If we talk only about scandals, countless love affairs and sexual preferences of Marlene, this will be partly true, but it is not fair to Marlene as an intelligent, deeply sensual person, a selfless, disciplined worker, a devoted friend and simply a good actress. One can only try to bring together these two halves which will reveal the GREAT MARLEN.
Jean Cocteau himself divided her name like an atom inhabited by positive and negative particles: “Her name begins as a gentle touch and ends with the blow of a whip.” One of her friends, the English playwright and writer Noel Coward, once complained. “She could have become the greatest woman of our century, but - alas! “Intelligence does not adorn women!” Smart and educated, read a lot of old and modern authors, knew Rilke's poems by heart, and adored James Joyce, Marlene shocked the American Puritans with her provocative behavior, from their point of view. She smoked constantly, appeared in society in a man's suit, and changed lovers like gloves...
She was born on December 27, 1901 in a small town near Berlin into a military family who participated in the Franco-Prussian War. However, soon, her father left the family, and her mother remarried. Already in childhood, Marlene showed duality of nature: As a child, Dietrich called herself Paul, hoping that she was more like her father than her mother. Until the age of 18, she bore her stepfather’s surname – Maria Magdalena von Losch.
The name Marlene Dietrich appeared when she decided to enter the stage. She made up her pseudonym from the name of the biblical harlot Mary Magdalene, which is what her parents named the future film star at birth. Already as a child, she was known as an actress in the school theater and attended musical concerts. Until 1918 she visited high school in Berlin. At the same time, she studied violin with Professor Dessau. In 1919-1921 she studied music seriously in Weimar with Professor Robert Reitz. I planned to graduate from the conservatory and become a professional musician.
However, a wrist injury ended her hopes of musical career. She returned to Berlin, where she began studying at the Max Reinhart drama school. In the 20s she began to sing in cabaret, in 1922 she acted in films for the first time (the film " Younger brother Napoleon"). Next year, on May 17, she marries film production manager for casting Rudolf Sieber.
Marlene saw him as a man who could help her career. In December 1924, their daughter Maria was born. Unburdened by maternal responsibilities in 1925, Marlene resumed work in theater and cinema. Marlene, 165 cm tall, plump, with a flat chest and masculine habits, did not shine with beauty. She began wearing men's tuxedos and suits.
However, at the same time she exuded sexuality. Famous film director Georg Wilhelm Pabst rejected Marlene for the role of Lulu in the classic film Pandora's Box precisely because of this. “One sexy look, and the picture will turn into burlesque,” he said. Pabst later wrote that Dietrich was too old and too vulgar.
Well, Marlene played a year later in “The Blue Angel” a triumphant vulgarity, in a collision with which the spirit collapses. No less famous director than Pabst, Joseph von Sternberg, saw her in the revue “Two Ties.” As the master himself would later write: “In that performance I saw Fräulein Dietrich in the flesh... It was the face I was looking for...”. This face promised everything and more... According to critics, Sternberg "shaken the ocean, and from the waters emerged a woman who was destined to enchant the world."
He invites her to play the role of Lola in the film The Blue Angel. They become lovers, and the film itself, released in 1930, was a resounding success.
“I was created by von Sternberg from beginning to end. He shaded my cheeks, slightly enlarged my eyes, and I was captivated by the beauty of the face that looked at me from the screen,” recalled Marlene Dietrich. Marlene Dietrich managed to bring to life the complex image of a woman who had nothing in common with her. Marlene Dietrich herself considered this role, which brought the actress worldwide recognition, a true debut in big cinema. The film was a success all over the world in 1930, but in Germany itself the film was banned by the Nazis. By the way, “The Blue Angel” exists in English and German versions - these are not dubs, but two different films, and the plot and dialogue are slightly different.
Shoot 2 different versions film on different languages was common practice at the time. On April 1, 1930, literally immediately after the premiere, Marlene Dietrich left Berlin, since back in February she had signed a contract with Paramount.
Dietrich and von Sternberg went to Hollywood, where together they shot a series of wonderful films: “Dishonored”, “Shanghai Express”, “The Bloody Empress”. Sternberg carefully cultivated Marlene's masculine appearance.
As he wrote: “I saw her wearing a man’s suit, a tall hat and the like back in Berlin, and that’s exactly how I showed her in the film “Morocco” - Marlene’s first American film. For this role Marlene receives her only nomination for “ Oscar".
And the scene where Marlene, in a tailcoat, top hat and with a cane, sings a French song on behalf of a man and casually kisses a woman sitting at a table. This was already too much for the American puritans. But Code of Ethics Hays, passed in 1930, with draconian methods to ban everything sensual in American cinema, was only gaining momentum. And the scene was not cut. Otherwise, world cinema would have lost one of its best pearls. Tailcoat from the film and steel cylinder business card Marlene.
Items men's restroom she wore with great charm. None of the men could resist. Shtenberg, being married, was very jealous of Marlene’s film partners, for example, Harry Cooper, who starred with Marlene in “Morocco.” In general, Marlene’s personal life has always been ambivalent. Until the death of her husband Rudolf, Marlene needed this game: as if she had a legal spouse. Having been married to the same man since 1923, Marlene remained married to him until his death in 1976.
In reality, she lived with her husband Rudolf Sieber for only five years, but for the rest of almost half a century she was officially listed as his wife. This was an excellent hiding place for the morality commission. The Hays Code was gaining momentum. Marlene never remained faithful to Schnenberg. And he himself, when his wife invited him to marry Marlene, said with a shudder: “I’d rather go into a telephone booth with a cobra.”
After “Morocco” Marlene gained all-American fame. After much persuasion, Marlene convinced her husband to give her only daughter- Maria. However, despite Marlene’s later assurances in her memories, she was a bad mother. The girl is frightened by the frequency and speed of Marlene’s transformations in life. From the caring housewife and exaggeratedly affectionate mother she is when she leaves home in the morning, she returns in the evening, arm in arm with von Sternberg, as a capricious, lips-pursing lover, and at night in Madame Dietrich’s restaurant, in an embarrassingly bold outfit, she flirts with all the men in a row. The next day the newspapers publish it playful photos with Maurice Chevalier, John Barrymore, Douglas Jr., the first Hollywood cowboy John Wayne... She was credited with a love affair with her good friend producer Joseph Kennedy, the father of the future President of the United States.
