[JOSEF VON STERNBERG] | Two Gifts from Marlene Dietrich Presented to Josef von Sternberg

Property from the Collection of Josef Von Sternberg

[JOSEF VON STERNBERG]

Two gifts from Marlene Dietrich presented to Josef von Sternberg

Lot includes: Letter opener (length: 10¾ in.) engraved with Marlene Dietrich’s facsimile signature “Marlene,” [and] 14k gold chain (length approximately: 17½ in.) spelling "Josef von Sternberg", with tag engraved with Marlene Dietrich’s facsimile signature. 

Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich were one of Hollywood's most enduring cinematic partnerships. The Director and Actress pair first worked together on the sensational The Blue Angel(Der blaue Engel, 1930), and would go on to complete six films for Paramount in the 1930s, including Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Blonde Venus (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil is a Woman (1935). 

Von Sternberg and Dietrich's work together in the 1930s was tremendously stylish and influential, and it was under his direction that Dietrich ascended to the heights of stardom. Together the pair "refined their shared fantasy of pleasure, beauty, and excess ... Dietrich’s coolly transgressive mystique was a perfect match for the provocative roles von Sternberg cast her in ... and the filmmaker captured her allure with chiaroscuro lighting and opulent design, conjuring fever-dream visions of exotic settings from Morocco to Shanghai" (Criterion).  

REFERENCES:

Criterion Collection, Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood