Dietrich - Fairbanks Love Nest, Gone and Dusted

When Marlene Dietrich went to London to make A Knight Without Armour for Alexander Korda, she took a suite at Claridge's. 

The set-up there wasn't very convenient for her then-current flame, Douglas Fairbanks Jr (whose flat was on Grosvenor Square): he had to make surreptitious early-morning exits through the servant's halls to get home and keep up appearances. 

It didn't take long for Marlene to move out of the hotel and into her own flat, conveniently directly below that of her "Knight". (Fan magazines gleefully reported about the Fairbanks-Dietrich-Sieber roundabout to their readers —  and, once Josef von Sternberg was discharged from the hospital where he'd been resting, he joined the troupe on their evenings about town, adding additional spice to the gossip).

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.

Interview: Marlene Dietrich – bourgeois, geranium-lover

Betty Best interviewed Marlene Dietrich, backstage at London's Golder's Green Hippodrome, in 1965. Special thanks to the Crees Collection for sharing this material.

Marlene Dietrich in her dressing room.

It had been a month since I'd seen her. A month since she'd held out a delicate, tiny hand and agreed to the idea of a private interview with a brief, "Yes, yes, call me at Claridges" –  and sounded as if she meant it. 

But I'd made at least ten telephone calls every day since then, from Brighton to Birmingham and back to London, without ever once getting through to that inimitable, halting voice. A month of pleading with agents and publicity officers, all of whom sounded terrified at the very thought that I should claim a whole hour of Miss Dietrich's time to myself. 

By then my mental picture of her was becoming a little unsure. Perhaps that brief meeting among a horde of people in the excitement of a first arrival had been misleading. Perhaps the apparent ease and friendliness of the magic Marlene was just an effect, switched on like her magnificent stage personality, for an audience which expected it. 

Police cordons 

In between times I'd heard of the packed schedule of a tour which stopped in each city for only a week, which included intense rehearsals with each orchestra, with her arranger Burt Bacharach (who flew from the U.S.A. especially), an entire one-woman radio play for the BBC somehow jammed into the London week; of fantastic hold-ups every night after each show while fans besieged the stage doors so that Dietrich could not emerge without special police cordons.

Perhaps I was hoping for too much. Then I got word that she was fed up with English reporters asking about nothing but her age, her looks, her clothes, and that most forbidden of all subjects, her family – about whom she will never speak.

All the signs were against my ever getting to see her at all. Yet, throughout I had a curious belief that it would come off – because of the geranium.

Miss Dietrich had, that first night, told an endearing story: ''I've just made a new LP. The songs of old Berlin as I remember them as a child. They are beautiful songs, real songs of the people. And because they always meant so much to me, I wanted to do everything about this record myself. Even to designing the cover. Me, I'm not an artist. But I had my ideas. I always see Berlin as a grey city – grey walls, streets, everything.

"So I got paints and made a beautiful grey pattern. Then, because I'm not an artist, I went to a stationer's and bought those letters children use to scratch with a pencil and that come out on paper.

"Then on the bar of the 'H' at the end of my name I put a lovely little pot of bright red geraniums. When I took it proudly to the publisher, he said, 'Why the geraniums there?' I tried to explain that it is the flag of the little people in grey cities everywhere. The big gesture of the bourgeois toward beauty. And I am a bourgeois and I love geraniums.

"But, of course, he couldn't understand. Never mind, I kept my geranium on the cover – just as I always keep one in my dressing-room wherever I go."

And sure enough, when finally, after many cancellations, I got to her dressing room at Golder's Green Hippodrome on the outskirts of London, there it was. Not a grand florist's specimen,but a simple little scarlet single in a common terracotta pot sitting on the wash basin in the corner. 

Beside it on the wall was a symbol of that very private side of Dietrich's life she seldom mentions, a

large framed and inscribed portrait of Ernest Hemingway, wearing a polo-necked sweater and looking young and adventurous.

On a previous occasion I had once managed to get her to touch on her great friend ship with this man who wrote of her: "I think she knows more about love than anyone. I know that every time I have seen Marlene Dietrich she has done some thing to my heart and made me happy.''

It was when she was railing against the agonies of work on tour: "It is not the performances I mind. They are fine. Once I am in front of people I can recharge my batteries from them.

''It is the terrible chore of packing and unpacking. Of never having a minute to myself or a second for reading."

Then someone asked who was her favourite author and, suddenly, the whole face softened and glowed. She replied with the single word, "Hemingway."

She began to speak of the great respect and love she felt for him; her voice broke, she turned away with a final, "Life is not the same now he has gone."

Dietrich in London: 50th Anniversary

Half a century ago, this week, Marlene Dietrich arrived in London to prepare for a concert season in that city. She had previously performed there, at the Café de Paris in the fifties, but that was in cabaret. This would be London's first opportunity to experience her expanded repertoire, in a theatrical event finessed by musical director, Burt Bacharach, and herself.

