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Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts

29 September 2013

Things That Irk Me

If you are going to take original content from this site, please cite us as a source. I consider this blog an interactive resource of Marlene Dietrich-related information, and I hope all our readers realize that we do a lot of research. Anyone is free to question, criticize, or correct our findings because I stand firmly against censorship, which isn't the case at others blogs where comment moderation is the norm. If we call you out for taking our content without crediting us, don't suppress our comments on your blog and come here to tell us that you cite your sources when you don't cite us. I will call you out in a blog post, with screen captures and all!

The offending blogger, named Ada, published "Style: Marlene Dietrich in ‘Angel’" at Classiq on January 22, 2013, which directly quoted text from "A Million Grains of Golden Caviar," published here by missladiva almost two years before--on January 31, 2011. Let's review the facts.


Ada wrote (as you can see in the above screen capture that I present as evidence):
"A Million Grains of Golden Caviar": that’s what Diana Vreeland called this beaded gown when she exhibited it at the Metropolitan Museum in 1974 as part of the Costume Institute’s ”Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design” retrospective. The dress, adorned with red and green cabochons, was reportedly inspired by the mastery of Fabergé,
Compare this to missladiva's words: 
A Million Grains of Golden Caviar [title] That's what Diana Vreeland called this breathtaking, beaded gown when she exhibited it at the Metropolitan Museum in 1974 as part their Costume Institute's "Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design" retrospective. The dress, designed by Travis Banton for Marlene to wear in Angel, was reportedly inspired by the mastery of Fabergé.
 Missladiva pointed out the plagiarism to me, and I commented on it at Ada's blog, Classiq. Of course, you don't see my comment because Ada hasn't approved it. Instead, Ada from Classiq visited us to comment, which is quite easy because we censor no one (except blatant spammers). She overlooked the text that she had taken for her article as she scrolled down to our comments section and stated, "If you happened to read some other of my Style in film posts, you might have noticed that I always credit my sources, unlike the majority of the sites and blogs writing about similar subjects." Well, she obviously doesn't cite all her sources because she didn't cite us! Tell me, do you see missladiva or Last Goddess Blog in Ada's references?




 Do you know what else I found? There's text in her article that also appears on the Vogue Italy website. Take a look at the above screen capture and note this sentence: "She would only pose for photographer Rudolph Maté, who contributed to create her sharp yet full of refined sensuality look; every photograph had to be of immaculate taste." Compare it to page 2 of this Vogue Italy article: "The German diva started right away to act in films relized by her trustworthy director, von Sternberg, and would only pose for photographer Rudolph Maté, who contributed to create her sharp image yet full of refined sensuality." Unfortunately, the Vogue Italy article lacks a date, but it's clear that someone here was plagiarizing! Oh, and by the way, that Maté information is inaccurate.

12 July 2012

Dial 'M' for Marlene: One More Ballyhoo

Gussie Berger & Ariane Bellamar
as Marlene Dietrich & Marilyn Monroe
Tell me where this story originated: after Marlene Dietrich had rejected the role of Nazi floozy Erika von Schlütow in A Foreign Affair, Billy Wilder showed her June Havoc's screen test, which presumably convinced Dietrich that only she could handle the part. I can only trace it as far back as Homer Dickens' book, The Films of Marlene Dietrich, first published in 1968.

Whatever this tale's roots may be, it came to mind (as did Barbra Streisand and the multiple hats she wore for the productions of Yentl, The Prince of Tides, and The Mirror Has Two Faces) when I learned of Dial 'M' for Marlene's recent casting change.

Although Gussie Berger has assured me that the play's former Dietrich, Victoria Valentino, left by her own volition, I can't help but credit kismet because Berger herself has now stepped into Dietrich's foundation. This second recasting will undoubtedly augment the play's comedic appeal, and I hope to catch it before it ends its run on Sunday, July 15, 2012 at The Flight Theater. Make your reservations before you miss this incredible revamp! Visit its Facebook page for more info!

News About This Blog


On the subject of recasting, you may have noticed the banner in the sidebar for the blogathon, The Great Recasting, co-hosted by Frankly, My Dear and In The Mood. Click it to learn more. I'll be imagining Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman in The Devil Wears Prada. When I first watched this movie, the way that Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) treated Andi Sachs (Anne Hathaway) immediately reminded me of Charlotte Inwood and Eve Gill in Stage Fright. Now, I have an excuse to fashion my fancy into a blog entry! If you have any suggestions for who should play Stanley Tucci and Adrian Grenier's roles, I welcome them.

