Powerhouse Films Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg at Paramount

The collaboration between filmmaker Josef von Sternberg and actress Marlene Dietrich is one of the most enduring in all Hollywood cinema. Tasked by Paramount bosses to find ‘the next big thing’, director von Sternberg lighted upon German silent star Dietrich and brought her to Hollywood. Successfully transitioning from the silent to the sound era, together they crafted a series of remarkable features that expressed a previously hitherto unbridled ecstasy in the process of filmmaking itself. Marked by striking cinematography, beautiful design and elaborate camerawork these vibrantly sensuous films redefined cinema of the time, while Dietrich’s sexually ambiguous on-screen personas caused a sensation and turned her from actor to superstar and icon. Lavish, lascivious and wildly eccentric, the films Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich made for Paramount Pictures in the 1930s provide a unique testimony to Hollywood’s Golden Age. The six films that von Sternberg made with Dietrich in Hollywood are presented here in new restorations on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including new appreciations, interviews, audio commentaries, rare films, outtakes and deleted audio, documentaries… and more! This stunning box set is strictly limited to 6,000 units. Extras: 4K restorations of Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman 2K restoration of Morocco Original mono audio Morocco audio commentary with Daughters of Darkness’ Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger Shanghai Express audio commentary with critic and film historian David Thompson Blonde Venus audio commentary with film and arts critic Adrian Martin The Scarlet Empress audio commentary with writer and film programmer Tony Rayns Introductions on all six films by Nicholas von Sternberg, son of Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg, a Retrospective (1969): feature-length television documentary by the acclaimed Belgian director Harry Kümel Marlene Dietrich: The Twilight of an Angel (2012): Dominique Leeb’s acclaimed French television documentary on Dietrich’s final years The Fashion Side of Hollywood (1935): a short compilation film of lighting and costume tests from Paramount productions, including The Devil Is a Woman, and featuring costume designer Travis Banton Lux Radio Theatre: ‘The Legionnaire and the Lady’ (1936): a radio play adaptation of Morocco, featuring Dietrich and actor Clark Gable If It Isn't a Pain (1935, 3 mins): excised audio of the deleted musical number from The Devil Is a Woman Von Sternberg at the BFI (2009): an audio recording of the 2009 symposium on von Sternberg held at London’s BFI Southbank The Art of Josef von Sternberg (2019): Nicholas von Sternberg discusses his father’s works in painting and sculpture New video essay by film historian Tag Gallagher on the Hollywood collaborations of Dietrich and von Sternberg New interview with Erica Carter, author of Dietrich’s Ghosts, on the Dietrich’s career before von Sternberg New interview with So Mayer, author of Political Animals: The New Feminist Cinema, on the queer iconography and legacy of Dietrich and von Sternberg’s films New interview with Nathalie Morris, film historian and senior curator of the BFI National Archive’s Special Collections, on the costume designs of Travis Banton New interview with Jasper Sharp, writer and filmmaker, on the life and career of Shanghai Express co-star Anna May Wong Image galleries: on-set and promotional photography, including rare materials New English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, archival interviews and articles, an overview of contemporary critical responses, film credits and more UK premieres on Blu-ray Limited Edition of 6,000 copies All extras subject to change