Marlene Dietrich as Blanche Ferrand in Filmjournalen

Johannakatt has shared a few pages from the now-defunct Swedish publication, Filmjournalen, which included a spread on Martin Roumagnac (English title: The Room Upstairs), Marlene Dietrich's 1946 film with Jean Gabin. Johannakatt has also indicated that the title is incorrectly called Passion, but IMDB does indeed list Passion as the film's Swedish title.

If you compare the image to the right with the images at johannakatt's blog, note that illustrators rarely did the stars justice. Dietrich would have never allowed her face to be lit looking greasy and sweaty, as this poster depicts. Perspiration requires pores, and Dietrich obviously lacked such unphotogenic human organs.

Stage Fright Storyboards Up For Auction

Marlene Dietrich as Charlotte Inwood in Stage Fright

Marlene Dietrich modeled Dior and crooned the Cole Porter tune, "The Laziest Gal in Town," in Alfred Hitchcock's 1950 film, Stage Fright, proving again her talent for upstaging the top billing star. Like Emil Jannings, plain Jane Wyman didn't stand a chance against Dietrich's screen presence, even with an Oscar under her belt.

On June 7 2011, Bonhams in London will put up for auction Hitchcock's self-drawn Stage Fright storyboards, which exemplify his meticulous directions for actors and cameramen. Bonhams estimates the storyboards' worth between £20,000-30,000 (€23,000-34,000), but I guess if you had to ask, you probably couldn't afford it.

Belated news: Marlene Dietrich photos from Lucien Clergue collection

Lucien Clergue, 1975
(Courtesy Wolfgang H. Wögerer, Wien)

Marlene Dietrich news has been abundant this year, and I often miss stories. If you spot reports we miss, feel free to let us know!

Unfortunately, I couldn't inform readers in a timely fashion that from March 5-April 24 the Multimedia Art Museum in Moscow displayed photos from the Lucien Clergue collection, reportedly given to Clergue in 1981 by one of Dietrich's grandsons.


You can at least see the photos here:

(In English)
(In Russian)

The 2nd photo is particularly stunning. Does anyone know who took it and when?

Marlene Dietrich Biography Ghostwriters?

I have never read this morsel before! Simon & Schuster didn't publish Maria Riva's book because it was so "over-the-top," which is why Knopf picked it up? Also, Maria had ghostwriters?

In a strange twist, I also came across an interview that the Brothers Judd conducted with Burt Boyar, whom they stated had co-authored Sammy Davis Jr.'s autobiography, Yes I Can, with wife Jane Boyar (R.I.P.). During the Brothers Judd interview, Boyar revealed that he had worked with Maria Riva on her Marlene Dietrich biography. Coincidentally, an untitled Marlene Dietrich biography was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office under Boyar Investment, Ltd. in 1980 (see record below). That's not all. The untitled biography was also registered under Simon & Schuster, the publisher for whom Maria Riva was writing her biography, according to the aforementioned May 25 1992 New York Magazine gossip. To complicate this mystery even further, let me observe that Simon & Schuster published the recent Dietrich biography by Charlotte Chandler.

This string of information leads me to ask a string of questions:

Did Maria Riva really work with ghostwriters while she was writing her famous Dietrich bio? If so, were the Boyars her ghostwriters? Did Maria Riva leave Simon & Schuster because she did not want to use the Boyars' biographical material? Did Maria Riva use any of the Boyars' biographical material after she joined Alfred A. Knopf? Did Charlotte Chandler use any of the Boyars' material for her Simon & Schuster biography? If either Riva or Chandler accessed the Boyars' work, to what extent did they use it? I know none of these answers, but I do know that Maria Riva, Charlotte Chandler, and Burt Boyar could offer insight on the matter.

Marlene Dietrich Got Top Nod For A Foreign Affair

Trailer screenshot via Wikimedia Commons

On July 1 1948, The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther praised A Foreign Affair, singling out Marlene Dietrich's Erika von Schlütow for doing "the most fascinating job" by embodying the film's "romantic allure" and "vagrant cynicism."

