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Reply to "Adorable Marlene"

One steamy August afternoon when I was 6 or 7, my older brother took me to a run-down movie theatre just off the Grand Concourse in The Bronx to see a showing of The Blue Angel. Little wonder that I turned out the way I did!

I have read the Riva book. I don't think it portrays Marlene in a bad light at all. One thing it makes you realize is that Dietrich was a very smart cookie indeed. There is a bit about her hunting for the perfect veil for a hat that is amazing-- this woman was totally in control of her image and knew exactly what she was doing.
I also got the impression that Marlene had a very strong sense of family-- indeed she was really very much the hausfrau at times with her cooking and cleaning. Much different from Crawford, who did it only for show, and Davis who never bothered at all. I think the publishers really wanted a "Mommie Dearest" from Riva and didn't exactly get it. If anything, Riva herself comes across as being a bit dull and bourgeois in comparison-- but who wouldn't with Dietrich as a mother?

Also of interest is Riva's take on her mother's alleged bisexuality, though again, she misses a lot of the point. I urge you, however, to google both Mercedes de Acosta and Countess Dorothy di Frasso, who though not as stellar as Marlene of course, were two very interesting characters caught up in the whole Dietrich mythos.
And those Hurrell photographs of Marlene... no one has ever looked like that again, though they have certainly tried.

I also urge you to listen to her rendition of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" It's over the top!
Last edited by hatches
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