Marlene Dietrich filmography

A still from Shanghai Express (1932). Josef von Sternberg used butterfly lighting to enhance Dietrich's features.

Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress.

In the 1920s, she acted on the Berlin stage and in silent films, making her film debut in 1922. She was discovered by director Josef von Sternberg, who cast her as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930). The movie's mainstream success brought her international fame and a contract with Paramount Pictures in the United States.

Paramount sought to market Dietrich as a German answer to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Swedish sensation, Greta Garbo. Her first American film, Morocco (1930), directed by Sternberg, earned Dietrich her only Oscar nomination. She would appear in several other hits mostly directed by Sternberg, including Dishonored (1931), Blonde Venus (1932), and Shanghai Express (1932).

Dietrich and Sternberg's last two film collaborations, The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935)—the most styled of their collaborations—were their least successes at the box office. Her first film without Sternberg was 1933's The Song of Songs, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, although she and Sternberg would later work together another two times.

But without Sternberg, Dietrich—along with Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Mae West, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Dolores del Río and others—was labeled "Box Office Poison" after the movie Knight Without Armour (1937) proved an expensive box office failure. In 1939, however, her stardom was revived when she played a cowboy saloon girl in the light-hearted western Destry Rides Again opposite James Stewart, singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have".

While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in movies, including appearances for such distinguished directors as Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, and Orson Welles, in successful films that included A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Touch of Evil (1958), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). Her final film appearance was as herself in the 1984 documentary, Marlene.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich as the ninth greatest female star of all time.

Filmography

Silent feature films

Year Title Role Director Other cast members & Notes
1919 Im Schatten des Glücks (Unconfirmed Role) Jacob Fleck Sybil Smolova, Hans Adalbert Schlettow
(Dietrich's appearance in the film has not been verified.)
1923 The Little Napoleon Kathrin Georg Jacoby Egon Von Hagen, Paul Heidemann
1923 Tragedy of Love Lucy Joe May Lena Amsel, Charlotte Ander
1923 Man by the Wayside Kramerstochter William Dieterle Alexander Granach, William Dieterle
1924 Der monch from Santarem Uncredited Lothar Mendes Alf Blucheter, Emmy Forster
1924 Der Sprung ins Leben[1](aka The Leap Into Life) Mädchen am Strand Johannes Guter Xenia Desni, Walter Rilla
1925 Dancing Mad Dance Extra Alexander Korda Victor Varconi, María Corda
1926 Manon Lescaut Micheline Arthur Robison Lya De Putti, Vladimir Gajdarov
1926 Madame Wants No Children Dancer (Uncredited) Alexander Korda María Corda, Harry Liedtke
1927 Eine Dubarry von heute Kokotte Alexander Korda María Corda, Alfred Abel
1927 The Imaginary Baron Sophie Willi Wolff Karl Beckman, Henry Bender
1927 Heads Up, Charley Edmee Marchand Willi Wolff Ellen Richter, Michael Bonhen
1927 His Greatest Bluff Yvette Henrik Galeen Harry Piel, Toni Tetzlaff
1927 Cafe Elektric Erni Gustav Ucicky Willi Forst, Fritz Alberti
1928 Prinzessin Olala Chichotte de Gastone Robert Land Hermann Botcher, Walter Rilla
1929 Dangers of the Engagement Period Evelyne Fred Sauer Willi Forst, Albert Horrmann
1929 I Kiss Your Hand, Madame Laurence Gerard (Lucille in USA) Robert Land Harry Liedtke, Pierre de Guingand
1929 The Woman One Longs For Stascha Curtis Bernhardt Fritz Kortner, Frida Richard
1929 The Ship of Lost Men Ethel Marley Maurice Tourneur Fritz Kortner, Robin Irvine

