Online Palimpsests: Cached Sites About Marlene Dietrich

Blank and altered spaces have replaced many of my favorite Web sites and pages about Marlene Dietrich. It's as if the woman in the opening of The Blue Angel came by with her water bucket and rag to wash and scrub away their text, images, and even HTML. Nevertheless, online archives such as Wayback Machine have captured iterations of these information-rich resources as I remember them.

• The great Werner Sudendorf's now-defunct Sounds Like Marlene humbly declared itself an "unspectacular but useful site," but I find its content as striking as it was practical. The site boasted many lists that I still consult, which cover Dietrich's songs, musical releases, radio performances, and TV performances. Furthermore, the site contained lyrics of many Marlene songs.
• Then, there is the recently deceased MarleneDietrich.org, the site of Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin (MDCB). This site included many of the past newsletters (also all available at the "office" Marlene web site), bibliographies of some of the most useful print resources by or about Dietrich, including those produced by or with the support of MDCB. Additionally, it listed exhibitions about Marlene, provided production information about her films (production dates as well), and even included photos and biographical information. The only downside is that the videos once available on this site have not been archived.
• Marlene.com is another site with cached pages I consult, especially when I'm seeking past news related to Miss Dietrich. Over the years, this site has been extensively cached, but you will have the most luck browsing through the cached versions made from the tail-end of 1998 through the present. Thanks to this site, I learned that there was once a Marlene Dietrich fan club!
• I know next to nothing about The Last Goddess blog's visitors, but I do know that many of you stumble upon us because you are seeking the "last" photo of Marlene Dietrich. Well, Find A Death once posted one of these "last" photos, and although you can no longer find this photo on the site's current Dietrich page, the cached versions include it.

Are there other informative cached sites related to Marlene Dietrich? Other resourceful Marlene sites that you'd like to see archived? Other archives that cache content missing from Wayback Machine, such as, say, videos? Please let us know in the comments section!

Happy Birthday: Stars and Cake!

Dietrich was born 113 years ago, on this day in 1901.  

A Capricorn, she was one of the first stars to use the services of astrologer Carroll Righter, who had come to Hollywood in 1938. ("The stars impel, they don't compel. What you make of your life depends on you," he said).

"Anyone with troubles can unload them safely onto Capricorn's shoulders," Marlene said of her own zodiac sign, ruled by Saturn — "the celestial taskmaster. He won't let you get away with anything."

Righter either looked at his charts of the screenplay of The Lady Is Willing in 1941 and advised Marlene not to go to the studio one day. She disregarded his advice: while filming a scene with 'Baby X' in her arms, she tripped over a toy on the set and broke her ankle as she shielded the baby. Columbia's publicity men had a field day supplying photos of Marlene recuperating to the press. (She completed filming of the movie with her ankle in a cast, deftly hid out of view).

"Don't mess around with old Carroll — 'cause he must know something." Marlene concluded.

As late as 1978, according the New York Daily News, Marlene still rarely made "a move without consulting the zodiac ... with Righter". (The paper was reporting about a lunch date between Maria Riva and the astrologer. Riva had just become a "very happy" grandmother; great-grandmother was in Paris working on her autobiography).

oOo

Today being Marlene's birthday, here's a "birthday" cake: her recipe for Dutch Apple Cake, shared with readers of New Movie magazine in 1932. 

1 cake yeast
¼ cup lukewarm milk
¾ cup scalding hot milk
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ cups flour
¼ cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk, beaten

Soak the yeast in lukewarm milk. Add to scalded milk. Add half the sugar and flour. Let rise until doubled in bulk. Then eat in the rest of the sugar, flour and other ingredients. Spread thinly in greased baking pan. Let rise in warm place until doubled again. Press thinly sliced apples into dough in even rows. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon cinnamon mixed with a half cup brown sugar and dot with currants. Bake in hot oven.

(Let us know what it tastes like!)

Happy Birthday Marlene!