Marlene commented on this relationship as “family friendship.” This woman always knew how to get away with it. For example, she had an affair with John Gilbert, ex-lover Greta Garbo, whom the latter almost married, but ran away from the aisle at the last minute. Marlene was with the actor in the last two years of his life. Gilbert suffered from seizures (a consequence of drinking) and died of asphyxiation on January 9, 1936, at the age of 36.
Dietrich was with him when this happened, but, realizing that the poor man was dying, she ran away - such a tragic episode could have had a very bad effect on her career. She ordered the servants to destroy all traces of her presence in the bedroom. I called the doctor. She looked with sadness and shudder at the face of deceased John and disappeared from the apartment. At Gilbert's funeral, Marlene fainted.
And once a week Dietrich like exemplary wife calls to Berlin with his daughter legal spouse and the father - to report on what is happening. Their relationship was very strange. Marlene's husband lived with Russian emigrant Tamara Krasina. And Marlene even rented a house for them.
Years later, the daughter would take revenge for her mother's callousness by releasing her memoirs, My Mother Marlene, in which she presented her as a worthless and vain libertine. Many claimed that Maria was driven by envy, because her daughter’s film career did not work out. But, for sure, her memories are not without some truth. It is difficult to imagine a good mother who leads such a lifestyle. Changing men like gloves. Some who knew Marlene personally claimed that after the release of her daughter’s memoirs, Marlene did not want to live.
But for now it’s the 30s of the 20th century. Marlene falls in love with 40-year-old screenwriter Mercedes de Acosta. At first, she did not reciprocate, and Marlene began to literally shower her with flowers.
Every day she sent her dozens of white roses and red carnations. Their connection, which they did not hide, continued throughout almost the entire 30s of the last century. This, however, did not stop Marlene from having new male lovers. So, at some point she was inflamed with passion for to the young actor Kirk Douglas. Many details sex life Dietrich became famous after her diary was discovered in 1992, in which the names of her lovers and the dates of meetings with them were encoded. Marlene, as many of her partners testify, was not particularly energetic in bed. But Marlene dressed in men’s clothes several times a month and visited lesbian and transsexual clubs in Los Angeles.
The famous director Fritz Lang clearly expressed this frequent shifts partners: “When she loved a man, she gave him all of herself, but at the same time she continued to look around. This was the main tragedy of her life. She probably had to constantly prove to herself that one lover can always be replaced by another.”
After the triumph of Morocco, Paramount arranged the premiere of the English version of The Blue Angel, and Sternberg a short time made three films with Marlene: “Dishonored” (1931), “Shanghai Express” (1932), “Blonde Venus” (1932). The last picture was a fiasco, which forced Paramount to search for a new director for Dietrich.
It was Ruben Mamulyan. In his “Song of Songs” (1933), based on the novel by Suderman, Marlene again played the role of a prostitute. Meanwhile, Sternberg returns to the studio. In the film “The Red Empress” (1934), Dietrich creates the image of Catherine the Great. The most impressive episode of the picture is the wedding scene. It lasts five minutes without a single word, only music sounds.
In the early spring of 1934, Marlene visited Berlin, where she left her mother and sister. On the way back, the actress met Ernest Hemingway, who became one of her best friends. Later, she would even act as matchmaker in his marriage to journalist Mary Welsh, known as Mary Hemingway. The writer himself said that Dietrich “was capable of destroying any rival without even looking in her direction. The affair with Ernest Hemingway lasted almost 30 years, and in this affair there was more friendship than love.
They both didn't believe in loving each other. Marlene believed that Ham loved other women, and Hemingway believed that she also preferred others - Gabin and Chaplin. Both admired each other: Ernest Hemingway - Dietrich's beauty, and she - his novels; By the way, in “Islands in the Ocean,” Ham portrayed the heroine-actress, clearly based on Marlene Dietrich. And Marlene also understood that they could not be together as husband and wife. She wrote: “He needs a hostess who would look after him, serve him coffee, and in the morning I have makeup, a pavilion, filming…”.
Meanwhile, Sternberg announced that he would be filming his last film featuring Marlene. According to people who knew the creative couple Sternberg and Dietrich closely, the film “The Devil is a Woman” (1935), based on Louis’s novel “The Woman and the Puppet,” had a pronounced personal character.
The struggle of the proud Conchita with Don Pascal was captured difficult relationships love-hate that existed between the director and actress. Dietrich considered this painting to be hers best job to the cinema. Marlene's first film after her breakup with Sternberg was called Desire (1935). It was directed by Frank Borzage. According to The Times, the result is “a romantic comedy full of kindness, cleverness and charm. And Marlene Dietrich played her role in it best role..." However, these films were such a commercial failure that Dietrich was called a "ticket box with poison."
This forced the actress to leave Paramount in 1936. Having learned about this, the famous producer Selznick offered her a “fabulous fee”, which, according to him, he would never pay to anyone - 200 thousand dollars. And although Dietrich absolutely did not like the script for the film “The Gardens of Allah,” she fulfilled her contract professionally. After which she left for Europe, where another producer Korda was already waiting for her with the largest fee of her entire life - 450 thousand dollars (7-8 million at the current exchange rate).
Dietrich starred in an exciting romantic film based on Hilton’s novel “A Knight Without Armor.” True, she never managed to receive the entire fee. Paramount management makes her an offer she can’t refuse: $250,000 per film plus bonuses. She is starring in “Angel” with Lubitsch.
The film starring the queen of the screen brings in such meager receipts that the “highest paid woman in the world” finds herself out of work. Marlene was Hitler's favorite actress. At the end of 1936, she receives an invitation from the Nazis to return to her homeland.
But Dietrich responded with a categorical refusal, and since then her films have fascist Germany were prohibited. On March 6, 1937, she accepted American citizenship.
In September 1937, Marlene Dietrich met the writer Erich Maria Remarque. Dietrich goes to Paris, where he spends time in the company of a German writer. Marlene persuades him to go to the USA.
Remarque was safe in America, but homesickness and fear for his loved ones who remained in Germany haunted him. to his difficult relationships With Marlene, whom he called Puma, the writer dedicated the novel “Arc de Triomphe”, in which she is depicted in the image of the restless actress Joan Madu.
Surprisingly, in Marlene’s autobiographical book “Take Just My Life...” you will not find a single mention of Remarque, who maintained a very close relationship with Dietrich for several years.