Sound feature films

Year Title Role Director Other cast members & Notes
1930 The Blue Angel Lola-Lola Josef von Sternberg Emil Jannings, Kurt Gerron
(Separate German and English versions were shot simultaneously.)
1930 Morocco Mademoiselle Amy Jolly Josef von Sternberg Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress
1931 Dishonored Marie Kolverer Josef von Sternberg Victor McLaglen, Warner Oland
1932 Shanghai Express Shanghai Lily Josef von Sternberg Clive Brook, Anna May Wong
1932 Blonde Venus Helen Faraday Josef von Sternberg Cary Grant, Herbert Marshall, Andrea Palma
1933 The Song of Songs Lily Czepanek Rouben Mamoulian Brian Aherne, Lionel Atwill
1934 The Scarlet Empress Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II Josef von Sternberg John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, Maria Riva
1935 The Devil is a Woman Concha Perez Josef von Sternberg Lionel Atwill, Edward Everett Horton, Cesar Romero
1936 I Loved a Soldier Anna Sedlak Henry Hathaway Charles Boyer, Akim Tamiroff
(Unfinished film)
1936 Desire Madeleine de Aupre Frank Borzage Gary Cooper, John Halliday
1936 The Garden of Allah Domini Enfilden Richard Boleslawski Charles Boyer, John Carradine
1937 Knight Without Armour Countess Alexandra Vladinoff Jacques Feyder Robert Donat, Irene Vanbrugh
1937 Angel Maria Berker Ernst Lubitsch Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Edward Everett Horton
1939 Destry Rides Again Frenchy George Marshall James Stewart, Una Merkel
1940 Seven Sinners Bijou Blanche Tay Garnett John Wayne, Broderick Crawford
1941 The Flame of New Orleans Countess Claire Ledoux René Clair Bruce Cabot, Roland Young
1941 Manpower Fay Duvall Raoul Walsh Edward G. Robinson, George Raft
1942 The Lady is Willing Elizabeth Madden Mitchell Leisen Fred MacMurray, Aline MacMahon
1942 The Spoilers Cherry Malotte Ray Enright John Wayne, Randolph Scott
1942 Pittsburgh Josey 'Hunky' Winters Lewis Seiler John Wayne, Randolph Scott
1944 Kismet Jamilla William Dieterle Ronald Colman, James Craig
1944 Follow the Boys Herself A. Edward Sutherland George Raft, Vera Zorina, Orson Welles
1946 Martin Roumagnac Blanche Ferrand Georges Lacombe Jean Gabin, Jean d'Yd
1947 Golden Earrings Lydia Mitchell Leisen Ray Milland, Murvyn Vye
1948 A Foreign Affair Erika Von Schlutow Billy Wilder Jean Arthur, John Lund
1949 Jigsaw Herself (cameo appearance) Fletcher Markle Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace
1950 Stage Fright Charlotte Inwood Alfred Hitchcock Jane Wyman, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd
1951 No Highway in the Sky Monica Teasdale Henry Koster James Stewart, Glynis Johns
1952 Rancho Notorious Altar Keane Fritz Lang Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer
1956 Around the World in 80 Days Saloon Hostess (cameo appearance) Michael Anderson David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Frank Sinatra
1957 The Monte Carlo Story Maria de Creveçoeur Samuel A. Taylor Vittorio De Sica, Arthur O'Connell
1957 Witness for the Prosecution Christine Vole (Helm) / cockney woman Billy Wilder Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton
1958 Touch of Evil Tanna Orson Welles Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Zsa Zsa Gabor
1961 Judgment at Nuremberg Mrs. Bertholt Stanley Kramer Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Judy Garland
1962 Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler Narrator (voice only) Louis Clyde Stoumen
1964 Paris When It Sizzles Herself (cameo appearance) Richard Quine Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
1979 Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo Baroness von Semering David Hemmings David Bowie, Kim Novak, Sydne Rome
1984 Marlene Herself (voice only) Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell, Annie Albers, Bernard Hall
(Film received Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.)

Short films

Year Title Notes
1928 Die gluckliche Mutter Dietrich Biographer Steven Bach notes that the release of this film has not been verified.
1935 The Fashion Side of Hollywood Promotional short film publicizing costumes designed by Travis Banton.
1937 Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 7
1943 Show Business at War
1944 Memo for Joe

Television

Complete list of television appearances (excluding news footage):

References

  1. Homer Dickens (1968). The films of Marlene Dietrich. Citadel Press. pp. 7, 13, 49.