Dietrich at Heathrow airport, November 1964.

Doctor Dietrich's Best Production? Her Daughter.

[In 1971, Jeffrey Archer organised a charity midnight matinee (to benefit MIND) at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It was Marlene Dietrich's first  concert appearance in London for several years. This backstage interview – with both Marlene and Maria Riva, preparing for the show –  comes courtesy of the wonderful Crees Collection.]

FRIEND, 

LIVING LEGEND 

AND LIGHTNING TYPIST

by James Green

September 1971: Marlene at Heathrow.

There are many ways of saying Darling. But Marlene Dietrich's way is unique. A mixture of warning, invitation, seduction, plus a mocking suggestion that the men are about to be separated from the boys. But “Dar-ling” she says silkily by way of greeting. And crosses to plant a kiss on my five o'clock shadow. Not at all a bad start backstage at the Drury Lane theatre where tonight at midnight she will hold the football pitch size stage alone for one hour, 45 minutes. It is a charity concert and the audience will be paying up to £50-a-seat to hear her sing 25 songs and turn on the living legend magic.

At the moment she is wearing a navy blue coat with matching trousers, and a floppy-brimmed hat in the same colour pulled down over one eye.

As she checks on songs, running order, lighting, I have a word with her daughter, Maria.

Shine On! Marlene Dietrich, Interviewed at Grosvenor House. London, 1974.

(Thank you to the Crees Collection for sharing yet another gem: this interview with Marlene, preparing for her performances at London's Grosvenor House in 1974.)

by Roger Falk

The omens were not promising. At midnight she had railed at photographers who ambushed her at London Airport. “Why aren’t you all home in your beds?” she snapped, and then, rather than be photographed in a wheelchair, had endured the painful long walk to the terminal building from the aircraft. The next day a surprised radio reporter was bundled away from her suite at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane. His crime: asking silly questions. A national newspaper writer, awaiting audience, was being softened up by her publicity man. “Now you won’t ask her about her age, her family or her leg ?” he implored. “Don’t be so bloody wet,” came the robust retort. “‘If I don’t ask her about her leg, it’ll be like interviewing Nelson and not  mentioning the eye and the arm.”

Marlene Dietrich Live at New Wimbledon Theatre, June 1973

Marlene Dietrich Interview: It's the Money I Work For! (1965)

(Thanks to the Crees Collection for sharing this interview with Marlene! The article likely dates from August 1965, when Marlene was doing a British concert tour.)

By Clive Hirschhorn

THE atmosphere round the theatre was thick with reverence. Though there were still two hours to go before Marlene Dietrich would emerge from the stage door after her performance that night, already a crowd of admirers had gathered. The doorman remarked to me that he couldn't remember when business had been so good — and his sentiments and awe were echoed by a young girl, who, with a rubber stamp bearing a facsimile of Miss Dietrich’s autograph, banged out the star’s name on dozens of photographs which would later be distributed to the audience. I was duly beckoned and, to the envy of her adoring fans, was escorted to the Number One dressing room where Marlene was waiting for me. She had just finished a matinee and was clad in a dressing-gown. She was tired — and not even the heavy make-up she was wearing could. disguise this fact; or hide the lines on her face or the fatigue in her eyes. La Dietrich, I discovered, was human after all.

GLAMOUR?

Why, at 61, I asked her, did she continue to work so hard? (Her engagement book is full for the next two years.)

“For  the money.” she said flatly.

I looked at her somewhat surprised. “Yes. For the money.” She repeated. “What else for ? ”

She leaned forward and picked up a publicity hand-out which advertised the dates of her future concerts — in Golders Green,  Edinburgh,  Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol.  She had just finished engagements in Brighton and Birmingham.

“Do you think this is glamorous? That this is a great life,  and that I do it for my health?  Well, it isn’t. It's hard work. And who would work if they didn't have to? 

Dietrich at the Café de Paris: Perfume from Spain

Marlene's 1954 debut at London's Café de Paris  has become as legendary, and was — judging by the recording made of the evening — as lovely as the star herself, who was  introduced to the nightclub's chic clientèle by Noël Coward. 

Less remembered are her return visits to the club, in 1955 and 1958 — making the article republished below (shared thanks to the generosity of the Crees Collection!) a delightful read. The clippping, while not dated and sourced, is likely a later recounting by journalist and wit Nancy Spain of her introduction to, and for, Dietrich in 1955.

MY evening out with Marlene Dietrich began when the Café de Paris — London's glittery night-spot — came on the telephone and said, ‘We’d like you to introduce Miss Dietrich on Wednesday. Douglas Fairbanks does it on Monday . . . Helen Hayes, the first lady of the American theatre, on the Tuesday . . .' And I began to babble incoherently.