Dietrich, John Lund, and Billy Wilder later reteamed for the radio series, "Screen Director's Playhouse," which you can explore and download at Internet Archive. I will, however, embed Dietrich's reprisals below. Note that the first recording aired on March 6 1949, and the second broadcast on March 1 1951. Should I spoil the surprise for those who've never heard these shows? Yes! Rosalind Russell and Lucille Ball took on the role of Congresswoman Phoebe Frost in the 1949 and 1951 programs respectively! If either Lucy or Auntie Mame had shared motion picture credits with Dietrich, the boys surely would have burst in their theater seats like Fourth of July fireworks!

Win a free copy of the Charlotte Chandler biography!

Visit Classic Film and TV Cafe to participate in the giveaway. See my review and other reviews if you're on the fence.

Marlene Dietrich: The First Cougar?

This chapter from Luke Yankee's 2006 memoir, Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart, salutes Marlene Dietrich the neat freak perfectionist and Marlene Dietrich the naughty cougar. It's a droll account that proves you can't quote Dietrich without italics:

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:

Marlene & Johnny Hallyday

A few photos of Marlene attending a performance by Jonny Hallyday in Paris, sometime in the early 60s:

Marlene and Johnny. He was a fan, obviously.

Restoration of "The Devil Is A Woman" At TCM Film Fest

The Museum of Modern Art's new restoration of the 1935 Dietrich-von Sternberg collaboration, The Devil Is A Woman, will be premiere at the 2011 TCM Classic Film Festival.

From their website:

Industry censor Joe Breen wanted her killed for her sins. The Spanish government wanted her taken out of circulation altogether. But for film lovers, Marlene Dietrich's Concha Perez has become one of the great icons of forbidden love. For his last film with protégée Dietrich, Josef von Sternberg created a fantasy version of Spain during Carnival time as the setting for a delirious study of male masochism. The star was at her most sensual as the factory girl who rises in the world through the love of a police captain but can't stay true to him or any man. Fans now adore the film for its dazzling style and exotic perversity, but audiences at the time didn't quite get it. When Spain threatened to ban all Paramount pictures over the film's depiction of their police guard, the studio pulled it from worldwide distribution and destroyed the master. They also released von Sternberg from his contract prematurely ending a level of artistic freedom that the director would never enjoy again. THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN remained largely unseen until 1959, when the studio screened it at the Venice Film Festival and included it in a package of classic pictures sold to television. Dietrich, who has called the film her favorite, saved her own print in a bank vault. That print was the source of an '80s art-house re-issue and subsequent DVD versions. A new restoration from the Museum of Modern Art makes its world premiere at this festival screening.

The Devil Is A Woman will be screened at 22:15 this coming thursday (28 April) at the Chinese Multiplex, adjacent to Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Further information at the TCM Classic Film Festival website.

One scene that won't be projected at the festival is Marlene's sensational performance of "If It Isn't Pain (Then It Isn't Love)", a number censored from the film in 1935. Only Marlene's prerecording survives:

1997 Mercedez-Benz Commercial

I have read some biting criticism about the 1997 Mercedes-Benz commercial that interpolated Marlene Dietrich's "Falling In Love Again" in the style of the Natalie and Nat King Cole duet "Unforgettable," but the obvious reasons for the song's use were its theme of desirability, its nostalgic appeal, and the Teutonic elegance that the Dietrich and Mercedes-Benz brands exude. The formula worked because in 2005 Car and Driver magazine rated the commercial the third best car commercial of all time.

This version of the commercial clocks in at just over a minute:



This version is the standard 30 seconds and apparently appears at the beginning of The Lost World: Jurassic Park VHS tapes:

"Wenn die beste Freundin"

I have never researched Marlene Dietrich's Weimar-era music, but I just heard "Wenn die beste Freundin," a 1928 Electrola-label single infamously laden with lesbian undertones that Dietrich recorded with Margo Lion and Oskar Karlweis.

Cabaret Berlin wrote more extensively on the single; therefore, you should refer to them for more information. Someone who speaks and understands German, however, could help me by telling me whether the translated lyrics on that site are accurate because I can't vouch for them. All I can add is that Dietrich's tone is at its clearest and that Margo Lion's (it is her, no?) counter-melodic scatting underpins the song's coquettish content. Katy Perry, take some pointers if you ever toy with liquor lesbianism again.

Material Girl

Marlene was a regular customer at Parisian couture houses from the thirties to the sixties and the Marlene Dietrich Collection in Berlin includes great examples of the work of designers such as Alix (Madame Gres), Schiaparelli, Patou, Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel and others.

