As this colorized photograph from 1930 illustrates, the sultry German actress Marlene Dietrich was just as beautiful and glamorous cross-dressing in a tuxedo as she was in a shimmering evening gown. Her debut role in Paramount’s Morocco allowed Dietrich the opportunity to showcase who she really was – a gender fluid performer whose androgynous image appealed to men and women and made her a lasting icon of the LGBTQ community.
In this colorized photo from 1930, Marlene Dietrich is bucking gender traditions by wearing men's clothing. Photo colorized by klimbim https://www.flickr.com/photos/22155693@N04/
Marlene Dietrich’s performance in Morocco went much further than the top hat and tails we see in this colorized publicity photograph from the film. Morocco marked one of the first lesbian on screen kisses in cinematic history … and one that likely influenced the adoption of the Hays Code for moral censorship in movies that was enacted the very next year.
Who Was Marlene Dietrich?
Berlin-born Marlene Dietrich gave up the violin to be an actress. (closerweekly.com)
Marlene Dietrich, whose name is a mash up of her first and middle names, Marie Magdalene, was born in 1901 in Berlin, Germany. When her father, a Royal Prussian policeman named Ludwig Dietrich died, her mother got remarried to a cavalry officer named Edouard von Losch. Her new stepfather wanted her to become a concert violinist, but as a teen and young adult, Marlene Dietrich was drawn to Berlin’s exciting cabarets and the morally questionable, sexually ambiguous women and men that frequented these establishments. She gave up the violin for acting.
A Star Is Born
Marlene Dietrich in "The Blue Angel." (thetimes.co.uk)
Movie director Josef von Sternberg casts Marlene Dietrich in the starring role in his 1929 film, The Blue Angel, one of the first talking movies filmed in Germany. Dietrich’s portrayal of the seductive Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel made her a star. Dietrich accompanied von Sternberg to the United States where he helped her sign a contract with Paramount Pictures. In fact, von Sternberg, working for Paramount himself, directed Dietrich in her next film, the controversial Morocco.
“Morocco”
Dietrich's breakout role was in "Morocco". (colinedwards.medium.com)
Morocco placed Dietrich opposite Gary Cooper. She portrayed the worldly cabaret singer, Amy Jolly, who falls in love with a Legionnaire amid the Rif War in Morocco. Conflict arises in their relationship because of Cooper’s character’s womanizing behavior and the arrival of a wealthy man that becomes interested in Dietrich’s character. Despite the challenges, the couple finds a happy ending.
The Controversy
That famous same sex kiss. (jaysclassicmovieblog.com)
One particular scene in Morocco stirred up a lot of controversy in 1930. In the scene, Marlene Dietrich appears on stage for a performance wearing men’s clothing – trousers, tailcoat, and top hat. This was quite shocking for the time when women were supposed to dress in a feminine manner. To add to the shock value of the film, during this scene in Morocco, Dietrich kisses another woman. Showing a same sex kiss on the silver screen was quite scandalous, and garnered Dietrich a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Scandal aside, Dietrich was nominated for a Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for her role and Morocco was selected by the National Film Registry for preservation at the Library of Congress because of its historical and cultural importance.
The Hays Code
Will H. Hays (project.latimes.com)
In 1931, the Motion Picture Association of America, under pressure from various ethical and moral groups, adopted the Motion Picture Production Code, which was nicknamed the Hays Code after MPAA president, Will H. Hays. The Hays Code was a guideline that set the standards by which every movie studio in the U.S. could self-censor its own content. The Hays Code drew a line in the sand between acceptable and unacceptable content for films intended for the general public. Under the Hays Code, lesbian women were to be portrayed as wicked, evil people suffering from moral decay. They were to be shown as doomed, with no redemption for their immoral behavior. Marlene Dietrich’s role in Morocco did not check any of these boxes.
A Sex Symbol for All
Marlene Dietrich flaunted her androgynous style. (smithsonianmag.com)
Even after filming on Morocco ended, Dietrich still frequently wore trousers and masculine clothing. The glamourous actress once explained that “I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.” Film critic Kenneth Tynan once wrote of Dietrich, “She has sex but no positive gender. Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men.” Although it is widely believed that Marlene Dietrich was bisexual, she could not publicly confirm this without violating the morality clause in her film contract. She married once, to casting director Rudolf Sieber, and had a child, a daughter named Marie, but the couple quickly separated. They remained married for several decades but lived separate lives. It is possible that their marriage was one of Hollywood’s famous “lavender marriages.”
An Icon of Classic Hollywood
The black and white publicity pic from "Morocco". (pinterest.com)
No matter her gender identity, Marlene Dietrich was an icon of classic Hollywood. She was one of the first glamourous actresses to craft an androgynous image that captivated audiences. As this black and white version of the colorized photo of Dietrich in Morocco shows, the charismatic beauty understood how to work her power of attraction.
The photo at the top of this story was colorized by Olga Shirnina, aka Klimbim; you can see more of her work at her Flickr page.