Another story that is incredibly intriguing to many film lovers and film scholars - the story of Jean Gabin - is presented in the same book as if it did not mean very much in the life of the actress. Meanwhile, her most striking romance in the Old World was her relationship with the famous French film actor Jean Gabin.
Here Dietrich seems to have had a problem great love. He called her “my little Prussian,” and she tapped him on the forehead, saying: “Why I love this place is because it’s empty!” She was even going to give birth to a child from him, but when Gabin decided to join the French Resistance forces, she had an abortion.
Marlene had not acted for two years, and many felt that her career was close to sunset. However, the actress returned to Europe, where she starred in the western “Dextry Is Back in the Saddle” (1939), where James Stewart played opposite her, and criticism again excitedly praised Marlene to the skies.
Producer Pasternak made several more films with the participation of Marlene: “Seven Sinners”, “New Orleans Light” (1941), “Gold Diggers” (1942), “Pittsburgh” (1942) ... These films brought good profits to Universal. When World War II began, she felt "as if she were responsible for the war that Hitler started."
Dietrich conducts active anti-fascist propaganda, tours America to sell bonzes - war bonds, visits factories, urging workers to make donations. What was dearest to her was the image of Marlene the soldier.
She made military uniforms at Sachs's fashionable Fifth Avenue and in 1944 traveled to North Africa and Italy as part of an American concert troupe.
She takes pictures with the soldiers, dances with them, wears a military uniform and helmet. She is given army tags and an identification card. On the “dressing room” tent there is a sign with a menacing inscription: “Entry is prohibited! Secret... Dangerous... Marlene Dietrich's dressing room.” The actress became the first woman to receive the Medal of Freedom in the United States; in France she was awarded the Legion of Honor, and in Israel she was awarded the Medal of Courage.
Anyone who listened to Marlene Dietrich's stories about her front-line concerts got the impression that she really spent at least four years in the army, in Europe, and all the time on the front line, under constant fire, in danger of life, or something else worse, with the danger of being captured by the vengeful Nazis. Everyone who listened to her was convinced of this, because she herself convinced herself that everything was exactly like that. In reality, with all the comings and goings, Dietrich was in Europe from April 1944 to July 1945, and between concerts she flew to New York, Hollywood, and then lived either in Paris or at the headquarters of her beloved general in Berlin. This in no way diminishes Dietrich’s commendable civic contribution to the cause of Victory, but only allows us to see everything in its true light. She truly was a fearless, heroic, dedicated woman. But many women, military personnel and pop artists possessed the same qualities, but they were not awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor of all three degrees and medals of Freedom.
Dietrich played the role of a brave soldier much better than them, and her fame and beauty attracted attention to her. In the winter of 1944 in France, Dietrich begged a jeep from a sergeant and rushed in search of Gabin, who served in tank units.
Their meeting was short-lived. Small photographs show Marlene and Jean in military uniform, very tired, but happy.
After his death in 1976, Dietrich told newspapers: “Having buried Gabin, I became a widow for the second time.”
She spoke about the “army past” with respect and often wrote memoirs. As with everything about her life, fact and fiction intertwined, and ultimately her version was accepted as historical truth even by those who were present at the scene and had their own experience. After the war, Dietrich starred in several films.
The most striking of them are “Foreign Novel”, “Nuremberg Trials”, “Stage Fright”.
As a girl, Maria von Losch wrote in her diary, which she kept throughout her life: “Happiness always comes to the diligent.” Becoming Great Marlene she always remained true to her words. She could go through dozens of veils so that the light would fall perfectly on her face.
Hitchcock, in whom she starred in the film “Stage Fright,” believed that “she is a professional actress, a professional cameraman and a professional fashion designer.” Everyone who worked with her was delighted with her energy, efficiency and ability to delve into details.
She knew everything about lenses, spotlights, and was her own person in the editing room. But the offers to act in films became fewer and fewer, and Marlene was not used to being idle. And she preferred the film stage, “because the stage gave freedom of expression.” She had a seductive and exciting voice.
No wonder Hemingway said: “If she had nothing else but her voice, she could still break your hearts with that alone. But she also has this beautiful body and such endless charm of the face..."
It all started with participation in a show in which she played the role of master of ceremonies, having come up with a stunning outfit for this: short black shorts, a red tailcoat, top hat, high boots and a whip.
It must be said that Marlene was 50 when she put on this costume. Then came the famous "naked" dresses from Jean Louis, which gave the impression that sequins were sewn directly onto the skin! ... And endlessly long coats made of swan's down, in which she casually wrapped herself. Marlene's variety activities reborn her like a Phoenix bird.
The song “Lili Marlene” becomes her calling card. Her performances always attracted full houses. She is still desirable. Her post-war lovers included the brutal Yul Brynner, whom she called Curly, and he called her Gang.
English actor and intellectual Michael Wilding. When he married young Elizabeth Taylor, Dietrich exclaimed in her hearts: “What does she have that I don’t have?” .
Sweet-voiced Frank Sinatra, whom she considered the perfect man. According to Marlene herself, she had affairs with John Kennedy, the presidents of the United States, and with the French actor Gerard Philippe. But we should not forget that Marlene herself created her own story in several autobiographies, smoothing over the obvious unpleasant moments in her life. It can be assumed that, sometimes, she presented what she wanted as reality.
And yet, even when she was over 50, she looked great. Her famous legs were insured by Lloyd's for a million marks, and stocking companies competed for the right to use them for advertising.
She only wore shoes self made and never wore sandals: open toes are for plebeians. The same goes for bright nail polish.
According to Marlene, it was vulgar. In general, she was pedantic to the point of absurdity: she always washed her stockings herself, even if she returned in the morning, her shoes were aired daily, and her dresses were hung up.
She needed a dozen towels to wash her hair, and in luxury hotels she personally wiped down the bathtub and furniture with alcohol.
In 1960, she came on tour to Germany, where she was denied hospitality due to her position during the Second World War.
In 1964, Marlene, who always believed that she had a “Russian soul,” came on tour to Moscow and Leningrad.The photographs captured her watching the artist’s work on one of the capital’s boulevards, and watching with interest men playing dominoes on a bench...
Soviet viewers wrote letters to her. "Dear and dear comrade Marlene!" - this is how one of them begins. At one of the concerts, in a crowded Variety Theater, a man came on stage, in front of whom Marlene knelt down and placed his hand on her forehead. It was Konstantin Paustovsky.
Having once read his story "Telegram", she could no longer forget the name of the author. She generally appreciated other people's talent.
