Daily BirthdaysMarlene Dietrich Forum
| ||
| by RonPrice I saw a doco on TV on Xmas eve in Australia and it got me pondering. The result is the following prose-poem: ___________________ LASTING MEMORY 29 May 1992 was the solemn, historic occasion of the centenary of the ascension of Baha'u'llah. For the lovers of Marlene Dietrich there was also a certain solemnity in the air. She had been buried in Berlin just two weeks before. One of the greatest female stars of all time, Marlene Dietrich had died at the age of 90. She had begun her film career in 1923 at the start of the formal establishment of the Baha'i Administrative Order, at the opening of the first epoch(1921-1944) of its Formative Age and the first year of the formation of National Spiritual Assemblies in the Bahá’í world, the first being in Germany in that same year, 1923. At the start of the formal teaching Plan, during the year of discussions preceding the inauguration of that Plan and the beginning of the first epoch of 'Abdu'l-Baha's divine plan in April 1937 Dietrich became an American citizen, in March 1937. While working on a film in London later that year, Marlene, a German by birth, was invited by the Nazis to support their work, but she turned them down. She cultivated, all her life--at least until her final 12 years(1980-1992)--an aura of perfection and glamour. She was an icon and possessed an idealized image in, and for, society's imagination. This image was her creation, her persona; but it was not her. -Ron Price with thanks to "Living Famously: Marlene Dietrich," ABC TV, 10:55-11:50 p.m. 24 December 2006. …or was this image--her? Was this what kept her a recluse in Paris in her apartment years before her death, wanting this image, this beauty, to be the only lasting memory-- a natural result, perhaps, of her view that: "When you're dead, you're dead. That's it." She missed the Holy Year, that tribute to a life beyond, infinitely beyond, compare, a life Whose prophetic career was framed by superlatives and Who drew His last breath on earth back one hundred years before inaugurating a 5000 century Bahá’í cycle. She missed that Year by a hair's breadth after her lifetime of 90 years, on the threshold of that Year just begun: she died then at what was a remarkably dynamic period with its amplified potential, with its onrushing, quickening wind blowing, a mysterious, rampant force. And for us… a rendezvous for our soul with the Source of its light in His retreat of revivifying and deathless splendour.2 "'Cause when you're dead your life has just begun. That's it!" 1 Marlene Dietrich died on 6 May 1992 and the Bahá’í Holy Year began on 29 May 1992. 2The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan message, April 1992. Ron Price 25 December 2006. Comment on this... |
| ||
| by sara I am currently researching into Dietrich's star persona and what she means to her British fans for my MA essay (I'm studying film at Southampton uni) and I would like to hear from British fans of Dietrich. I specifically want to know why do you like Dietrich so much? what sets her apart from any other actressess? This information will really help my essay, so can you please email me a quick responce (it only has to be a couple of sentences) and tell me why you like Dietrich? The essay has to be in soon and I would really apperiate any comments you have on Dietrich. So please email me, thank you. Comment on this... |
| ||
| by robert rettenbeck a wonderful woman. very intelligent. but much people in germany see in her a enemy. i found, she do absolutly the right, when she fights against the hitler regime. i see her in films and documentations - again and again. what a woman !!!!!!! Comment on this... |
| ||
| by Peter Griggs Marlene was an alluring screen presence. She was originally from Germany having appeared in silent films there. She was both beautiful and highly intelligent speaking German, French, and English. She was the protege of director Josef Von Sternberg, who directed her in such classics as The Blue Angel and the Scarlet Empress. In later years she had a one-woman show, singing classic tunes from her films and collaborating with the likes of Burt Bacharach. She is a unique and inimitable actress. There has been no one like her before or since. Comment on this... |