From the archives of L'Officiel De La Mode come photographs of two creations designed specifically for Marlene (not modelled by her, unfortunately):

1936. A black fox busby and suit with matching fur trim, designed by Schiaparelli, who was inspired by the coronation of Edward VIII.

1938. A white fox cape designed by la Reine d'Angleterre.

I wonder if there are photos of Marlene wearing these?

The archives of L'Officiel from 1921 - 2010 are available online.

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.

Falling In Love Again

I have never articulated my thoughts on Dietrich, but a blog (which has subsequently disappointed me and thus won't be named) inspired me to make an honest attempt. You will see my comment if you click the link, and I will also post it here after the cut.

Here's some cream for your coffee!

Some of you may be fast asleep by the time I post this, while others among you may still be milling about for the latest on Marlene Dietrich. Whenever you read this, I urge you to scoop yourself a heaping spoonful of MagazineArt.org, a site that snap, crackle, and pops with Old Hollywood serials! Unlike LIFE magazine, this site treats Hollywood stars like faces on a milk carton, so don't expect more than stylish cover art mugshots. After all, it's what's on the outside that counts, isn't it?

I haven't yet sunken my teeth into MagazineArt.org's contents, but I would like to serve you two covers I found that feature Dietrich's creamy visage, including a high-quality scan of the one on the left:

One          Two

Note that the site owners crave more or better cover scans, so consider sharing your vittles!

Marlene Feels Angry Chorus Over Her Trip To Germany Not Sensible

by Art Buchwald 8 April 1960

PARIS - In three weeks time Berlin-born Marlene Dietrich faces the toughest audience she has ever appeared in front of in her life - the German people. Miss Dietrich, who is in Paris now being fitted for clothes by Christian Dior and Balenciaga for her show, has been the subject of controversy ever since she announced that, as part of a concert tour in May, she was going to play six cities in Western Germany - Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Cologne. The West German press has been full of stories and letters to the editor, complaining about the visit. Miss Dietrich told us yesterday at lunch she couldn't understand it.

"When I appeared in Paris four months ago the German concert managers came begging me to play in Germany. They offered me a guarantee of $ 4 000 a performance, more money than I've been paid anywhere, including Las Vegas. I assumed that if hey were willing to pay that kind of money, the Germans wanted to see me. Now the German papers are bringing up all the old things. They say I wore an American uniform during the war, which I did. They say I wore a French uniform when I marched up to the Arc de Triomphe in a parade in 1955 which I didn't. I did march and I did rekindle the flame over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but I was wearing an American Legion hat and a blue raincoat.

"I don't understand it. Before the war I was attacked by Goering for becoming an American citizen. After the war I was attacked by the German press because I wouldn't come to Germany, and now they're attacking me because I am going. The logic escapes me."

"If you had known there was going to be this uproar would you have agreed to play in Germany?"

"No. I wouldn't have agreed. I'm not a masochist. I only agreed because I thought they wanted me. I decided as long as I was going to tour Europe I would include Germany in the tour.

"I'm not afraid of my reception as a performer. My act has gone over wherever it has played. But I hate to bee involved in politics. They're acting as if I was the only German who ever migrated to America. When the war was over they wanted me to go back to Germany and live there. Why should I have? I didn't become an American citizen just to stay out of Germany when there was trouble there. I became an American citizen for life. I would hate myself if I thought I became an American citizen just for convenience.

"The Germans now say I wore the uniform of the enemy. To them I may have, but I thought we were trying to forget all that.

"One German headline said, 'Marlene Dietrich says she can't forget Hitler.' Well, who can? They've even called me a traitor. I left Germany in 1930. After I made The Blue Angel the German producers had an option to pick up my contract. They didn't and that's why I came to the United States.

Miss Dietrich is feuding with her manager, Norman Granz, who set up the concert tour in Germany. Granz said in New York Miss Dietrich was considering cancelling her German tour because her astrologer told her if she went to Berlin she was going to die. Granz said if she did cancel, he was going to sue her.

Miss Dietrich said she had no intention of cancelling Germany, that an astrologer had told her no such thing, and if he had she wouldn't have paid any attention anyway.

"I'm going no matter what happens," she said.

