Dietrich In Five Songs

Episodes

EpisodeTitleFirst
Broadcast
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01Falling In Love Again2022050920240506 (R3)Marybeth Hamilton charts the creation and metamorphosis of a song Dietrich initially loathed yet never stopped singing. Falling in Love Again began life very differently as “Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss ? – “I am from head to foot ?. A knowing Weimar cabaret number written for the film that would make Dietrich a star in Europe and Hollywood as the destructive Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. It was an ode to the singer's body and the pleasures that her body affords her, a body whose impact she cannot control. It would soon become something rather different, from carnality to coyness. Yet despite her early misgivings, it's slender and changing lyrics were enough to hang a legend upon.

Producer: Mark Burman

Marybeth Hamilton charts a song Dietrich initially loathed yet never stopped singing.

From her definitive role as Weimar vamp Lola Lola to an ageing legend with broken bones, Dietrich never stopped singing Falling in Love Again, an anthem she initially loathed.

Marybeth Hamilton charts the creation and metamorphosis of a song Dietrich initially loathed yet never stopped singing. Falling in Love Again began life very differently as `Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss` - `I am from head to foot`. A knowing Weimar cabaret number written for the film that would make Dietrich a star in Europe and Hollywood as the destructive Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. It was an ode to the singer's body and the pleasures that her body affords her, a body whose impact she cannot control. It would soon become something rather different, from carnality to coyness. Yet despite her early misgivings, it's slender and changing lyrics were enough to hang a legend upon.

02When Love Dies2022051020240507 (R3)David Thomson charts the collaboration between Dietrich and director Joseph von Sternberg.
03In The Ruins Of Berlin2022051120240508 (R3)Historian Karin Wieland examines how the creation of 'In the Ruins of Berlin' took Dietrich unwillingly back to a Fatherland she had categorically rejected with the coming of the Nazis and which would remained profoundly ambivalent, even hostile to her years after the war. Written for the 1948 film A Foreign Affair, Billy Wilder's acid yet bittersweet romcom, set amid the rubble of a defeated nation. Both Wilder and Dietrich had fled Germany, Wilder losing many of his family in the deathcamps. Both their lives there had been effectively wiped away. Dietrich had initially balked at taking on the role of a former Nazi chanteuse and it required all of Wilder's skills to persuade her even though she faced a deeply uncertain postwar future- much like her rejected nation. Her later tour of West Germany would reveal the depths of that fractured relationship.

Writer: Karin Wieland

Reader: Julia Fahrenkamp

Producer: Mark Burman

Karin Wieland analyses a song that charted Dietrich's bitter relationship with home.

Historian Karin Wieland examines how the creation of 'In the Ruins of Berlin' took Dietrich unwillingly back to a Fatherland she had categorically rejected with the coming of the Nazis and which would remained profoundly ambivalent, even hostile to her years after the war. Written for the 1948 film A Foreign Affair, Billy Wilder's acid yet bittersweet romcom, set amid the rubble of a defeated nation. Both Wilder and Dietrich had fled Germany, Wilder losing many of his family in the death camps. Both their lives there had been effectively wiped away. Dietrich had initially balked at taking on the role of a former Nazi chanteuse and it required all of Wilder's skills to persuade her even though she faced a deeply uncertain postwar future- much like her rejected nation. Her later tour of West Germany would reveal the depths of that fractured relationship.

Historian Karin Wieland reveals how 'In the Ruins of Berlin' took Dietrich back to the land she had categorically rejected with the rise of the Nazis and which remained hostile.

04Where Have All The Flowers Gone2022051220240509 (R3)Paul Morley takes a deep dive into Dietrich's transformation of 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone - a Pete Seeger anti-war folk ballad. This quietly furious protest song is turned into something else as Marlene digs deeper rhythmically and aesthetically than the earnest folkies to give its lyrics tough and tender power that drew on her own wartime experiences.

Producer: Mark Burman

Paul Morley marks Dietrich's dive into a Pete Seeger anti-war folk song she transformed.

Writer Paul Morley alights on Where Have All the Flowers Gone. A Pete Seeger anti-war folk song that Dietrich transmuted into something tender and powerful, tempered by experience.

05 LASTI've Grown Accustomed To Her Face2022051320240510 (R3)Le Gateau Chocolat, cabaret artiste and opera singer extraordinaire, celebrates the original Queen of Sprechgesang and her live performance of 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face' for the final exploration of Dietrich in song. Written by Lerner and Loewe to be sung by Henry Higgins to Liza Doolittle it was reforged by Dietrich and Burt Bacharach without any change in the pronouns. Writes Le Gateau 'Some might argue that she was preserving the song's integrity, but the reality, of course, is that Marlene was unapologetically queer and never hid it.

Producer: Mark Burman

Le Gateau Chocolat revels in how Dietrich and Burt Bacharach reforged a classic show tune.

Le Gateau Chocolat, cabaret artiste and opera singer, celebrates the Queen of Sprechgesang and her live performance of I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face.