Hence her friendship with Edith Piaf - a tiny sparrow with a powerful voice. Marlene Dietrich was even a witness at the wedding of Piaf and her stage partner Jacques Pills.
On September 29, 1975, during a concert in Sydney, Marlene Dietrich caught a cable in the dark, fell and broke her leg for the second time (before that, a metal rod had already been inserted into her thigh).
The unconscious actress was taken to the clinic. The producer came out to the public and, apologizing, announced the cancellation of the concert.
Thus ended a brilliant career famous actress and singers. This accident chained the actress to wheelchair, which did not stop her from starring in her last film, “Beautiful Gigolo - Unhappy Gigolo,” in 1978.
The unsurpassed Marlene Dietrich, looking at whom men went crazy and were ready to throw everything at her feet, whose inimitable style women tried unsuccessfully to copy, spent the last 13 years of her life in voluntary confinement in a Parisian apartment at 12 Avenue Montaigne. true friend and the only connection with outside world There was a telephone and a telephone book swollen to incredible sizes. In one of her last notes, Dietrich wrote in large letters lines from Theodor Kerner’s poem “Farewell to Life”:
Hier stehe ich/An den Marken/Meiner Tage (“Here I stand at the threshold of my days”) - they were engraved on her modest tombstone.
From the first person:
Tenderness is a better proof of love than the most passionate vows.
For a woman, beauty is more important than intelligence, because it is easier for a man to look than to think. If a woman has already forgiven a man, she should not remind him of his sins at breakfast.
Ugly girls easier to drive modest life.
A country without a brothel is like a house without a bathroom.
Almost every woman would like to be faithful, the only difficulty is to find a man to whom she could remain faithful.
The inevitable must be accepted with dignity. The tears you shed for the inevitable must remain your secret.
No one will tell gossip if there is no one to listen.
Friendship unites people much more powerfully than love.
I started smoking during the war. This is what kept me healthy.
Keep your mouth shut if you can't offer something in return for something you don't like.
In love, pride is more dangerous for women than for men. If you need to save the situation, a man forgets about his pride easier and faster.
For real good wife no need for dramatization Everyday life.
Only a woman can see another woman with microscopic precision.
Only the ugly duckling is happy. He has time to think alone about the meaning of life, friendship, read a book, and help other people. So he becomes a swan. Just need patience!
It's so easy to be kind. You just need to imagine yourself in the place of another person before you start judging him.
A significant part of my life was spent with the Russians. First I learned to cook their dishes, and then I tried vodka, one of the healthiest alcoholic drinks.
Self-compassion is a forbidden thing, and you should not burden others with your worries. Old people are aware of the ossification of their body, but not their spirit.
Having a good upbringing also has its downsides, especially when it comes to a career in the theater world.
Every man is more interested in a woman who is interested in him than in a woman who has Beautiful legs.
Everyone who has been seduced wants to seduce himself.
My legs are not that beautiful, I just know what to do with them.
People look at me like I'm watching a tennis match, only they move their eyes not from left to right, but from top to bottom.
A friend is someone you can call at 4 am.
If a woman, when dressing, wants to please her husband, she chooses last year's dress.
I can be with different men, but I will always love only one.
Maria Magdalena von Losch was born on December 27, 1901. Her father was a Prussian officer (according to another version, a police officer), and her mother came from a wealthy merchant family.
The girl von Losch received a wonderful musical education and was preparing to become a virtuoso cellist. However, a disease in her left hand ruined her plans.
To understand the further life path of the heroine of our story, you need to keep the following in mind. Maria Magdalena von Losch belonged to the first of the “lost” generations of the 20th century, which Erich Maria Remarque so vividly described. For Germany, the end of the First World War was accompanied not only by national humiliation, reparations and a deep economic crisis, but also by the collapse of social foundations. Having no illusions about their future, the young Germans either lived their lives, or walked towards their intended goal with their elbows wide apart, or managed to do both. This situation influenced the fate, character, career and stage appearance of our heroine. She belonged to those who persistently achieved a position in society, without forgetting to enjoy the delights of life...
At the age of 19, Maria Magdalena takes the pseudonym Marlene Dietrich (its first part is glued together from the names MARY and MAGDALENA) and makes a living by acting in advertising for women's underwear. In addition, she performs in the revue “Tilscher’s Girl” and appears in films, which, however, do not bring her either fame or wealth. The first 18 films with the participation of Marlene Dietrich (most of them were hastily shot in provincial studios) failed successfully.
Our heroine's career took off sharply after meeting film director Joseph von Sternberg. In 1930, Marlene Dietrich starred in his film “The Blue Angel,” which brought international fame to the actress and director. After this, the creative tandem moved from Germany to Hollywood, where they shot several cult films, with the film “Morocco” occupying a special place among them. This was the first film in which Marlene Dietrich, the leading actress, starred in a man's suit and, how can I put it, flirted in this form with traditionally dressed women. This was the first film whose authors touched upon the sensitive topic of “unconventional love.” In it, for the first time, it was publicly stated that in the depths of the so-called lower classes, SOMETHING was ripening that could turn the whole world upside down.
After “Morocco,” Marlene Dietrich came under the constant scrutiny of the yellow press for the rest of her life. The public was interested not so much in the talent and appearance of the movie star (all this could be seen on the screen), but in her love affairs. Rumor ascribes to Marlene Dietrich close relationships with many prominent men and women. Among her “lovers” are Erich Maria Remarque, Jean Gabin, Ernest Hemingway, Ingmar Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Cooper, Maurice Chevalier. Among the “mistresses” are Gabrielle Sidonie Colette (a famous French writer of the early 20th century, a mime actress who turned striptease into art), Edith Piaf, the famous Hollywood screenwriter Mercedes di Acosta and Claire Waldoff, Marlene’s partner in Hollywood films. Without touching on the relationship between Dietrich and Waldoff, we note that it was Claire who helped the German woman find a second stage profession by teaching the inimitable Marlene to sing.
Little German woman in big politics
After the Nazis came to power, Marlene Dietrich’s life took another sharp turn. The leadership of the Third Reich did everything possible to return the “great little German” to her homeland. But Marlene did not give in: she hated Nazism with all her soul. She hated her so much that she forever broke up with her sister, her husband and nephew, SUSPECTING them of being Nazi sympathizers.
