130-135 Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount 1930-1935

[T!me]

This is a lovely box set and a great way of experiencing close to all collaborations of Dietrich and von Sternberg especially if you watch them for very first time like I did (provided, you can get your hands on The Blue Angel first).

All movies are a pleasure to watch with Morocco and Shanghai Express being the clear standouts to me.
Only The Scarlett Empress and its reputation left me confused since I really don’t understand why it’s held in such high regard.

[MichaelB]

This new BFI box may be of interest.

Only The Scarlett Empress and its reputation left me confused since I really don’t understand why it’s held in such high regard.

Because it's the most dementedly Guy Maddinesque fever-dream of a film ever to emerge from a major Hollywood studio? I adored it, not least because it took me so completely by surprise as I was expecting a far more conventional costume drama.

[domino harvey]

Conversely, comparing a film to Guy Maddin’s work seems like a pretty good explanation for something not being good

[MichaelB]

Conversely, comparing a film to Guy Maddin’s work seems like a pretty good explanation for something not being good

When I saw you'd contributed to this thread, I predicted literally every word of what you'd write apart from the missing full stop at the end, which I can only assume was deliberately omitted to wrong-foot me.

[Gregory]

Standard punctuation can read as "insincere" and even "angry"{.}

[dustybooks]

I don't care that much for Maddin but I do think The Scarlet Empress is Sternberg's best sound film and one of my favorite Hollywood films of all; seeing it the first time reminded me of when I first saw Citizen Kane. Its wildness and humor just throttled me. But when I showed it to my mom she was deeply confused, so it's clearly divisive!

[domino harvey]

At the risk of damaging my brand, I should confess that I do like Scarlet Empress, though like all of the non-Shanghai Express colabs, I don’t think it even remotely reaches the orgasmic highs many see in these films.

[Gregory]

Robin Wood's essay from the old Criterion DVD sums up why I love this film better than anything else I've read about it.
And the film really makes me wish Sternberg could have completed his ambitious adaptation of I, Claudius in the 30s.

[HinkyDinkyTruesmith]

I love all the Dietrich-von Sternberg films to pretty similar degrees (except for The Blue Angel). Morocco is my official favorite, and I think it helps that it veers towards a mysterious lightness of touch compared to the masterfully orchestrated highlights of the Dishonored, Shanghai Express, and Blonde Venus, or the tour-de-forces of Scarlet Empress and The Devil Is a Woman. I find Scarlet Empress especially ravishing though for its delightfully perverse sense of humor: Dietrich's constant state of being out of breath for the first half of the film, and after becoming a dominatrix only regaining it only upon conquering Russia is such a perfect piece of non-naturalistic acting/direction as well as twinning of sexual/political power. That's the sort of thing that helps it maintain its power even as my admiration for its plastic beauty and originality fluctuates, but I appreciate von Sternberg's hammy sense of humor: Dietrich's country maid in Dishonored is another favorite of mine (her take on Harpo Marx), and of course Edward Everett Horton in The Devil Is a Woman (which is also the most obviously tongue-in-cheek of all of them. I'll never forget seeing it at Film Forum and at one point the young woman next to me saying, audibly enough, "what a cunt.")

[T!me]

Only The Scarlett Empress and its reputation left me confused since I really don’t understand why it’s held in such high regard.

Because it's the most dementedly Guy Maddinesque fever-dream of a film ever to emerge from a major Hollywood studio? I adored it, not least because it took me so completely by surprise as I was expecting a far more conventional costume drama.

I did notice these aspects too and found them rather amusing but I didn't think that they were the main factor many like the film so much. Looks like I thought wrong. The essay Gregory linked was a great read and makes some good points indeed. So, thank you and everyone else for explaining.

Lets see if I can get behind this beautiful mess of a movie in 10 years or so, but I highly doubt that Dietrichs goofy/ peculiar acting won't throw me off then too.

[swo17]

Monday 27 December marks 120 years since the birth of legendary actress Marlene Dietrich. To celebrate the occasion, and starting right now, we are running a week-long promotion on the MARLENE DIETRICH & JOSEF VON STERNBERG AT PARAMOUNT, 1930-1935 box set, showcasing the six Hollywood films that Dietrich made with Josef von Sternberg. During the next week, the box set will be available at a reduced price of £39.99. Simply add the set to your basket – no promotional code is required. Offer ends 31 December 2021 at midnight (UK).

Please be aware that all orders will ship from 4 January 2022 and that we only have 169 remaining copies of this Limited Edition box set (so the offer may end early should we sell out).

[Stefan Andersson]

A DCP of Shanghai Express screened at the 2024 Ritrovato was slightly cut, like earlier DVD editions, according to a June 27, 2024 post here (cut not specified):
https://filmalert101.blogspot.com/

Cut dialogue detailed:
https://filmalert101.blogspot.com/2018/ ... is-er.html

[MichaelB]

As confirmed earlier in this thread, Indicator made extensive attempts at sourcing the missing footage, and of course had every reason to do so, as the Criterion release was already out and it would be an obvious selling point.

But every potential avenue turned out to be fruitless, sadly.

[Stefan Andersson]

As confirmed earlier in this thread, Indicator made extensive attempts at sourcing the missing footage, and of course had every reason to do so, as the Criterion release was already out and it would be an obvious selling point.

But every potential avenue turned out to be fruitless, sadly.

Many thanks for the update, MichaelB!