Customer Reviews

Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories

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If you were a fan of Dietrich and were allowed to own only ONE book about this woman, then this should be the book to own. To reiterate another reviewer's thought -- it is EXQUISITE.

This book is EXQUISITE! This book is a stunning collection of photographs, memorabilia,and personal items belonging to one of Hollywood's most infamous stars. Even if you were not a fan of Marlene Dietrich, you will be mesmerized by the beautiful images chronicled in this book. A collaboration between Maria Riva (Dietrich's daughter) and the Marlene Dietrich Museum in Berlin.This incredible movie star apparently didn't throw ANYTHING away (except perhaps her numerous lovers, letters to whom and from whom are also included in this tome). The sheer beauty and quality of Ms. Dietrich's clothing and personal items (visible in this book IN FULL COLOUR)speaks volumes as to this magnificent woman's taste and unsurpassed style. This is truly a well thought out and carefully put together homage to one of the silver screen's most enduring legends!

Here are images we've never seen before. The ones of her life on the front in W.W. II are amazing. Brave woman fighting for the US soldiers. And the picture of her in the bathtub is worth the book alone. The private dresses, her lingerie, her jewels -- these are amazing.

I simply had to have this book when I first heard about it, being the huge Dietrich fan that I am. I couldn't wait for it to arrive, and when it did come in, I ripped the box open. The book was truly worth the wait! Filled with photos of incredible costumes, rare "in-life" moments, private letters from lovers, this book helps create an understanding of "Dietrich", the person. No book, no film, no insight could ever truly capture all the many mysteries that exist in each and every person. In Dietrich, there seemed to be many more than usual. While not going into great depth as to why she had all those lovers, or how she learned to create and control her incredible image, the book does offer an amazing trip down Dietrich Lane, which any Marlene fan will absolutely adore. The book is well worth the price, as it fills 260 pages with 289 photos, many not seen before. A must-have for Dietrich fans!

A delicacy! The best book of photographs I have seen on Dietrich and a compendium of beauty, not only hers but all that was created through and with her. A must have book.

Maria Riva's pictorial homage to her Mama, Marlene Dietrich, is simply stunning. Nearly 300 photos shed insight into the woman who was a mom, wife, lover, star. Dietrich never threw anything away; she stored every letter, dress, show, scarf and what-not in one of several storage units. Upon her death, Riva gathered everything....sending some to Sotheby's for auction, sending most to FilmMuseum Berlin. Here, Riva gathers many items that are incredibly photographed in detail...you can actually read love letters that mark (and end) affairs! Riva writes witty, pithy extended captions. Simply stunning! Worth every cent!

This is a dream of a book. Full of glorious photos and facts. I highly reccommend this to all Dietrich and film fans. All public figures should be the subject of a book like this.

Seriously. This lady apparently never threw away ANYTHING. She didn't even throw away the "Glorious Aryan Motherhood" medal she got from the Nazis in 1938 in an effort to entice her back to the Third Reich, though she was much offended by the "award" and described her displeasure in pithy terms. Conversely, she proudly told her daughter, Maria Riva, that whereas most daughters inherit medals from their fathers, Maria would inherit medals from her mother, and these decorations (including the U.S. Medal of Freedom and two degrees of the French Legion of Honor) are displayed in one of the book's many color photographs.



This splendid book is a Marlene Dietrich museum all by its lonesome. Gorgeous photographs from every stage of her career (including some very sexy and risque ones displaying her famous legs to best advantage!) are coupled with a visual catalogue of the most interesting of her clothing and possessions, including her famous good-luck rag doll, which appeared in several of her movies, and a pair of matched pistols she received from General George Patton (with whom she is rumored to have had an affair) during World War II.



Speaking of which, Marlene's WWII service, one of the great defining experiences of her life, gets full attention in this book, with many very striking photos of herself at the front. My favorite pictures from this period show her watching a training drop by the 82nd Airborne Division, the unit closest to her heart, in Holland in early 1945.



Marlene, of course, is famed as one of the great style-setters of the 20th century, and we see many, many photos of her outfits and accessories, both as display items and when she was wearing them.



Can I use the word "splendid" twice in one review? :) Because that is exactly what this book is. It's a bargain at any price you care to name, and one of the best retrospectives on any great film star I've ever seen.

Marlene Dietrich was every inch a movie star and this look insider her personal keepsakes is truly fascinating. This book boasts 289 photographs from the stars collection with captions written by her daughter, Maria Riva, as well as looks at some of the gorgeous gowns she wore in films and on stage throughout the years, letters sent to her by her lovers and friends, and other objects she kept through her whole life (including a gold bracelet she gave to Ernest Hemingway during WWII that was inscribed "Think of me, Papa, and be safe" that somehow made its way back to Marlene). The amount of material featured in this 261 page book is amazing! Some of the highlights include: letters and cards received from John Gilbert (p.14), a favorite photo of hers that she called her "American face" because of the profile of her false eyelashes (p. 33), pictures of Marlene as a child (p.61), Marlene and daughter Maria playing (p.67), a telegram sent to Marlene from Maurice Chevalier written in French ending their affair (p.81), a photograph of Marlene and her husband (whom she never divorced) with daughter and husband's mistress cropped out where Marlene has handwritten "My beloved husband" (p.99), and, the final photo in the book, appropriately her farewell onstage gesture captured on film by the late Roddy McDowell from the wings. These are just a few of many treasures found in this book. I highly recommend it to any Marlene fan!

Here are images we've never seen before. The ones of her life on the front in W.W. II are amazing. Brave woman fighting for the US soldiers. And the picture of her in the bathtub is worth the book alone. The private dresses, her lingerie, her jewels -- these are amazing.