Hitler's ruling elite forgave Marlene Dietrich everything: not returning to her homeland, breaking up with her family who remained in Germany, refusing Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels's offer to become the “Queen of German Cinema” (1937), accepting American citizenship (1939). She was even forgiven for her anti-fascist activities: Marlene Dietrich not only spoke to the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition during the war, but also stood at the origins of anti-fascist radio broadcasting to Germany. For her active participation in the fight against Nazism, Marlene was awarded the title of Knight of the French Legion of Honor and awarded the American Freedom Medal. And yet…
And yet, during the war, the voice of Marlene Dietrich was heard on both sides of the front line. Songs from her repertoire, and first of all “Lili Marlen,” were sung by soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition (the British and Americans sang Lili Marlen in the original until 1944, on German). Marlene Dietrich's songs were broadcast by radio stations in Great Britain, Germany, the USSR and the USA.
What actually lies behind the loyalty unprecedented for the Nazis? There are two versions. “Yellow” claims that Hitler was madly in love with Marlene Dietrich and therefore forgave her everything. The “soldier’s” version looks more paradoxical, but more plausible. Working on anti-fascist radio, Marlene did not allow herself sarcasm towards German soldiers and officers. It got to the point that Marlene Dietrich refused to record a parody anti-Hitler version of “Lili Marlene” in the BBC studio. Her place was taken by another German film star, Lucy Mannheim (1943). Those who fought under fascist banners appreciated this fact. The top of the Third Reich did not dare to take away their favorite song from their soldiers. And the disgraced but beloved singer - Marlene Dietrich.
Marlene and fashion
Possibility to wear freely pantsuits modern women obliged to Marlene Dietrich! It was she who, after filming the scandalous “Morocco,” began to appear in such a “provocative” form. But after Irene and Jean Louis (USA), Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Dior (France) began creating toilets for Marlene Dietrich, passions subsided, and trouser suits became the norm even in aristocratic salons.
Marlene Dietrich rendered big influence and on stage fashion. She was the first to appear in public wearing shorts, high boots and a white top hat. She also came up with a “undressing” dress, in which carefully selected inserts, sparkles and rhinestones created the effect of a naked body in the starry sky (later this technique was often used by Marilyn Monroe - remember Darling in the film “Some Like It Hot.” Finally, Marlene Dietrich was the first to bring out onto the screen the image of a hypersexual feminist with manners that delighted men and women.
A facelift is also the invention of our heroine. Even before such operations began to be performed plastic surgeons, Marlene Dietrich “tightened” her face on her own, using a medical adhesive plaster. Her ability to look gorgeous in makeup has become a legend in artistic circles.
Marlene Dietrich visited Russia and fell in love with our country. In her most beautiful dress with swan's down, Marlene Dietrich sang in Moscow and Leningrad. The actress refused the services of a translator because she believed that the music of her voice and heart would reach the Russian people in any language. From the stage she addressed her Russian audience in English with the confession: “I have loved you for a long time. I fell in love with your writers, composers and your soul... I think that I myself have a Russian soul.”
Long before this performance, Alexander Vertinsky wrote the song “Marlene” about his Parisian friend, Dietrich. Of course, Alexander Nikolaevich was in love with the “Blue Angel”, and his song is permeated with this feeling.
Marlene Dietrich conquered many men's hearts, including the most rebellious - Ernest Hemingway, Erich Remarque, Jean Gabin.
Photo: "Evening Moscow"
We remember famous men whose names were somehow connected with Marlene Dietrich
Ernest Hemingway
Marlene Dietrich and Ernest Hemingway first saw each other on board the liner, in a restaurant. She was wearing a white tight dress. The writer is wearing a tuxedo, albeit from a friend’s master’s shoulder.
Ernest owns best phrase about Dietrich's charms: "If she only had one voice, she would still break your heart."
Dietrich's voice was different from all voices - a harmonious combination of tenderness and strength, feminine warmth and masculine endurance. Between Dietrich and Hemingway, to a greater extent, there was an epistolary romance. They wrote each other many wonderful letters. Marlene dreamed of playing Katherine Barkley from Ham's novel A Farewell to Arms!, but, alas.
The traits of Marlene Dietrich can easily be seen in two of Hemingway’s heroines – in the novel “Islands in the Ocean” and in “The Garden of Eden.”
By the way, Hemingway taught Dietrich boxing, and his lessons were very useful to the actress in a much less epistolary novel - with fellow actor Jean Gabin.
Photo: Ôîòî ÈÒÀÐ-ÒÀÑÑ
Great Marlene
Erich Maria Remarque
Remarque and Dietrich knew each other from Berlin in the 20s. The first meeting, which marked the beginning of an extraordinary romance, took place on a sea pier in the summer of 1937. Dietrich walked along the beach in men's pajamas, with a volume of Rilke's poems. After holiday romance Dietrich and Remarque went to Paris and then to Hollywood. “Dream Factory” was going to film Remarque’s novel “Three Comrades”. However, Remarque did not care about this film - he began writing the novel “Arc de Triomphe”. Actress Joan Madu is Marlene Dietrich. At least Joan has Marlene's appearance: “He saw a pale face, high cheekbones and wide-set eyes. The face was frozen and resembled a mask - a face whose openness was in itself a secret. It hid nothing and revealed nothing. It promised nothing and promised everything.”
Remarque was able to put the last point in the novel only after he parted with Marlene forever. It took years. From love for Dietrich, the writer fell into a deep depression. He was cured by a Hollywood movie star, ex-wife Charlie Chaplin - beauty with violet eyes - Paulette Goddard. Pollet became Remarque's second wife. And the novel "Arc de Triomphe" ends with death main character. Joan Madu is killed by a jealous French actor.
Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin followed Dietrich to America. From Paris he took with him paintings by his favorite artists, including Renoir. The French artist tormented Marlene with insane jealousy. They say that he even beat the actress. In 1943, Gaben volunteered for the war, although he was no longer a boy - 39 years old. In 1944, Marlene Dietrich also went to the front with her songs.
In 1945, Gaben and Dietrich met again, this time in Paris, and began to live under the same roof. But after a while, Gabin again began to beat Dietrich in fits of jealousy, and she was already hitting him back (old man Hemingway’s boxing lessons came in handy). Dietrich loved Gaben and forgave him everything, but she refused to marry him. And Jean married someone else - Dominique Fournier.
