Gigantic chef-d'oeuvre: a 600-page life that puts Dietrich before us as no book has ever done and whose writing sets a new standard for celebrity biographies. Bach (Final Cut, 1985) spent six years researching and writing this life; talked with Dietrich (who deplored biographies that pitted her legend, and did not authorize this one); as a student, spent two years with Dietrich's most famous director, Josef von Sternberg, viewing with him all seven films Sternberg made with the actress; and had sole access to secret tapes of talks between Dietrich and Maximilian Schell made during Schell's creation in 1982 of the celebratory, fascinating Marlene: A Feature, when Dietrich was in her 80s. Two qualities distinguish Bach's work: He writes with superb intelligence and grace, without a single dull or merely journalistic passage. And, as a former producer (involved in Woody Allen's Manhattan and Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull, among other films), his ideas on how Dietrich's effects were achieved through lighting, film stocks, dissolves, acting, singing techniques, etc., strengthen his every inquiry into her roles, not only in film but in cabaret, stage acting, song recording, and so on. Bach's history of the star's bisexuality, frank but tasteful, in no way demeans her legend. His Marlene stands before us at every moment—a teenager casting bedroom eyes at her violin teacher; using her voice, when acting or singing, as a suggestive musical instrument; showing her legs with innocent desirability; and gathering weight and light as she ages from childhood to blazing sexuality as the fastest girl in Berlin and, at last, into cantankerous, witty fragility. A great pearl.
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-07119-8
Page Count: 600
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1992
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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