The Scarlet Letters

Big-budget studio films were heavily promoted, and The Scarlet Empress was no exception. In addition to press coverage and ads, there were publicity stunts – worldwide.

Paramount's pitch to showmen.

In London, a waxwork of Marlene Dietrich was unveiled at Madame Tussaud's in conjunction with the opening of the film. John Armstrong, director of advertising at Paramount Theatres there arranged that the unveiling be broadcast via a transatlantic radio link to the US via NBC. The waxwork was dressed in ostrich feathers from South Africa – gaining press for the movie in far-flung parts of the British Empire. Even department store Selfridges joined in with displays. Across the channel, a special premiere was held at the Theatre Agriculteurs in Paris, with American envoy in France, J I Strauss in attendance. And cinemas from New York to Shanghai lured their patrons with special displays.

10 Great Women, As Chosen by Marlene Dietrich

In 1942, as publicity for The Lady is Willing, Marlene shared her selection of the ten greatest women of the time with Hollywood magazine's Jack Dallas. Her choices:

INTELLIGENCE

Dorothy Thompson, the distinguished journalist, because she has finally proved that a woman’s opinions concerning the troubled world in which we live can be as searching, profound and constructive as those of male minds; because her soundness has come to be generally recognized and her influence universally felt; and because she has managed to combine a successful career with successful motherhood.

COURAGE

Helen Keller, because, despite the terrifying handicap of being born without sight, speech, or hearing, she has become an international symbol of the triumph of the human will against all-out adversity; because she has turned her handicaps into assets; and because, above all, she is living a rich and useful life.

FEMININITY

Queen Elizabeth of England [later Queen Mother], because she is attractive  without intent, charming without effort, impressive without guile, and ladylike without apology, she is the most ultra-feminine woman in the world; and because she has always managed to be effacing enough to highlight the personality of her husband, the King.

VALOUR

Amelia Earhart, that slim, spare figure of a woman, because she set her compass on Life and never changed her course; because she lived for a purpose; and because she died heroically, a falling star plunging into an uncharted ocean and, surely, saluting with a smile and a wave of the hand the sun or the moon as her plane plummeted her to an unknown destiny.

MAGNETISM

Alice Marble, the tennis champion, because she is the perfect embodiment of athletic femininity, healthy without being horsey; and because, in her capacity of National Director of Physical Training for Women she is using her gifts for the general good.

INSPIRATION

Mme. Chiang Kai-shek, because she is one of the world’s most brilliant women; because she is aiding her great husband, the Generalissimo, in preserving China in the face of unending peril; and because she is bringing a new freedom to the women of China.

CLEVERNESS

Clare Boothe, because she undeniably is one of the most fascinating conversationalists; and because she knows women and has held up a mirror so we could see ourselves. (Or did you miss The Women?)

CHIC

Eve Curie, because she is of the bandbox type; because she can travel light and appear to be convoyed by a trailer filled with Schiaparellis; because she does not follow fashion but leads it — gently.

EXCITEMENT

Greta Garbo, because where there’s Garbo there’s tension; and because she has proved that furbelows are foolish and mystery is marvelous.

SELF-REALIZATION

Nellie Manley, my hair-dresser for eight years, not only because she does her job well but also because she has no apologies for its lack of lustre; because she is neither amused by glamour, deceived by glitter and tinsel, or ravaged by ambition; because she is a true philosopher and can take life as it comes, and be cause, totally free from complexes and frustrations, she is at peace with herself and wouldn't change places with Marlene Dietrich for the Taj Mahal.

From Marlene Dietrich's Hotplate: Banana Trifle

A onetime chef at one of Marlene's favourite Parisian restaurants wrote a book about dishes the star liked to order (for delivery, naturally), and Dietrich herself shared some dish in her ABCs, but no-one has yet published  "The Way To Cook With Maria Riva's Mutti".

The recipe for Banana Trifle below may or may not be Dietrich's: it was called hers in a 1943 edition of the fan magazine Hollywood, not always a reliable source. Certainly, the lack butter or dill in a Dietrich recipe is suspect, but this may have been the sort of thing John Wayne liked between takes on the set of Pittsburgh.