How would you feel if you were suddenly to come face to face with The Legend, the Top Girl of the movies for the last twenty years, the woman to whom author Ernest Hemingway always takes his manuscripts for literary approval, the most glamorous woman in the world? And now, let alone coming face to face with her, I was to introduce her to a crowd of the celebrated and near celebrated, the distinguished and near distinguished who go to make up the clientele at the Café de Paris. ‘You may bring two friends,’ they told me.

Marlene Dietrich Tribute Act, Jennifer Ward-Lealand

Supplied by Cambridge Autumn Festival

Performers have long channeled Marlene Dietrich to showcase their own talents. At The New York Times, Anita Gates covered a recent upsurge in Marlene Dietrich tribute plays, highlighting "Puma"'s recent run, which missladiva also discussed. During the past year, Dietrich has also inspired musical performers such as opera singer Janice Hall, whose homage has earned her a Bistro Awards nomination, and now New Zealand entertainer Jennifer Ward-Lealand, who will bring her Marlene Dietrich revue to Cambridge, New Zealand's Cambridge Autumn Festival. Yes, that almost stumped me, too, but I then recalled that the Northern and Southern Hemispheres have diametrically opposed seasons.

Anyway, Ward-Lealand has portrayed and paid homage to Marlene Dietrich since 2003, when she starred in Pam Gems' play, Marlene, which premiered at Auckland, New Zealand's Herald Theater. If you can make it to her performance or are interested in more information, visit this site and look below:

TIME: 8PM

DATE: April 30th

PLACE: Cambridge Town Hall

PRICE: $38 a ticket (contact this site for more details)

One more tip! For the Brits reading this or anyone who can make it to London's Cinema Museum by 7:30PM on May 26, you may be interested in Terry Sanderson's tribute.

Another tip for the limeys! Pam Gems' play will run at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre from May 26 through September 3. Who will play Marlene Dietrich? I do not know, but Siân Phillips should take over the reins once again because she was the spitting image of Dietrich back in 1996.

Finally, here's Granny Panty's unique tribute to Lola-Lola and Amy Jolly:

Battling Bessie Meets Marlene; Docker Departs

by Colin Frost

5 July 1955

LONDON - AP - Battling Bessie Braddock, the Labour Party 200 pounder with a punch to match, made her night club debut alongside Marlene dietrich last night and gold plated Lady Norah Docker pickedup her marbles in fury. Marlene is being introduced during her current engagement at the swank Cafe de Paris by a different celebrity nightly.

Bessie, Labourite member of pariament and president of the Professional Boxers Association, was the barker last night. Lady Docker, booked to bark next week, was on hand for a preview.

Left Squawking

When Bessie curled her 50-40-50 frame into a bow, Norah grabbed her multimillionaire husband and her furs and headed for her gold trimmed Daimler, squawking "I'm furious." Lady D. has garnered headlines in the past by entertaining miners on her spouse's yachat and shooting marbles with working girls' clubs. But last night she demanded of the club management: "How dare you ask me to introduce Dietrich after Mrs Braddock. You'll never see my face in this place again."

Took It Calmly

Bessie took the Docker exit calmly and went on with her work. Wearing a dark gray suit and the bronze medallion of a boxer, she told the fashionable audience, "This isn't my way of life." She said she was doing the turn to help British-American relations. She would reciprocate by having Marlene to lunch at the house of commons next week.

"I've been chasing you for weeks," Marlene told Bessie later. "I just want to get you alone and talk politics with you."

What do a pair of 55 year olds care about marbles anyway?

Night of 100 Stars, 1955

London, 1955: Marlene Dietrich, John Mills, Danny Kaye and Laurence Olivier rehearse a skit for the Night of 100 Stars at the Palladium.

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Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (1971)

We remember Marlene's 1971 visit to London, where she appeared at a midnight matinee charity event at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

News footage of Marlene arriving at Heathrow.

Interview: Marlene's opinion on women's lib (click to enlarge)

Review of the performance from the Evening Standard (click to enlarge)


Post performance meet and greet.

SuperMarlene Strikes Again!

Photographers! When will they ever learn?

(Heathrow, 1975)

Legendary, Lovely Marlene

On June 21, 1954, Marlene was introduced thus by Noel Coward before a star-studded audience at London's Café de Paris. It was her first appearance in London, and the show ran at that venue until 18 July that year. While she was in London, she also appeared at the "Night of 100 Stars" where she sang "Land Sea and Air" in duet with Noel.

Luckily for us, that "legendary, lovely" evening was recorded and issued as an album, so that we can easily relive it 53 years on. (Available at amazon.com : http://www.amazon.com/Marlene-Dietrich-Album-Live-Paris/dp/B000026IBN/ref=sr_1_2/104-1521198-1899140?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1182289096&sr=1-2 )