Photo: Rbfm-leclerc.com
Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich
Yul Briner
Marlene Dietrich stole actor Yul Briner from Hollywood star Judy Garland (Liza Minnelli's mother). Briner said of Marlene: “She was the most determined, the most passionate and the most domineering lover, and she could care less about what other people said.” Evil tongues gossiped that Marlene Dietrich, who was older than Briner, hung her apartment with mirrors to admire the beauty young lover. True, there, on the table, was a portrait of Hemingway with an autograph: “With love. Dad". Yul Briner in Marlene's life took the place of another lover, whom she changed like gloves.
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell was the husband of Russian actress Natalia Andreichenko. And he was connected with Marlene Dietrich collaboration in the film “The Nuremberg Trials”, and the biggest sensation in life. The movie star agreed to answer Shell’s questions, although she had not communicated with anyone for a long time (she was confined to a wheelchair). The conversation turned out to be very difficult, but incredibly important.
Just some of Marlene Dietrich's answers:
We expats never feel at home. But America is my home.
I was born in Germany, we had no bad taste, and no sentimentality.
They know me as a person. 55 books have been written about me. Yes, everyone knows Marlene Dietrich as a person.
You need to be afraid of life, not death.
No one can convince me that everyone is fluttering up there. If you saw the war, you wouldn’t believe in an afterlife either.
You are too smart for me. I'd like to know what you're up to?
What will we see in the “box”? After all, we must make sure that viewers do not turn off the TV and go to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
I've already been photographed to death. And I've had enough of this.
No one has ever abandoned me. You are the first!
The name of Marlene Dietrich, the cult actress and shocking beauty of the last century, is associated with many amazing star novels. A woman who conquered the world with her sexy voice, which was either mesmerizing like the sounds of a gentle harp, or sounded with the hoarse aspiration of an angry lioness, or was sharp, like the blow of a whip. She was bisexual and always loved, as in last time, - with every cell of my being. But one feeling lived in her all her life. Love for Jean Gabin.
Start
In May 1923, the famous German director Sieber married the young actress Marlene Dietrich. Then her name was Maria Magdalena. She showed great promise, standing out among her young colleagues with her extraordinary appearance and magical timbre of her voice. Rudolph immediately realized that in front of him was a future star.
Soon Marlene gave birth to a daughter, and a few months later she began acting in films. The marriage with Sieber turned from a fleeting romance into a friendly creative union. By that time, Sieber fell in love with the dancer, and Marlene also had a countless number of mistresses and lovers. The couple did not hide their relationship on the side from each other, but they were in no hurry to get a divorce and lived under the same roof.
In 1930, Dietrich played a cabaret singer in the film The Blue Angel. This film brought her enormous popularity, and she was offered to sign a contract with the Paramount film studio.
Marlene goes to the States with her family. There she starred in a number of films, which brought her not only world fame, but also large fees. Dietrich herself makes adjustments to the direction and comes up with costumes for the characters. She does not play fatal women - she herself is like that in her essence...
Half an hour before love
With Hitler coming to power in Germany, a lot of things in life changed for Marlene. The Fuhrer demanded that the actress become the face of the Third Reich. But Marlene hated fascism and, having accepted American citizenship, avoided her fatal fate.
Behind short term Dietrich had dozens of admirers, including Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra. Ernest Hemingway adored this woman, trusting her to be the first to read his manuscripts. He explained this by the fact that his girlfriend, like no one else, could appreciate scenes of love, having unsurpassed experience in this area. And he even wanted to marry Marlene.
Marlene's character changed completely when the French actor Jean Gabin appeared in her life. She was three years older than him and offered her help in promoting him in Hollywood. And I fell in love without any preamble. The actress bought a small house not far from the Dream Factory and turned her cozy nest into a piece of France to please her beloved. Now she became a model wife, and she liked this role. She mastered the village kitchen and cooked Jean his favorite dishes every day. Marlene learned French perfectly and even tried to imitate Gabin's dialect, speaking to him in his native language. She later admitted that she loved him like an adult child.
The idyll did not last long: the lovers often violated the oath of fidelity, which, however, did not interfere with their feelings for each other, which seethed with passions and jealousies, like the mouth of a volcano.
Among the actress's lovers at that time were Gerard Philippe, and with former friends she spent tender moments from time to time. Jean Gabin's patience came to an end when Marlene told him about her pregnancy. He was not sure of his paternity. The actor joined the French army and went to Morocco as part of the tank forces.
War
Marlene couldn’t imagine her life without Jean. Having had an abortion, she went to Algeria in order to find Gabin. Having sold all her property, the actress and the troupe went to support the American soldiers by dancing and singing. She endured so many hardships and hardships until she found her fugitive. She suffered from pneumonia, from which she almost died; froze her hands while giving concerts before the Battle of the Bulge. I spent the night in sleeping bags and did not always eat well, because I sent all the money I made to my family. It happened that she came under bombardment, but she survived and still found Zhana.
They were still together for some time, and she absorbed the last drops of her happiness. Gabin, this brutal man, forever chained her heart to himself. But his cooling was already felt.
When Gabin's tank division moved on, Marlene and her colleagues returned to America. Their troupe was disbanded, and at the New York airport she was met only by her husband Rudolf, from whom she never divorced. The actress had neither work nor money, and she went to Paris, where Dietrich’s luck smiled again - she was offered a new role.
Parting
After the war, Gaben was not in demand. He increasingly disappeared into taverns, took a mistress in the person of a young French woman, and soon wrote a farewell letter to Marlene, where he admitted that she was only love in his life. Dietrich did not believe that everything ended so easily. She looked for meetings with her beloved, tried to find him in crowded places and even rented an apartment next to his house. She waited for hours at the window just to catch a fleeting glimpse of her native image. But when we met, I heard a rude: “What the hell are you doing here?”
And later she desperately fought for her happiness. She bombarded Gaben with letters, but received no answers. The woman realized that she was chasing the shadow of her past, which could never be returned.
For the rest of her life, Marlene Dietrich lived alone in Paris. Her daughter Maria remained in the States, where she successfully married and gave birth to four children. She rarely communicated with her mother and learned that Marlene was bedridden from the landlord, who was trying to evict former star screen from the apartment for non-payment.
Dietrich was no longer afraid to leave for another world. She always said that you should be afraid of life, not death. Died great actress at the age of 91. Ironically, the Cannes Film Festival opened in France on this day. The coffin with Marlene's body was covered with a French flag and the funeral service was performed in the church. Then they were sent to Germany under the American flag. In Berlin, already under the German flag, she was buried in the family crypt.
