Foreign Affair (1948)

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WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO EDIT THIS ONE IN DVD FORMAT? June 12, 2006

Post-War Activities

A Foreign Affair is a film about post-WWII Germany filled with demolished buildings, the American army, and sex. Some American Congressmen (and women) go to check on the status of the moral and the troops only to find that things are far different than they are perceived to be back home.

Jean Arthur plays a frumpy Congresswoman out to find corruption and get rid of it. Arthur is funny and appropriately prudish in her role. She is an average beauty with a knack for being nervous and likable, a girl-next-door type. Her character falls in love with an army officer played by John Lund who seduces her in order to hide the fact that his lover is a former Nazi.

John Lund is an adept actor who gets to show off his skills by being humorous, serious, and romantic all in the same film.

Marlene Dietrich plays the Nazi lover, a departure from her true wartime image. She is wry, intelligent, and seductive in her role, a true asset to the film.

There are three songs in this film as there often are in Dietrich films. The first is "Black Market," a low key nightclub song which is mostly spoken. It is a complex song lyrically, but the melody is mellow and slow. The second song is "Illusion," an absolutely gorgeous tune sang surprisingly well by Dietrich. This is the song that will stick in your head after the film is over. The last song is called "The Ruins of Berlin," a fun song sung in Dietrich's typical vibrating voice.

This film is filled with drama and comedy, making it appealing for a wide audience. The ending is appropriate and the story is never boring. November 25, 2005

A Black Market Romance

Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett adapted this jewel from a post war novel and the dialogue crackels with wit and intelligence from the first frame on. It is a wonderfully cynical take on The Marshall Plan and how three lives intersect in the bombed out ruins of Berlin, circa 1947. Dietrich is delicious as a caberet singers trying to survive after being a plaything of a Gestapo Colonel. In her late forties, Dietrich lights up the screen she appears to be ageless. Jean Arthur is playing a corn fed, button downed Congress woman from Iowa and these two ladies vye for the affections of an American Captain played by John Lund (who's very appealing in this role). Lots of social commentary woven into the story and the footage of the ruins of Berlin is staggering. This is a fine Wilder film that doesn't always make it on his list of achievments but it is worth the time and money to hear that great Wilder and Brackett badinage.
August 22, 2005

over-looked gem!

Billy Wilder was such a genius in film-making,it's astounding. What really set him apart, I think, was his knack for knowing who to cast in what role. What really gives this film its kick, is Marlene Dietrich in a role that proved once and for all that yes, she can act!
Set in Berlin right after the end of World War Two, and at the beginning of the American occupation of their sector of Berlin,
the film is really a dialogue on the human trait of survival through the worst. The main charactors are bent on surviving their individual circumstances, as each interacts with the others in the story.
Dietrich portrays a former Nazi lounge singer, keeping an American officer sugar-daddy so she can stay alive and well in Berlin, John Lund plays her American officer on a leash, and Jean Arthur is the upright(and uptight) US congresswoman from Iowa who throws a wrench into everybodys life by arriving to check on troop morale.
This film has many truly wicked one-liners, and puts one to mind of Dietrich's days with Von Sternberg, what with all the shadows and over-head lights. Certainly, Dietrich definately benefited from this, she never looked at all her 47 years. Jean Arthur, I've heard, wasn't pleased with the pains Dietrich took with the lighting, but mainly she wasn't too thrilled with her part. She needn't have worried. She portrays the straight-laced congresswoman perfectly, the right foil to Dietrich's sultry singer. Each actor is just right in their role, and one also wonders why John Lund sort of disappeared after this, he was very good in this film.
The cast and script are just perfect, and the lighting and photography are top-notch. This film was a sucess, but due to its subject matter and time frame(at a time when most americans still thought of Germany as the enemy), it wasn't a huge hit. However, it did rejuvenate Dietrich's career yet again, for perhaps the hundredth time. Well worth having in your collection! March 26, 2002

An almost unknown classic by a great director!!

Hard to believe this film is barely acknowledged today,except in maybe a cultish way. If Carroll Reeds' THE THIRD MAN was the great post-war Vienna must-see, Billy Wilder's A FOREIGN AFFAIR must be the great post-war Berlin must-see. This one starts out with some of the best aerial footage of bombed-out Berlin ever seen. The ruins seem to go on for miles. Certain burnt-out US soldiers main concerns are making a killing on the black market, and making a hit with the local Frauleins. Mr. Lund's character says it best, that he,like many of his peers, is sick of the battles, politics,phony causes, and just wants to live, if that's possible. The civilians go from one moment to the next in earnest persuit of mere survival. The naive US Congresswoman(Arthur) wants to "reform" these military slackers,but she slowly realizes her cause is pretty pointless. Then we have the sultry cabaret singer (Dietrich) living in a bombed out ruin,who may have some answers to nasty questions about war criminals. Some great scenes are here,including Mr. Lund doing the old tablecloth trick (ie. pulling off a tablecloth so the silverware stays in place.) Great bar/carbaret scenes with Marlene making an attempt to keep the drunken soldiers under control. And a lot more...Like THE THIRD MAN, this one reeks with world weary atmosphere and cynicism, the latter a staple in any Wilder movie. Don't miss this one!! December 22, 2001

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