An American Tragedy 1931 N/R, 96 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Phillips Holmes, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Irving Pichel, Claire McDowell, Frederick Burton, Wallace Middleton, Emmett Corrigan, Lucille La Verne, Charles Middleton
Based on Theodore Dreiser's novel, this is a drama about Roberta Alden's murder. Her story is told through flashbacks during the ensuing trial. The story was remade in 1951 as "A Place in the Sun." The remake is the better of the two versions.
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Blonde Venus 1932 N/R, 80 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Dickie Moore, Sidney Toler, Hattie McDaniel, Francis Sayles, Sterling Holloway, Al Bridge, Robert Emmett O'Connor
Edward and Helen Farraday (Herbert Marshall and Marlene Dietrich) learn that Edward needs medical treatment to save his life. Helen goes back to work to earn needed funds for medical aid, and when Edward goes to Europe for treatment, Helen begins an affair with her benefactor, Nick Townsend (Cary Grant).
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The Blue Angel 1930 N/R, 109 min. Genre: Foreign / Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Hans Albers, Rosa Valetti, Eduard von Winterstein, Reinhold Bernt, Hans Roth, Rolf Muller, Roland Varno
Lola-Lola (Marlene Dietrich) is a dancer in a cabaret when the very proper Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) becomes so obsessed with her that he gives up everything to be near her–only to awaken to reality when it is too late.
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Crime and Punishment 1935 N/R, 86 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Edward Arnold, Peter Lorre, Marian Marsh, Tala Birell, Elisabeth Risdon, Robert Allen, Douglass Dumbrille, Gene Lockhart, Rafaela Ottiano, Thurston Hall
This is an interesting version of Dostoyevsky's novel about the man (Edward Arnold) who commits a murder and then finds he does have a conscience as well as a need for other people in his life. Peter Lorre plays the intrepid inspector who gets to the "heart" of the matter.
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The Devil Is a Woman 1935 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Atwill, Edward Everett Horton, Alison Skipworth, Cesar Romero, Don Alvarado, Tempe Pigott, Francisco Moreno, Hank Mann, Morgan Wallace, Lawrence Grant, Edwin Maxwell
Told in flashbacks, this story involves the memories of Captain Don Pasqual "Pasqualito" Costelar (Lionel Atwill) as he tells young military officer Antonio Galvan (Cesar Romero)–who has just met Concha Perez (Marlene Dietrich)–of the trials and tribulations he suffered when seduced by her many years before. Later that same evening, Pasqual encounters Antonio with Concha and, in a fit of jealousy, challenges him to a duel.
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Dishonored 1931 N/R, 91 min. Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Victor McLaglen, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Warner Oland, Lew Cody, Barry Norton, Davison Clark, Wilfred Lucas, Bill Powell, George Irving, Joseph W. Girard, William B. Davidson
Magda (Marlene Dietrich) takes on the role of spy X-27 working for the Austrian Secret Service during World War I. She succeeds in her first assignment of tracking down information on Austrian Col. von Hindau (Warner Oland), and he commits suicide. On her next assignment, she falls in love with Lt. Kranau and allows him to escape. When her actions are uncovered, X-27 is caught and sentenced to execution. Problems arise at the execution when the Court Martial officer (Barry Norton) says that he cannot shoot a woman. There is a short respite followed ultimately by her execution.
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Jet Pilot 1957 N/R, 112 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: John Wayne, Janet Leigh, Jay C. Flippen, Paul Fix, Richard Rober, Hans Conried, Denver Pyle, Roland Winters, Kenneth Tobey
Anna (Janet Leigh) is a Soviet agent in the United States to gather military intelligence when she meets air-ace Colonel Shannon (John Wayne). Although their relationship is supposed to be strictly business, they soon fall in love. A Howard Hughes movie that was filmed in 1950, but sat on the shelf for seven years.
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The Last Command 1928 N/R, 88 min. Genre: Adventure / Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell, Nicholas Soussanin, Michael Visaroff, Jack Raymond, Fritz Feld, Viatseslav Savitsky, Harry Semels, Alexander Ikonnikov, Nicholas Kobliansky
The first Academy Award for Best Actor was won by Emil Jannings for this film and "The Way of All Flesh." In "The Last Command" Jannings plays an ex-commander of defeated Russian Czar Nicholas' army who has immigrated to the United States where he works as an extra in Hollywood films.
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Macao 1952 N/R, 81 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez, Gloria Grahame, Brad Dexter, Philip Ahn, Edward Ashley, Vladimir Sokoloff, Emory Parnell
Julie Benson (Jane Russell) falls in love with Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum) and gets more than she bargains for in this tale of romance and murder set in the Orient.
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Morocco 1930 N/R, 97 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou, Ullrich Haupt, Eve Southern, Francis McDonald, Paul Porcasi, Juliette Compton, Michael Visaroff, Albert Conti, Emile Chautard, Theresa Harris
French Foreign Legionnaire Tom Brown (Gary Cooper) falls in love with singer Amy Jolley (Marlene Dietrich) at Lo Tinto's cabaret in this top-notch love story. Four Academy Award nominations were received, including Best Actress (Dietrich) and Director.
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The Scarlet Empress 1934 N/R, 110 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, Louise Dresser, C. Aubrey Smith, Gavin Gordon, Olive Tell, Jameson Thomas, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Ruthelma Stevens, Davison Clark, Erville Alderson, Maria Riva, Akim Tamiroff
To improve the royal bloodline, the Empress Elizabeth (Louise Dresser) of Russia imports German Princess Sophia (Marlene Dietrich) as the bride for her dull-witted son, the Grand Duke Peter (Sam Jaffe). When the Empress dies, Sophia leads her troops to the palace and ascends to the throne as Catherine the Great. While this story is not historically accurate, it represents one of the best biographical efforts of the 1930s.
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Shanghai Express 1932 N/R, 82 min. Genre: Drama / Adventure / Romance
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Emile Chautard, Claude King, James B. Leong, Leonard Carey, Willie Fung, Miki Morita, Herbert Evans
In the midst of civil war, the notorious Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) meets and falls in love with Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook) during a trip on the Shanghai Express. One of the train's passengers is the warlord rebel leader, Henry Chang (Warner Oland), waiting for his rebels to ambush the train and take hostages. Among the hostages will be Shanghai Lily and her Captain Harvey.
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The Shanghai Gesture 1941 N/R, 102 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson, Phyllis Brooks, Albert Bassermann, Maria Ouspenskaya, Eric Blore, Ivan Lebedeff, Clyde Fillmore
Gin Sling (Ona Munson) runs a casino in Shanghai but is about to be forced to vacate by the rich Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston). His daughter, Poppy (Gene Tierney), has become addicted to the gambling and drinking at the casino. We now find out that Gin Sling is the woman Charteris abandoned in the past–and who now plans revenge.
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| 1. An American Tragedy (1931)
2. Blonde Venus (1932)
3. The Blue Angel (1930)
4. Crime and Punishment (1935)
5. The Devil Is a Woman (1935)
6. Dishonored (1931)
7. Jet Pilot (1957)
8. The Last Command (1928)
9. Macao (1952)
10. Morocco (1930)
11. The Scarlet Empress (1934)
12. Shanghai Express (1932)
13. The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
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