Thus ended the path of the “blue angel”, the path of earthly love for the most intriguing woman in world cinema.
Marlene Dietrich and another man lived in her life - Ernest Hemingway. But that was a completely different story - .
Celebrity biographies
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27.12.14 11:34
One of the most legendary actresses of the 20th century, a “blue angel” with a unique timbre of voice and sharp facial features, was nominated for an Oscar only once, but did not receive an award. For almost a decade and a half she was bedridden. But God still did not take her, measuring out a very long life span - 90 years.
Biography of Marlene Dietrich
"Grey Mouse" who loves the violin
She shortened her two names – Maria Magdalena, which sounded very biblical, and got a short pseudonym: “Marlene Dietrich”. The future star was born in the suburbs of Berlin (later Schöneberg became part of the German capital) on December 27, 1901. Experts argue about the correctness of this date: some believe that Marlene was born in 1904, she herself spoke about 1900.
Marie was the second child in the family of policeman Louis Erich Otto and Wilhelmina Josephine, whose parents were dissatisfied with the misalliance (they were rich: they produced and sold watches). The marriage failed: when Elizabeth and Marie were still small, their parents separated, and in 1906 their father died. The mother was a real family despot, keeping her daughters strict. Having been widowed, she became a housekeeper for the rich in order to feed her children.
At school, Marlene did not stand out in any way, she was quiet and modest - apparently, Wilhelmina’s “steady hand” had an effect. As a child, the future star loved music, began to learn to play the lute and violin, and her idols were the French teacher Bregan and film actress Henny Porten.
When the First World War broke out, the family moved to Dessau and only returned home in 1917. After finishing school, her mother sent Marlene to Weimar, where the girl continued to take violin lessons.
Failed orchestral player
Dietrich's first job was an orchestra that accompanied shows in one of the Berlin cinemas. She really liked it there: after all, you could watch films for free. True, the happiness was short-lived: the orchestra felt that the beautiful girl was disturbing the other musicians.
She began to study vocals, got a job in a cabaret, where she successfully participated in the performance. Her voice was not strong, but it was captivating.
In 1922, on her second attempt, Marlene managed to enter the Reinhardt acting school, and then she began acting on stage.
A year later, on the set of the film “The Tragedy of Love,” Dietrich met film administrator Rudolf Sieber and became his wife. At the end of 1924, there was an addition to the family - daughter Maria. Returning to the theater, having released her first records, Marlene had no idea that her life would soon change very dramatically.
Together with Shtenberg
In 1929, the actress was noticed by director von Sternberg in one of the revues. It was Joseph who made her a star by inviting her to main role in the musical drama "The Blue Angel". Dietrich played Lola Lola, a cabaret singer in a top hat and revealing outfit, an alluring beauty with a husky voice and feline grace. This image became her “second self”. Lola managed to enslave the hero of the film, Professor Rath, who fell in love with the singer as a boy, and Marlene managed to win the hearts of millions.
Together with Sternberg, the actress went to Hollywood and worked with her “Pygmalion” until 1935. They shot 6 more films, among them the drama “The Loose Empress,” in which Marlene played Catherine the Second. The latest work of this tandem was the film “The Devil is a Woman.” As the title implies, Marlene again appears in the guise of a fatal temptress. And no one can resist the charm and sex appeal of her heroine, whose innocence is so deceptive!
True patriot
The German government wanted to get its star back: Goebbels himself made the actress a lucrative offer, but she refused, and in the summer of 1939 she became an American citizen. Moreover, during the Second World War she showed herself to be a true patriot of her new homeland and gave concerts for the Allied troops - from March 1943 until the Victory.
The post-war period of the star’s life was more than eventful: filming (she was very careful in choosing roles), her own radio broadcasts, collaboration with popular magazines, performances as a singer and entertainer.
The tour to Germany failed due to the fact that Dietrich was not on the German side during the war. But 3 years later, in 1963, her concerts in the USSR (in Moscow and cultural capital, Leningrad) were sold out.
Personal life of Marlene Dietrich
Beautiful novels and lonely old age
Marlene did not divorce her husband, but her life with Rudolph lasted only five years, after which the couple separated. They say that the ardent relationship with Sternberg is to blame. The star had many novels. She inspired the brilliant Remarque to write “The Arc de Triomphe” and became the prototype for the main character of the book. Dietrich broke the writer’s heart; he could not recover for a long time after the breakup.
The actress corresponded with another prose writer, Ernest Hemingway, for many years.
Among her “victories” is the legendary French actor Jean Gabin.
The performer’s latest film work is the drama “Beautiful Gigolo - Poor Gigolo.” And a year later, in 1979, a misfortune occurred - a fracture of the femoral neck confined Dietrich to the bed. She did not appear in public again, and did not want to go to the hospital.
She spent 13 long years in her Paris apartment (until her death in May 1992), communicating with the world only by telephone and allowing selected guests. Among them was Maximilian Schell, who made the film “Marlene” about the star (he was nominated for an Oscar). She talked a lot with the director, but did not allow herself to be filmed: Marlene wanted to be remembered as a seductive “blue angel”, and not as an old woman broken down by illness, alcohol and painkillers.
The luxurious blonde knew how to turn heads and drive people crazy: the list of her fans is almost longer list roles she played in films. But who did the film star herself love? On the birthday of Marlene, who was born on December 27, 1901, we remember those men who made her heart beat faster. And there were not so many of them! “The feeling of possessiveness is a magnificent, ruthless, deceitful feeling! It is so bright and shining, almost like love! It is destructive, and this is the most villainous and dangerous of all the sparkling hooks that a man can fall for in the sea of love,” Marlene Dietrich believed and never betrayed... her convictions
Rudolf Sieber: love at second sight
Marlene Dietrich with her husband Rudolf Sieber
Marlene Dietrich with her husband Rudolf Sieber and daughter Maria Elisabeth
Marlene Dietrich with her husband Rudolf Sieber and daughter Maria Elisabeth
Young Maria Magdalena (approx. Woman.ru: Marlene Dietrich herself came up with a stage name by combining the syllables of her first and second name) “fell madly in love” with a tall, blond handsome man right on the set (Sieber was an assistant director) as soon as he noticed her attention. However, she... was not allowed to immediately jump out to marry Rudi (note Woman.ru: Rudi is a diminutive version of the name Rudolf) (note that the times when Dietrich behaved the way her mother wanted passed very quickly)! At the insistence of Josephine's mother, he was appointed probation, which, however, Rudy successfully completed. A year later, on May 17, 1923, the couple got married, on December 13, 1924, baby Maria Elizabeth was born, the first and only child future star.