"Suppose they give you a rough time?" we asked her.

"I always have the microphone," she said. "And I'll be ready for any situation. The only thing I fear is eggs."

"Eggs?"

"Yes, I have a coat made of swan's down and if an egg ever hits it I don't know what I'll do. You couldn't clean it in a million years."

Miss Dietrich hasn't been in Germany since she was there during the war.

"Do you have a lot of friends there?" we asked her.

"No," she said. "The German reporters have asked me whom I expect to see when I get to Germany and all I can say is that all my friends have either left or were killed in concentration camps."

Miss Dietrich added, "I'm going to Germany to entertain. I'm not going there to be put on trial, or become part of a de-Americanization proceedings. All I can add is peace to the world and I think everyone should visit everybody else."

A Marlene Dietrich LIFE Bibliography at Your Fingertips!

Years ago, I blogged about LIFE magazine's photo archive hitting Google Images. Let me update this information by reporting that past LIFE magazine issues are now available in their entirety through Google Books. There are many ways to retrieve Marlene Dietrich-related LIFE issues, so report them here if your way is more efficient than mine. For those of us who can survive without physical copies of these issues and can happily view them online, follow my visual instructions below the cut.

Marlene Dietrich memorabilia at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills

Courtesy Juliens Auctions Beverly Hills

Julien's Auctions will feature Marlene Dietrich memorabilia from her late husband Rudolf Sieber's estate in their upcoming Hollywood Legends 2011 Auction event. According to the press release, the Dietrich-related trove will include personal and family photographs as well as correspondences between Dietrich and Sieber about Tami, their finances, the FBI, and Dietrich's romances.

For those interested in getting a peek at the auction's offerings, see the following information on the Free Public Exhibition:


Julien’s Auctions
9665 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 150
Beverly Hills, California 90210
Monday, April 18th through Saturday, May 7th
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Daily
Closed Sundays

Roddy McDowell signed photo
Courtesy Juliens Auctions Beverly Hills

For those interested in the Live Auction itself, that info is:

9665 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 150
Beverly Hills, California 90210
Saturday, May 7th, 2011










Again, read the press release or see the Hollywood Legends 2011 Auction page for more details.

Marlene Dietrich's FBI File

Take a gander at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) file on Marlene Dietrich here.* You've heard and read it all before from many other sources, but this is over 150 pages of declassified information. I'd venture to guess J. Edgar Hoover went into a tizzy after he couldn't squeeze himself into Dietrich's Blonde Venus hot pants and concocted this cockamamie X-27 drama. Actually, it seems that most of WWII-era investigation stems from anonymous letters from xenophobic Americans. Other inquiries address Dietrich as a victim of extortion attempts.

*Note: If the link doesn't take you directly to the page, it should at least show you some Dietrich-related page links. Click on one of those, preferably the one with the file icon. The webmaster should consider using underscores in URLs!

In summary:

Dietrich at the BBC

Dietrich makes wartime recordings for the BBC (photos via their website).

Welcome to Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess

The first rule of Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess is you do not talk about Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess. The second rule of Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess is you do not talk about Marlene Dietrich: The Last Goddess!

IMDB, get your act together!

In other news, check out some Dietrich-inspired photos by Mexican photographer Ivan Aguirre of model Sofia Monaco here. Nice work, but why the ghastly Desire-era eyebrows? Her chola name must be La German.

Don't forget to pick up Shirley MacLaine's latest memoirs, I'm Over All That: And Other Confessions, too. You can read an excerpt here, in which MacLaine credits Dietrich for teaching her the art of lighting and costume fittings during the production of Around the World in 80 Days. Want your audience to think there's a draft onstage? Strategically affix two pearls on your bra. MacLaine also praises the Dietrich facelift and divulges that Mike Todd left Dietrich for Elizabeth Taylor (R.I.P.). Scroll through this page to see a photo of Dietrich with Mike Todd at the Los Angeles premiere of Oklahoma!

