How Marlene Dietrich dreamed of getting rid of the Fuhrer and seducing the former king

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She had a naturally dramatic face with razor-sharp cheekbones and a shrewd, sometimes embarrassing look. Marlene Dietrich was also not traditionally a good singer, but despite all this, she was one of the brightest stars of her time. She has shone on stage and screens for over five decades, playing bold, strong and independent characters. Seductive, daring and provocative, Marlene was a true Hollywood rebel, and the script of her life was cooler than any imagined image and plot.

1. Kiss with a woman

In Morocco, she plays Amy Jolly, a cocky nightclub singer who looks equally stunning in an evening dress or a man's tuxedo. At some point, Marlene, in her androgynous splendor, dressed in a tuxedo, leaves a kiss on the lips of a woman from the audience.

This scene is more than just a kiss. Real flirting and flirting, as an attempt to attract close attention to yourself. On top of that, Morocco is one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to feature two women kissing on screen. And it is not at all surprising that this film was nominated for four Oscars.

2. Mistresses

As it turned out, Marlene preferred not only men, but also felt attracted to women. Although same-sex relationships and hobbies ran counter to 20th-century American social traditions, this in no way stopped the Hollywood star. She enjoyed life without denying herself anything.

During her first trip to the United States in 1930, the fatal seducer tried to seduce another woman - a passenger on a ship. When she objected, Marlene said that in Europe it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, because a person by nature makes love to everyone he finds attractive.

She did not change her habit even at the moment when she moved to a new house in America. On the contrary, she began to "frame" the girls right and left, and soon she had a group of constant mistresses, whom Marlene jokingly called her "sewing circle".

3. Breaking the rules

Apparently, she possessed an almost insatiable libido and, even in her most mundane roles, introduced an outright eroticism that was contrary to the ethical code of Hollywood of the twentieth century. After the Film Code was passed in 1930, actors held puritanically high moral standards, and any adultery could be considered a breach of contract.

However, Marlene scoffed at all of this, using her trump cards to push the boundaries and boundaries set by studio management. The star's style was both provocative and progressive, so much so that her images caused a flurry of emotions and discussions from the outraged and admired audience, as well as critics.

4. She dreamed of killing the Fuhrer

Born in Berlin, Germany, she began her career on the German stage and in German cinema in the 1920s. Even after moving to America and the resounding success of Blue Angel, Marlene continued to maintain close ties with her home country.

As a result, she became aware of the growing influence of Adolf Hitler early in the rise of the dictator, long before the world community became concerned.

At first, she refused to work with the Ufa studios, since the company was run by the German government, which meant that her work could potentially be used as propaganda. However, her mood changed slightly when she saw the opportunity to kill the Fuehrer.

Marlene detailed her plan to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as she needed his help to get it done. According to Douglas, Marlene wanted to sign a contract for another German film, which would allow her to become much closer to the Fuehrer. And as soon as this couple established a connection, the unsurpassed star would seduce Adolf, entering his room, most likely naked, and then, when the opportunity turned up, she would deal with him. Unfortunately, neither Marlene nor Fairbanks could figure out where to hide the murder weapon on the naked body, so their plan never came to fruition.

5. Alcoholism

When Marlene was in her 70s, she largely hid from the public eye. She no longer appeared in films, and alcoholism took its toll on her body and mind.

The once bright and beloved star became a recluse and drank all day in her Paris apartment, rarely getting out of bed. To pass the time, she loved to call world leaders (often late at night) to share her thoughts with them.

Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth and the President of France were some of Dietrich's favorite telephone buddies, and her monthly telephone bill was usually over a thousand dollars.

Their conversations ranged from casual encounters to serious political discussions, and some were even grateful to Marlene for her contributions.

6. Numerous novels

While living in California, she had a long-standing relationship with Mercedes de Acosta, a socialite, poet, and screenwriter who reportedly left Greta Garbo in favor of Marlene. Other relationships with women are legendary, so it is almost impossible to assess their reliability.

According to rumors, among the elite who shared the bed with Marlene were not only the aforementioned Garbo, but also men such as: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., James Stewart, John Wayne (an affair that supposedly lasted twenty years), US Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and his son of John F. Kennedy and General George S. Patton. Marlene also had a relationship with Ernest Hemingway, but most sources describe it as friendly.

7. Marriage

Before her career took off, Marlene was married to assistant director Rudolf Sieber. However, they only lived together for the first few years of their union. As soon as Hollywood began to beckon Marlene, the couple stopped living in the same house, even though they had a daughter, Maria. Nevertheless, Marlene and Sieber remained married (albeit unfaithful to each other) until cancer took him away in 1976.

8. On the front lines

During the filming of The Unarmored Knight, Nazi officials made Marlene an offer she could not refuse (or so they thought). In his 1992 New York Times obituary, Peter S. Flint claimed that Hitler had offered Dietrich a blank check in exchange for her return to German cinema.

And the allegedly indignant star rejected Hitler's offer, forcing him to ban the distribution of her films in Germany.

At that time, she had already managed to declare her opposition to Nazism and even helped several of her friends to flee Germany during the Fuhrer's rise to power. Marlene became an official US citizen in 1939 and, joining the military, entertained troops overseas.

Billy Wilder talked about being on the front lines more than General (and future president) Dwight D. Eisenhower. Throughout the war, Marlene funded plans for the escape of German Jews and dissidents. She is said to have personally hosted several refugees and helped them to acquire American citizenship. For her efforts, the US government awarded Dietrich the Presidential Medal of Freedom, France named her a Knight of the Legion of Honor, and the Belgian government christened her Knight of the Leopold.

9. Marlene and the King

In 1936, Edward VIII, then King of England, abdicated to marry his American mistress, Wallis Simpson. And if everything went the way Marlene imagined, the story could have turned out very differently. At the time, the actress was living with her lover Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in his London home and was visibly upset to learn that Edward VIII had abandoned his country and responsibilities for an "ugly, flat-chested woman."

As soon as he announced his abdication, Marlene with a chauffeur went to Edward's country estate in Fort Belvedere in order to convince and seduce the former king. But only God knows what actually happened behind closed doors that evening. However, there are several versions in this regard. And one of them says that Marlene was left with nothing, because she never managed to see Edward.

10. "Marlene"

When actor and director Maximilian Schell expressed interest in working on a documentary about Marlene's life, she agreed to collaborate. In the early 1980s, alcoholism and addiction forced Marlene into hiding from the public eye. She wanted to be remembered for her work and beliefs, not for the humiliating state she fell into.

As a result, Marlene was released in 1984 and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, making the film an ideal topic of conversation.

Marlene died at the age of ninety in her Paris apartment in 1992, leaving behind a lasting impression and hundreds of topics of gossip that are still vigorously discussed to this day.

History the charming Veronica Lake resembles a movie script … Her life was not as sweet as it seemed at first glance. Graceful and radiant, she exuded positive from TV screens, and outside the set she drowned grief in alcohol and suffered from schizophrenia. So Marlene Dietrich was not the only woman who was so much admired by men and disliked by envious girls.