Product Details

• Actors: Marlene Dietrich, Victor McLaglen, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Warner Oland, Lew Cody
• Directors: Josef von Sternberg
• Writers: Josef von Sternberg, Daniel Nathan Rubin
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302888220
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,571 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mysterious Lady, March 25, 2002

By 

C. Tolley "Chris Tolley" (hampton, tn United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dishonored [VHS] (VHS Tape)

To be honest, the only reason I got this film was for its star, Marlene Dietrich. I knew it was only her second american film, and her third for Josef Von Sternberg. To see her early in her career, before Hollywood really worked with her, is interesting.
As for story, there really isn't much to it, as it is basically a retelling of the Mata Hari story, Dietrich-style.
She begins as a 'lady of the evening', discovered by a member of the Austrian Secret Police during World War one. Plucked from the streets and turned into a secret agent, she completes a mission or two, then goes after a top spy for the Russians, whom Austria is fighting. He eludes her, but falls under her spell.
Later, they meet again, only he has the upper hand this time. She slips him some sleeping powder and vanishes with some vital enemy info, after a night of passion.
Due to the success of the information she stole, the Austrians win a big victory, and the Russian spy is captured. Seeing him in line, she volunteers to interrogate him herself. Taking him to the back, she acts careless, and lets him escape, committing the arch sin of treason for the man she has come to love.
The film's last section has her in detention, awaiting the firing squad, which she meets with calm dignified grace.
If it all sounds hokey, well, it is. But Dietrich's calm, measured diction and regal posing give a sense of fate and meaning to all her scenes, and the final firing-squad sequence was filmed in an airplane hangar, to catch the unique sound of echoing rifle shots, which earned the film an academy award for sound. Dietrtich's final close-up, just before the fateful shots, is glorious, and saves the film's ending from silliness.
Really, this film isn't the best of Dietrich's seven films for Von Sternberg, not even second best, but it still is something to behold, and worth having in your collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a must-see for all Dietrich-fans, April 25, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Heilbronn,Deutschland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dishonored [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The third movie of the classic Dietrich-Sternberg pairing has everything for the fan. Rousing adventure,mystery and the legendary combination of sex and decadent elegance of miss Dietrich herself. Don't take the plot too seriously,it is rather silly but the cinematography is excellent

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dietrich dazzles despite her wooden co-star, January 7, 2009

By 

Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dishonored [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Once you get past the sorely-miscast Victor McLaglen, DISHONORED really comes to life as one of Marlene Dietrich's better early vehicles. This was her third major starring role under the direction of her mentor, Josef Von Sternberg (following "The Blue Angel" and "Morocco"). The story is slight, but Von Sternberg fills it with his usual bewitching mix of moody shadows, romantic lighting and slow camera dissolves.

Dietrich plays Marie Kolverer, a comely widow/streetwalker who is assigned to become a spy for Austria's Secret Service. Agent X-27 (as she comes to be called) seduces important figures in the Russian forces, and relays vital military secrets via morse-code tunes played on a piano. All goes well until she falls heavily for Colonel Kranau (Victor McLaglen), a Russian flyer who ruffles her feathers and later catches onto her game...

It's no masterpiece, but DISHONORED will be a real treat for Marlene Dietrich fans; and I think she delivers an adorable performance. Gary Cooper (Dietrich's "Morocco" leading man) was to have again co-starred with her in this movie, but refused to ever work with director Josef Von Sternberg again. Victor McLaglen, with his buffoonery and inane meerkat grin, is a less than worthy substitute.

Arguably the least appreciated of all the Dietrich/Von Sternberg collaborations, DISHONORED is well worth another look.