Aside from that, I look forward to others contributing entries. If you'd like be an author on this blog, let me know! Of course, I've got my own list of entries in mind, but I never manage to get to them as quickly as I intend: a third part in my horse-related series (see the first and second parts; by the way, I've been agonizing about my omission of Blonde Venus, which features a brief horse scene), more Maria Riva blind items, a series comparing Marlene's films with Greta Garbo's, an entry about Dietrich's influence on Marilyn Manson, a look at how Marlene was promoted to Latino audiences in the United States, a transcription of Thom Nickels' profile on Marlene's friend John Banks (which Nickels very kindly mailed me), etc. If you'd like me to get to any of those topics first, tell me what interests you most.

Meanwhile, I'll continue adding locations to Mapping Marlene Dietrich and listing online resources for Dietrich's concert-era photographers, both of which would benefit vastly from your contributions. I would like to especially thank missladiva and Paul for their help in both those endeavors.

EDIT: Thanks to Google Alerts, I saw a somber example of Dietrich's cultural salience--a girl named Marlene Dietrich who was born in 1931 and passed away in 1934. Also, I watched a Russian newsreel of Dietrich's 1964 Moscow appearance on YouTube that seems to categorize Marlene Dietrich's work as art and Marlene as a poet (Russian-speakers, correct me if I'm wrong; I speak Bulgarian, and these words appear to be cognates).

06 July 2012

My Favorite Marlene Dietrich YouTube Clips

In case you didn't notice, this blog is getting a makeover, a few squirts of Juvederm mixed with sheep embryo stem cells, and ultherapy sessions via Groupon. I've fixed many broken links, inaccessible videos, and non-displaying photographs. Regarding any blog entries with private videos, I've reverted them to drafts until the clips once again play for everyone. Despite the daunting efforts it entails, I've also begun weeding out useless labels and tagging entries with underused labels.

While inspecting the YouTube label, I came across some Marlene Dietrich videos that brought me fond memories, and I must bring them to your attention:









Don't you love them as much as I do? Share more clips like these in the comments section!

26 April 2012

New Layout

My apologies to anyone who has viewed this blog within the past 8 hours or so. I've been fiddling with the layout, and it looks fine if not a little slow-loading in my preferred browsers (Firefox & Chrome) and even in my non-preferred browser, Internet Explorer (despite a lack of rounded edges, shadowing, and slightly different positioning of the blog title and background image).

If you view this site with Safari, let me know how it displays.

Oh, and sorry for the froufrou pinks, too. If it makes any of you butch readers (male or female) squeamish, just pretend you're looking up Sophia Fredericka's skirt.

06 April 2012

Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?

This question's for you, readers!

Where should we go with this blog, and how do you want to take part? I'm not terribly interested in reporting Dietrich-related news nowadays, such as the upcoming Dior exhibition. If you'd like to join us and write blog entries about such news, please respond to this post or email us at lastgoddessblog@gmail.com.

I'd prefer to write more about Dietrich's movie career, share Dietrich novelties that I find online, and explore all the issues related to preserving Hollywood history. If you're more drawn to Dietrich's cabaret career, please take part in writing about it here as a blogger.

Another topic on my mind, given the number of viewers from countries where English is not the primary language, is translating blog entries or changing how I write my entries so that readers can more easily translate them with tools such as Google Translate. If you have recommendations regarding that matter, let me know.

Thanks,
Joseph

P.S. If you don't know why I chose this title, I'll let you figure it out by listening to the song below:

 

22 April 2011

Amidst the Ruins of Berlin

Courtesy http://xl-entropy.blogspot.com
 Take a jaunt through Germany's capital with blogger xl, who documented a delightful visit to Marlene Dietrich-related sites such as her Friedenau Cemetery grave, Marlene Dietrich Platz, and the Deutsche Kinemathek Museum.

An online tour could have helped me in 2004, when I attempted to locate Dietrich's Parisian apartment. I wandered in the 16th arrondissement instead of the 8th, but I blame my confusion on my failed efforts to also find a plaza reportedly dedicated to Dietrich. Of course, my teenage absent-mindedness and marginal French skills (I didn't even know liquide could mean cash!) were no help either.