Jubilee of the Great Marlene

120 years ago Marlene Dietrich was born.

On December 27, 1901, in a suburb of Berlin - Schöneberg - in the family of Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and his wife Wilhelmina Elisabeth Josefina, née Felsing, a second daughter was born, who was named Maria Magdalena. Maria Magdalena's mother came from a very wealthy family of owners of jewelry and watch shops, and the girl's father served in the police. Apparently, Mary Magdalene's dad led a rather promiscuous sex life, since he died of syphilis in 1907. At the age of 11, Maria Magdalena decided, as they would say today, to optimize her name and made one of the halves of her two names - Marlene. Under this name, she became known to the whole world. But, of course, not right away. At first, thanks to the financial situation of her mother, she received an excellent, mainly home, education, including fluency in English and French (in addition to her native German), as well as several musical instruments. The combination of knowledge of languages ​​and proficiency in musical instruments led to her first profession: at the age of 20, she began working as a taper in cinemas, accompanying silent films with music and translation of foreign titles. The profession of taper, in turn, gave birth to her addiction to cinema and, in a broader sense, to acting.

However, Marlene's attempt to enter the acting school of the German Theater at the age of 21 ended in failure. But failure did not stop her. She began to take private acting lessons, paying for them with money earned from dancing in late night cafes. Moreover, for her performances, she often chose nightlife popular with gays and lesbians. Her bisexual inclinations were made known. Marlene's acting teacher and director at several Berlin theaters, Max Reinhardt, soon began recruiting his student to participate in his productions. True, only in small, usually wordless, roles or as a participant in the corps de ballet. But soon, in 1923, Marlene's uncle introduced her to the director Georg Jacobi, who gave the girl a small role in his film "So sind die Männer" ("The Little Napoleon"). This film became the first officially confirmed in the filmography of the future movie star.

"The Little Napoleon" did not bring any serious success to its creators. But thanks to this film, Marlene Dietrich got into the "kit" of actresses of minor roles and began acting regularly. 2-4 films with her participation were released every year. During the filming of the film "Tragödie der Liebe (The Tragedy of Love)" in 1923, Marlene Dietrich became closely acquainted with the assistant director Rudolf Sieber and soon married him. At the end of 1924, their daughter Maria was born. Marlene Dietrich's family life lasted less than 5 years. In 1927, Rudolf became interested in the Russian dancer Tamara Zvyagintseva and began to live with her. Well, Marlene began to conquer the hearts of men. And women. At the same time, the Sieber couple did not file for divorce until Rudolf's death in 1976. (We can say that they lived to see the "golden wedding".) Moreover, Marlene regularly shared with Rudolf the details of her next affairs. High relations! It is difficult to say which of the Sieber spouses was more satisfied with such a "high relationship". But it is absolutely certain that the position of the "unmarried spouse" did not suit Tamara Zvyagintseva at all. Moreover, she had to live with Maria, the daughter of Marlene Dietrich, who preferred to stay with her father. The result was schizophrenia and early death at the age of 57.

During the period from 1923 to 1930, Marlene Dietrich starred in 19 silent films. But all these roles did not bring her any special fame. And it's hard to say how the actress' career would have developed further if not for two events. Firstly, sound cinema replaced silent cinema, and secondly, fate brought Marlene Dietrich together with Joseph von Sternberg. This director, whose real name was Jonas Sternberg, without any "vons", an Austrian Jew by origin, emigrated to America at the beginning of the century, where, having passed many trials and twists of fate, by the end of the 20s he achieved some success in cinema. In 1930, thanks to these successes, the German film company Universum Film AG (which later became the DEFA film company, whose film production is very well known to Soviet moviegoers) offered Sternberg to stage a film based on the novel by the classic of German literature Heinrich Mann "Professor Unrat oder Das Ende eines Tyrannen" (1905). Joseph von Sternberg, contrary to the recommendations of the studio's management, invited Marlene Dietrich to play the main role. As a result, the film "Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel)" turned out to be a turning point in the actress' rather nondescript film career.

