golders Green Hippodrome

images

• one (Getty Images) *6 photos

Nisberg, Jack

Paris? (1959?)

images

•  one (Roger-Viollet) *2 photos (plus others)
• two (TopFoto) *same photos as above
  

O'Neill, Terry

London (February? 1975)

New Wimbledon Theatre?

images

• one (Legende Celebrity Art) *US$2,170
• two (Eduard Planting Gallery) *same photo as above

Parkinson, Norman

London (1955)

Cafe de Paris

images

• one (Eleven Fine Art) *2 photos

Redfern, David

London (February 1975)

New Wimbledon Theatre

images

• one (David Redfern's website) *UK£600-750
• two (Getty Images) *7 photos, 1 of which appears in above link
  

Riva, Peter

London (1972)

Queen's Theatre

images

• one (The Legendary, Lovely Marlene)

Whitmore, James

Berlin (May 1960)

images

• one (Getty Images) *10 photos