Many of you have seen this Alfred Eisenstaedt-attributed photograph of Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, and Leni Riefenstahl rubbing shoulders. Life identified this iconic occasion as the January 1, 1928 Pierre Ball in Berlin (or simply as a Berlin ball). Steven Bach wrote that the photo was taken in January 1930 at the Berlin [Foreign?] Press Ball and claimed that--despite her smiles for the camera--Dietrich threatened to commit suicide after Josef von Sternberg had invited Riefenstahl. In Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories, Maria Riva eschewed details regarding date, captioning a portrait of Dietrich in the same polka dot pattern and hat (seen below) as a shot from a Berlin "pirate" costume ball. So many stories for one image! Knowing the dates of Wong's visit(s?) to Germany might help, but I don't have the Graham Hodges bio or any other sources to check. All I know is that artist Patty Chang created an installation about Wong's 1928 interview with Walter Benjamin. [JULY 19, 2012 UPDATE: I found a Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin (MDCB) newsletter that dates the photo 1930, so I'll go with them.]Anyway, here are alternate shots of Dietrich, Wong, and Riefenstahl:
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| This photo's metadata is scant, but I am certain the actor above is--correct me if I'm wrong--Willi Forst. |
No, it's Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur, he was in "Gefahren der Brautzeit", as well as Marlene Dietrich.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction! Now that I've seen Cafe Elektric, I feel silly even guessing that this was Willi Forst, who certainly didn't look this old. Is this movie on DVD? Some print must exist because I remember Schell discussing it, referring to its variant title, Liebesnächte.
DeletePerhaps this is 10 years too late, but a few corrections. I myself am still trying to figure out when exactly this so-called Pierre Ball took place in Berlin and what the event actually was. But I can tell you that it didn't take place on Jan. 1, 1928, as Anna May Wong did not arrive in Berlin until April 1928. Also, the man in the photo is Richard Eichberg, a famous German director who at the time was directing AMW in several films.
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