Marlene Dietrich, According to Charlotte Chandler

I could approach Charlotte Chandler's work, Marlene: Marlene Dietrich, A Personal Biography, from several perspectives. Obviously, I could compare it to the existing body of work devoted to Dietrich and determine whether it tells us anything new or—at least—in a new way. Why bother? No one will ever trump Maria Riva's insider anecdotes and side-splitting dialogues. Aside from that, reviews are like celebrity biographies, and how could I attempt to critique Chandler's work as a reiteration of others' biographies when—as I write this text—I realize that much of what I'm typing has probably been noted by Joseph McBride in San Francisco Chronicle. In case you are wondering, Chandler does discuss the usual subjects and suspects: Dietrich's breasts ravaged by baby Maria's hungry infant mouth, Dietrich's affairs with a few Kennedy clansmen, Dietrich's show that broke Israel's ban on German-language performances, Dietrich opposition of Nazis that included her plot to assassinate Hitler, Dietrich's other plot to prevent King Edward VIII from abdicating by wrecking his relationships with Wallis Simpson, Dietrich's directorial expertise with the help of a full-length mirror, Dietrich's skill on the violin and the musical saw, Dietrich's seclusion in her Paris apartment where she made constant phone calls yet answered her phone as her maid, and so on.

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?

Dietrich's Producer Cancels Their Friendship

by Earl Wilson, 22 January 1973

NEW YORK, N.Y - Marlene Dietrich's biggest booster in this part of the world, Producer Alexander Cohen, has broken off their very luctrative friendship. He has dropped the glamorous but tempramental grandma from his list of pals.

"I have no time for her whatever," he told me quite bluntly.

He was angry because she made uncomplimentary remarks in advance about his TV special starring her, for which she got $250,000. He was also heated up because she tiffed with the press, alienating most of those who wrote about her.

"Over the six years when she did two one-woman performances in New York and went on tour, I showed up in every city to be of help," Cohen said. "The way that she treated me was no way to treat a friend.

"I have no defense for the things she said to the press," Cohen added. "I have no quarrel with the press - it is only with her highness." Cohen had thought of bringing her back for a third Broadway run but that's dead now. He said, "She's too much trouble."

While her TV show got some excellent reviews, Cohen said her slighting remarks about it cost him some big sales in Europe. "Does Miss Dietrich know your feelings about her?" I asked. Cohen, who sent her champagne, flowers and caviar just a few weeks ago, said: "She certainly does!"

Cirque d'Hiver, 1963

Marlene, Retouched.

(Click for HQ)

Marlene Dietrich in “The Lady Is Willing” (1941). Note the traces of retouching on her right jawline, at her right breast and arm, the left of the torso, and at the bottom of the dress. The intricately beaded gown is by Irene.

Marlene and Burt: Voices for Vista!

Puzzle solved!

I have never seen the film Jigsaw, which features a Marlene Dietrich cameo in a supper club called The Blue Angel. Now apparently in the public domain, Jigsaw has been uploaded to YouTube and sites such as Internet Archive. I am thankful I waited to watch. As you will see in the above video, Dietrich doesn't appear in this flick until about 28:05, leaving a starlet's show with a disapproving nod and with utter disregard for gawking onlookers who recognize her. Would this be an example of art imitating life?

Charlotte Chandler Talks Marlene

Over at Kirkus Reviews, Gerald Bartell talks with Charlotte Chandler about her new Marlene Dietrich biography, while the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed her book here. Michael Musto says he has the dirty details of Marlene's encounter with JFK over at his blog. Stay tuned for Joseph's review of Marlene: A Personal Biograhy, coming soon!

Blog updates

Hello, all! It's been a while since I've contributed to this blog, but I'm grateful that missladiva has been spoiling us with so many delectable media goodies. I wanted to direct you to some updates in the blog's layout.

• The search engine ("Search The Dietrich Universe")

You should be able to search specifically within this blog, our blogroll, and our links list. Sometimes, searching the entire World Wide Web for Dietrich-related materials means culling useless sites instead of gleaning what you need. I hope this search engine helps you hone in on what you seek. Let us know what you think of it and what we should add to our blogroll and our links list to improve your search results.

• The RSS feed ("Subscribe To This Blog")

I can't believe we never used this gadget! Now, you can get the latest from our blog the minute we post it.

• The email subscription box ("Follow Us By Email")

This is one of Blogger's new gadgets, so I want to test it for those of you who prefer mailinglist-type email subscriptions.

I hope you find these updates helpful!

In the next few weeks, you should expect a review of the latest Dietrich bio, Marlene, by Charlotte Chandler.