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MOROCCO
Marlene Dietrich:
The most outlandish stories have made the rounds: that I had
my molars extracted so as to highlight my hollow cheeks; that
young girls and actresses would use their facial muscles to
suck in their cheeks to achieve the secret effect seen on
the screen. None of these tales are true. Nor are those that
claim that in the shooting of MOROCCO I ran
through the desert on high-heeled shoes.
[...]
After Josef von Sternberg finished shooting his first film
for Paramount, MOROCCO, the film, as usual, was shown
in Pomona. Gary Cooper played the leading male role. After
the first half of the film, the auditorium was empty. In the
end, we watched the remainder of it all by ourselves. I asked
for permission to leave, convinced that this showing signified
the end of my Hollywood career.
[…]
Why had the audience left the movie house on that memorable
evening? First of all because they had been disappointed by
Gary Cooper - who up to then had played only cowboy roles
- and his new style. In MOROCCO he was never seen
on a horse. Besides, it was time to light the stoves on the
orange plantations of Pomona. The artistic merits of Morocco
were not the issue.
Excerpt from Marlene Dietrich:
My Life.© 1987 by Marlene Dietrich. Reprinted by permission
of M. Dietrich, Inc.
Take MOROCCO as an example. Perhaps you remember
that the characters did not talk much. I did not have to go
around in the picture chattering away as the stars were doing
in most of the films at that time.
The picture was harshly criticised by many people because
it had less dialogue in it than they had been educated to
expect.
Now, every producer and director tries hard to eliminate every
line of inessential dialogue. And if you were to see MOROCCO
today, you would not feel that it was dated, as one generally
does when seeing old films.
Interview, October
1935. Reprinted by permission of M. Dietrich, Inc.
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