You will need:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 heaping tsp cornstarch
1 even tsp sugar
1/2  tsp salt
2 bananas
6 ladyfingers
1/2 pint cream or whipped white of one egg

Method:

Slice bananas and lay them in a glass dish in alternate layers with four ladyfingers split in two. Heat milk and water in a saucepan; add sugar, salt and the cornstarch which has been diluted in a little cold water. When thick, pour over the bananas, and let stand until cold. Then cover top with whipped cream. Split remaining ladyfingers in two, and place them upright around the edge.

Lovely.

What Marlene Dietrich's Handwriting Reveals!

(This article was originally published in the May 1932 edition of Movie Classic magazine as 

Marlene Dietrich will have only one great love, her handwriting shows)

Who knows what Marlene is really like? Louise Rice, who is world famous for her studies of character from handwriting —and tells you here what she finds in Marlene s signature. The German star, herself, could hardly tell you more!

MARLENE DIETRICH’s signature — reproduced herewith — gives  the graphologist an enormous surprise. For what have all the publicity men featured in their blurbs about the German sensation? You all know as well as I do — LEGS, and not much of anything else. But ask her director and her business manager, and I am sure that they will tell you that they have found her to have a head for business and a good understanding as well.

No, I didn't mean that last characteristic as a joke, although you may think that I was guilty of a pun, which is a serious crime in this country. I mean that she has the ability to think quickly and to the point on any subject that seems to her worthwhile. Also, that she has a sudden feeling or intuition that is often of great assistance to her in outguessing the “other fellow,”  when trying to carry out her plans. See if your handwriting shows the little breaks in the connecting strokes of the small letters that Marlene has in her words. If so, you also have  intuition and should use it to the best advantage.

Taking Shots at Lady Lush

Tallulah Bankhead was an intoxicating character whose words you couldn't properly transcribe without italizing and CAPITALIZING, and--for years--I thought her surname was DARLING. Hopefully, we haven't already posted a clip from her 1950s NBC radio program, The Big Show, because I wouldn't want to commit the sin of repetition. On YouTube, many have already shared an excerpt from the January 7, 1951 show in which Dietrich guest starred, but the entire episode deserves a listen (even more than this lot legend about gold dust deserves a read). Available from Internet Archive, here it is:

When the guest stars introduce themselves, you may recognize some names associated with Dietrich: Fred Allen (whose Texaco Star Theater radio show featured Dietrich, readily available on TallulahDarling's YouTube page), Edward G. Robinson (Dietrich's Manpower co-star), and Danny Thomas (who went on that famous European USO tour with Dietrich).

During the show, Dietrich's appearance is hyped up, with Bankhead playfully demanding equal footing, as you'll hear in her exchange with singer Fran Warren.

WARREN: Oh, I'm very excited, Tallulah, what with Marlene Dietrich on the show. She's so glamorous!
BANKHEAD: Uh, I've heard that said about me, darling.
WARREN: And she's such an international celebrity.
BANKHEAD: I've heard THAT said about me, darling, TOO.
WARREN: I remember she was my ideal when I was a child!
BANKHEAD: And I've heard THAT said abou--UH! [laughs] OH, DARLING!

Once Dietrich makes her "appearance" 45 minutes into the show, it's one punchline after another. Dietrich then sings "Falling in Love Again" but not just the way she sang it--as Bankhead says--"35 years ago." This rendition features some over-the-top yet ethereal "ah-ah-ah"-ing choir, like in Mario Lanza's "Be My Love." Enjoy!

Maria Riva on the Chinchilla Syndrome ... and a duet with Carol Channing!

(Maria's comments on the "chinchilla syndrome" start at 2:47)

Maria's duet with Carol Channing on the Buick Berle Show is posted at the Internet Archive. (Her duet with Carol Channing is at 44:00)

See her cooking frankfurters at this link.

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?