“He was sweet, he was gentle, and he made me feel like I could trust him. And this feeling will remain unchanged all our years life together. Our trust was mutual and complete,” Marlene describes her first and only husband, with whom she lived together for only five years, but never divorced. It was, as they would say now, an open marriage. Soon after the birth of his daughter, Dietrich stops sexual relations with husband. Rudy has a mistress, Tami (note by Woman.ru: young ballerina of Russian origin Tamara Matul).
This couple’s relationship was far from average! Marlene (as evidenced by documents published by her daughter) invited her husband... to read the letters she received from her lovers, and also sent him copies of the messages she wrote to them. Moreover, any, let’s not be afraid of this word, lover who dared to be jealous of Rudy because of his access to the stellar body, Marlene immediately rebuked: “What does this have to do with you? It is my husband!".
Marlene Dietrich and Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque: “Too much in the past, but no future”
“It was a strike of lightning and a flash of lightning,” - this is how Erich Maria will once comment on his impressions of meeting Marlene in 1937. Take a look at her portraits - would you imagine that this “Blue Angel” reads Kant and adores Rilke’s poetry? So Remarque couldn’t. She amazed him to the core by reciting by heart the poems of her favorite poet - any poem, from any line!
The “sensual thunderstorm” was damn protracted - lightning blazed for three whole years, despite the fact that Dietrich did everything to stop it. Can you name the whirlpool of feelings into which the 35-year-old actress, who was experiencing creative crisis and a series of unsuccessful roles, and a 39-year-old writer who, after the phenomenal success of his creation “All Quiet on the Western Front,” could not put pen to paper again, love? Rather yes than no.
His “heart, cherished dream, light over all the forests”, “little monkey”, “angel of the Annunciation”, “Madonna of his blood”, “northern light”, “flame over the snow” and even “little melancholy blond - partner in the zoo” drove Remarque crazy with her reluctance to divorce her husband in order to marry him, and with her views on the relationship between a man and a woman. He wrote her three hundred letters (not a word about politics, the regime, problems), and she wrote him twenty. However, the point is not at all in the number of letters. It was with Dietrich’s encouragement that Remarque was able to get an American visa and leave.
It wasn't boring! Here Marlene exchanges one lover for another - Remarque is beside himself with rage and drives his “Puma” away (at least, he writes about this desire in his diary). Here they are together again - and in the same diary appears new entry“There is no more misfortune, because you are with me.” Despite all these circumstances, or, more precisely, thanks to them, Remarque began to write again. Re-read “Arc de Triomphe”, substituting Erich Maria for the name “Ravik”, and Marlene for “Joan Madu”.
Marlene Dietrich and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway: “It doesn’t matter how she breaks your heart, as long as she’s there to fix it.”
Marlene and Ernest met in 1934, on the French Island ship (even before Dietrich met Remarque). The writer was returning from a safari in East Africa via Paris to Key West, and the actress was returning from Nazi Germany to Hollywood. Dietrich “fell in love with Hemingway at first sight,” with a “pure, boundless” love, but the feelings that flared up did not prevent both of them from arranging their personal lives with others. According to Marlene herself, they were connected by... complete hopelessness. The novel (mostly epistolary) dragged on for a long time - until the death of the writer, perhaps precisely because Dietrich and Hemingway never became lovers. Ernest would aptly call what was happening between them "unsynchronized passion" - when he was free, she was in love with another (or others) and vice versa.
Their letters were filled with such feelings that one was surprised that the paper did not start smoking. “You are so beautiful that your passport photos should have been three meters high,” “I kiss you passionately!”, “I’m falling in love with you, it’s terrible!” - Hemingway ends his messages. “It is impossible to love you more than I love you,” “I will love you forever and even longer!” - Dietrich assures him.
Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin
It can be considered very significant that Remarque was jealous of Dietrich’s colleague Hemingway more than Gabin (and it seems to us that it was not in vain, if only because Marlene was the person who read Hemingway’s manuscripts first).
What about Ernest? It was he who showed Marlene a couple of boxing techniques, including a “sudden blow to the jaw”, so that she could defend herself at the moment when Gabin began to open his arms (alas, no matter how wild it may sound, the temperamental actor loved to make a scandal in the heat of the moment). quarrel could hit a woman). Well, Marlene did not fail to put into practice the lessons learned from her “Rock of Gibraltar,” but that’s another story...
Jean Gabin: “You were, are and will be my only one true love. Unfortunately, I feel like I've lost you."
The love story of two movie stars began in 1941 in Hollywood. They say that Marlene herself took the first step and invited Jean to a table in a cafe, where she met Ernest Hemingway. “I was his mother, his sister, his girlfriend and more. I loved him very much!” - Marlene admits one day. So much so that she herself stood at the stove in a stylish apron from Hermes, preparing Jean’s favorite soups and stews, speaking to her beloved exclusively in French (fortunately, thanks to her bonne, she knew the language perfectly).
Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin
By the way, he, like Remarque, repeatedly suggested that the actress divorce her husband and marry him. But Marlene never said yes to him. However, when Gabin went to war, joining de Gaulle’s troops, Dietrich went to Algeria, where Jean served, to see her beloved. After the end of World War II, Gabin rented an apartment in Paris, Marlene came to him. And everything would be fine if it weren’t for one “but” - the film “Martin Roumagnac”, in which the actors played together, was crushed to smithereens by film critics. Ambitious (and providing for the whole family, including her husband and his mistress) Marlene immediately thought about returning to America, but Jean was against it. We don't know which one did big mistake- Gabin, who decided to dot the i’s and put forward an ultimatum: “If you leave Paris now, then everything is over between us,” or Dietrich, who nevertheless packed her things and went to film in the States. Then she waited all her life for him to come to his senses and return, but, alas, this never happened. Gabin in Once again got married, and once during a chance meeting he pretended that he didn’t recognize his ex-lover. In 1976, Gabin died, “taking with him half of Marlene’s soul.” Dietrich, who did not want the public to remember her as an old woman, last years life became a recluse. She refused the company of living people, preferring to spend time in the company of a portrait of her “ ideal man", which is said to have hung on the wall in her room.
Marlene Dietrich and Jean Gabin
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