The stunning success of the film "Blue Angel", where Marlene Dietrich played on the verge of decency (by the standards of the early 30s of the last century), led to the conclusion of a long contract with the American film company Paramount Pictures. Within the framework of this contract, Marlene Dietrich starred in six films for 5 years, directed by Joseph von Sternberg. In one of them, "The Scarlet Empress", where Dietrich played Catherine II in adulthood, the young empress was played by her daughter, who took the pseudonym Maria Riva. The films created by the bundle of Sternberg and Dietrich brought both worldwide fame. This fame was so great that when Marlene Dietrich was in London in 1937, Joseph Goebbels' emissaries approached her with a proposal to return to Germany and accept the status of the main German movie star. So to speak, to become the face of German cinema. With all the ensuing consequences in the form of honors and super - profitable contracts. Marlene Dietrich responded with an unequivocal refusal and, moreover, in the same year defiantly applied for American citizenship. In 1939, under the name of Maria Magdalena Sieber, she received this citizenship and renounced her German citizenship.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples when German scientists, culture and art workers emigrated to the United States after the Nazis came to power in Germany. But in the overwhelming majority of cases, these were people with Jewish roots. And their move to America can to some extent be explained by the instinct of self-preservation. Since the attitude of the Nazis towards Jews was known long before they came to power. But the act of Marlene Dietrich, a pure-blooded German woman, before whom brilliant prospects of fame, honor and prosperity opened up, other than an act of civic courage, can hardly be called. But it was not only in the emigration from Nazi Germany to the United States that Marlene Dietrich's civic position manifested itself. She, together with Billy Wilder, founded a special foundation to help dissidents and Jews fleeing Nazism and contributed 450 thousand dollars to it (the equivalent of the current $ 9 million). In addition, in 1942-1943, she actively participated in raising funds for the needs of the American army, selling the so-called "war bonds". Marlene Dietrich became the leader among American film stars in terms of the number of sold "war bonds".

Marlene Dietrich's anti-Nazi activities were evaluated differently in different countries. In the 60s, when Dietrich returned to her homeland, the West Germans spat in her face, pelted her with rotten eggs, called her a "traitor". But many more countries expressed their deepest gratitude to her, awarding her with their awards of the highest dignity. Among the awards that Marlene Dietrich was awarded were Ordre pour le Merite (France), Ordre Nationale de la Legion d'Honneur : Commandeur (France), Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), Medallion of Honor of the State of Israel, Medal of Freedom (United States), Chevalier de l'Ordre de Leopold (Belgium), and many others.

Soon after Marlene Dietrich moved to the USA, fate brought her on the set with another star of European cinema - Jean Gabin. After the release of the film "La grande illusion", the French actor gained huge popularity all over the world, including in the USA. And in connection with the invasion of Nazi troops in France, he also had to leave for the States. A romance broke out between the two stars. This romance had a negative impact on Gabin's film career in America. Having received a role in one of the films, he demanded that Dietrich also star in this film. And, having met with a refusal, he made a grandiose scandal at the film studio. For which he was deprived of the role and generally excommunicated from American cinema.
Marlene Dietrich's stormy romance with Jean Gabin lasted 7 years and stopped only because of Marlene's refusal to marry him and raise calves with him. (According to contemporaries, Jean Gabin, despite his worldwide acting fame, remained a farmer at heart.) And this, perhaps, was the longest romance in Dietrich's life. Other affairs of the actress, very numerous and, as a rule, with married men, were much more fleeting. If I may say so, Dietrich's "don juan list" included Gary Cooper, John Gilbert, who at that time was in a relationship with Greta Garbo ("Ninotchka"), Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who at that time was married to Joan Crawford, James Stewart ("You Can't Take It with You", "Rear Window", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"), from whom Dietrich became pregnant and had an abortion. And these are only actors. And there were also writers: Ernst Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque... And these are only known romances. And only with men. And there were also women. For example, Suzanne Baule, hostess of the Paris cabaret, Mercedes de Acosta, Cuban-American writer, Ann Warner, wife of one of the founders of Warner Bros., Lily Damita, wife of Errol Flynn, Claudette Colbert ("It Happened one Night"), Dolores del Rio, the world's quintessential female face of Mexico... Some biographers attribute Marlene Dietrich's affair with Edith Piaf.

Marlene Dietrich's filmography includes 19 silent films and 34 sound films. Of these, 3 films were included in the Golden Thousand. Thanks to this indicator and a special, cold, beauty combined with splashing sexuality, Marlene Dietrich is included in the list of the 100 most beautiful and sexy Actresses of world cinema, compiled by FilmGourmand.