Marlene Dietrich

The Very Best Of
$8.99
This is an amazing collection of Ms. Deitrich's wartime and post-wartime material, with some very emotive and talented orchestras. Disc one is all studio material, beginning with her classic WWII ballad "Lili Marlene", a 40's retake of her big hit from her 1932 film "The Blue Angel", the English version of "Falling In Love Again", and a retake of her "See What The Boys In The Backroom Will Have." The first disc continues with another 22 songs (many covers) including a touching "La Vie En Rose."

Disc two is various live recordings, but the disc does not say where they came from, or at what point in her career they came. Ms. Deitrich continued to perform from the 50's to the 70's as an amazingly successful cabaret performer, so it's difficult to tell which this is, or from what post-war period. But all 25 tracks are lovely and wonderful performances.

This set's low cost is an amazing bargain, and a wonderful overview of this talented artist's career. If you're a fan of her 30's Hollywood movies as I am, finding these emotive, and often touching performances will give you another dimension of this all-time great performer to discover.

Lili Marlene
$0.99

Marlene Dietrich - The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings)
$26.98
it a great set to sit and relax and have a movie day. these are group of some of marlen's best performances and a good variety. Sit back and enjoy

Marlene Dietrich
$18.00
This biography is far too long, repetitive and at times innundated with unnecessary details. One does not want to know every time Dietrich consumed epsom salts or had a fight with a lover or a filmamker. The material is not always well organized and it is not always clear. For example Dietrich moves from one place to another during the war and it's not always clear when she is in Germany and when in France. Riva's jelousy of her mother is also too obvious and so one highly suspects that the portrayal is biased. Still, the book manages to give one a good idea what kind of person Dietrich was and what kind of life she had. While Riva comes off as angry and sarcastic, one often feels sorry for her mother. Dietrich herself seems to have grown up in a family where emotion was not freely displayed or encouraged. So she did not know any better. But while many other stars neglected and abandoned their children, she at least was always dragging her daughter along. And in her own way, she remained loyal to the husband and the daughter throughout her life. She supported them financially, she wrote to them, telephoned and brought them to her at least when she needed them. And that seemed often. As Remarque said, she loved her family the way she knew how. I think Marlene's chasing after so many men, and according to Riva, not for sex, shows her insecurity and her insatiable need to be loved. Riva would have preferred to be a daughter of a stay-at-home mother who bakes cookies and takes her kids to school. I am sure many other kids would want a movie star for a mother. Marlene at least seems to have cooked plenty of goulash. I think that Riva devoted too much time to herself in this book, portraying herself as a victim, but she also comes off as a weakling. She is not the onoly child of oppressive and selfish parents, but many others have rebelled and left the situation as soon as they grew up. Riva remained an obedient child all her life, silently seething and taking her revenge after her parents' death. Too late, I'm afraid. With a better editor, this could have been a much better biography.