Sunday, December 9, 2012

Marlene Dietrich Candid

From the 2003 book Mes Stars: L'Album Secret de Willy Rizzo, a collection of photographs of various celebrities and public figures:



 

Friday, November 23, 2012

Fraulein Wonder

A collection of performances by three German-speaking female vocalists--Zarah Leander, Hildegard Knef and Marlene Dietrich.


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Dedication . . .

Here is a song dedicated to Marlene Dietrich--one of many over the years--Austrian tenor and occassional composer Richard Tuaber.




Saturday, November 10, 2012

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Dietrich as Covergirl

Here's a sampling of some of the innumerable magazine covers graced by Marlene Dietrich's iconic image--beginning in 1931 with Street & Smith's Picture Play pulp movie magazine, and lastly a hot-off-the-presses--2012--U. S. magazine, German World, published for an audience of German speakers and people interested in German history and culture.






Thursday, September 13, 2012

At the Piano

Another instrument Dietrich played. Here with Gary Cooper in Desire (1936).


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Monday, September 10, 2012

More Musical Skills

Dietrich singing "I May Never Go Home Anymore" (originally "Auf der Reeperbahn Nachts um halb eins") and accompanying herself on the accordion, in the 1957 film Witness for the Prosecution:


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Musical

Besides the violin and the notorious musical saw, Dietrich was notably capable on other musical instruments. Witness the two pictures below from The Monte-Carlo Story:



She also played the guitar in the same film, and in Witness for the Prosecution performed the song "I May Never Go Home Anymore" accompanying herself on the accordion.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Das Magazin

Dietrich, pre-Blue Angel, relaxing at the beach and playing a ukulele, from the masthead page of the July 1928 issue of the German magazine Das Magazin.


(Thanks to Joseph at The Last Goddess, and the helpful librarians of Frankfurt and Berlin.)


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Saturday, May 12, 2012

A Mexican Blue Angel

Here is Der blaue Engel en espaniol, on the cover of an edition of Heinrich Mann's book published in Mexico in 1984, with a nicely re-drawn version of the iconic image of Marlene as naughty Lola sitting on a beer-barrel on stage, with top hat and garters. A recent acquisition, this isn't in The Ultimate Marlene Dietrich Souvenir & Memorabilia Book, but we have a section on The Blue Angel and on various interpretations of this famous image in particular.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Marlene by Susan

A U. S. hard rock band from the late 1970s. From their 1979 album Falling in Love Again.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Not Quite Marlene . . .

Below is the cover of U. S. sheet music for the song "Lola-Lola," sung by May Britt in the 1959 Hollywood remake of The Blue Angel. This particular song was not in the original 1930 film, although some songs (like "Falling in Love Again," naturally) were.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Marlene's Own Unique Take on "Lili Marleen" . . .

Marlene Dietrich did not record any version of the song "Lili Marleen" until the 1960s, coincident with her part in the film Judgment at Nuremberg, but long before that she translated the original German lyrics of the long-lived song into English herself, and performed that version in concert. Below is a scan of her original translation, as she herself typed it out at the end of World War II while on tour in North Africa entertaining Allied troops.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Lili Marleen

We recently completed an album of sheet music covers from all over the world for the song "Lili Marleen" (sometimes "Lilli Marlene" or "Lilly Marlen" or suchlike), spanning the song's nearly 100 year history. The song is associated with Marlene Dietrich (appearing in most collections of her standards), although it was first recorded by German singer Lale Andersen in the 1930s. Dietrich sang the song across Europe and in North Africa while touring to entertain Allied soldiers during World War II.

Below are four early covers, all based upon the artwork done for the original German edition (top). Note one subtle but startling difference between the German and Italian cover artwork: the Italian Lili is grasping three red roses, but is otherwise very similar to her German namesake.