Desire

Great video quality and ran really well for an old movie. The audio was also great.

Now that movies have degenerated into (male) car crashes, or (female) dike-rap, one returns to films like this one to try to imagine what all of Cole Porter, Cary Grant, Edward and Wallis, Duke Ellington and Fred Astaire were all about. It isn't enough to say, merely "Style;" Camp has pretty much sullied that word for two generations, now. But style -- or that combination of concept and high finish that a furniture manufacture calls The Bogart Look -- exists, or existed, once, and one can see it here, live and bubbling like a genie of mirth climbing out of a champagne bottle.The plot is simple enough: a beautiful European jewel thief on the run accidentally meets and falls in love with a naif but excruciatingly handsome American guy in a very good suit. They go through the choreography of flirtation in back-lot Southrn Spain, surrounded by a stellar crew of supporting players with wonderful accents.Dietrich, again in her version of the Dolores Del Rio look, wearing a dress nobody else in the world could wear, sits at the piano and accompanies herself in the song, "You've Got That Look." It is too insane! It is wonderful. It's a performance you'd have paid a hundred bucks (in 1940's money) for in a good New York hotel boite, but Lena Horne or Eartha Kitt or even Hildegarde would have given it to you.This is all about the Romantic Feature Film as comic art. It ought to be required reading for all the film wanabees who hope to direct, and somehow get the chance, but turn out low-brow drivel like When Harry Met Sally. You can (and maybe you should) watch this movie over and over, the way you enjoy anything rare and precious. Like the Marx Brothers comedies, it has healing power, and pre-war value.Every element in it is expertly integrated. It's a short movie, really, but so perfectly realized you have the impression of having had either a convincing halucination, or a true life experience.Champagne for the eyes.

Sophisticated late 30s era romantic comedy. No gut level rolling on the ground laughter. More considered and dialog driven smiles and grins. Still funny.The situation is more than a little contrived particularly when Marlene transfers the stolen goods then steals Gary's car.

If you’re curious about what real movie stars used to look like, this is a good place to start. On the other hand, if your tastes are strictly for Italian Neo-Realism, Jean Luc Goddard political treatises, or Marvel Comic Books type flics, you’d be advised to avoid this one.Directed by the master of Euro-sophistication, Ernst Lubitch, the thin plot concerns a charming and elegant jewel thief (Marlene Dietrich) who comes across a not so naive but affable American car designer (Gary Cooper) and bamboozles him into smuggling a stolen diamond necklace across the border between France and Spain. Complications, of course, arise.The leading players are at the peak of their beauty and glamor. This was an era (the 1930s) where audiences went to watch their favorite film stars cavorting in sumptuous sets, instead of being “enlightened” by any directorial “vision.”The romantic duo are deftly surrounded by the most irresistible bunch of Euro-hams this side of the Danube. The surroundings are as lavish as anything Paramount studios could afford. Dietrich wears the kind of expensive but demented rags that only she (and Joan Crawford at Metro) could pull off with her usual aplomb. Of course, she’s in on the joke while sitting at a grand piano singing a bouncy love song while rhythmically shaking several dozen feathers that emanate from her shoulders. Actresses today may be more versatile, but not one single one of them could pull off this kind of stunt and get away with it, just watch them fail miserably on the yearly Red Carpet debacle.The print provided for this Uni DVD-Rom is absolutely stunning and worth every penny of its price. No extras, nor subtitles, however.

Watched many years ago and just saw the magic that is Dietrich watching again now I see how humorous it truly is.

would not play on my machine.

This was Marelene Dietrich's last money-making film for Paramount Studios during her original time as a contract player. She had just left Josef Von Sternberg, her mentor,(or he had left her) and the public was beginning to tire of her. In this film she seemed more relaxed, more at ease, and seemed to be having a lot of fun during this film, not to mention looking absolutely gorgeous in each costume. Gary Cooper, with whom Dietrich had made her American film debut in 'Morocco', was again her co-star, and again the chemistry worked. This had to be one of the most beautiful couples ever rendered in black-and-white film.The story and plot centers around a stolen and then lost strand of pearls, and Dietrich's(the thief) efforts to get them back from an innocent man(Cooper), on whose person she hid them in order to escape. All works well in her plan until she finds herself falling in love with him, and he with her. There's always something to mess up every well-laid plan, eh?Anyway, this film greatly benefits from the producer, Ernst Lubitsh, and his famed "Touch". there is a lot of real, adult humour in this film without going ribald. Lots of excellant photography and gorgeous costume work, and Dietrich and Cooper being themselves. What more could you want?

Marlena at her best. Outrageous outfits, killer cars and sweet Spanish scenery. Gary Cooper at his goofiest. Great plot, and shot beautifully. If you like romantic comedy, this one is not to be missed. A rare gem from the thirties. PS: Marlena croons a little known torch song “Tonight is the Night.”

This unjustly forgotten romantic comedy bauble is a clever, quite sophisticated delight, with the imprint of producer Ernst Lubitsch clearly upon the final product. Gary Cooper is a delight as an innocent abroad American on a European vacation who encounters and falls for sophisticated, chic Marlene Dietrich. What he doesn't know, however, is that she is a jewel thief who has hidden a necklace in his jacket pocket in order to get it through customs. She then starts to play up to Cooper in order to try to get the necklace back, a necklace that, the screenplay asks us to believe, he doesn't know he has in his pocket.Cooper and Dietrich are a terrific screen team, their potent chemistry a reflection of the brief affair that they were having while making this film. This was Dietrich's first film after leaving director Josef von Sternberg, and it would remain one of the best of her career, and certainly, for my money, her most outstanding romantic comedy. Cooper would appear in a few other comedies in the future, with mixed results. This was his first foray in that film genre, and he proved to have a delightful, subtle touch.I heartily recommend this film to fans of either star.The Universal Vault Series print shows some signs of wear and tear, a little soft and grainy, but remains quite watchable. Considering the difficulty in finding this film any other way, this is really the only game in town.

Tom (Gary Cooper) encounters Madeleine (Marlene Dietrich) on his way to holiday in Spain. Unknown to him is the fact that she has just stolen $2 worth of pearls and is trying to smuggle them into Spain. She slips the pearls into his jacket pocket without him noticing so she can avoid the customs search. However, he takes off his jacket and packs it into his suitcase forcing her to stick with him until a moment arises where she can get the pearls back. Things dont work out as planned for her as when they part company, Tom still has possession of the pearls. Her partner in crime Carlos (John Halliday) is not happy with her when Tom suddenly shows up again. However, Madeleine is romatically won over by Tom, who is still unaware that he is carrying the valuable pearls, and this changes her plans.....The film has a good cast with a special mention for Zeffie Tilbury as "Aunt Olga" who turns up late in the film - an old, frail lady on the outside but a cold, emotionless criminal at heart. She advises Madeleine to forget about love - it is much better to have the memory. There are many good scenes, eg, the end scene at dinner when Tom gradually reveals to Carlos what he knows about the theft, the beginning scene when Madeleine is carrying out her scam, the scene at customs on the border of Spain where we are unsure of who is going to get busted and how, etc. The story gets going from the outset and is played with humour. Cooper is funny as the salesman, eg, when he discusses which is the better word - "delighted" or "glad" - to his boss before he goes on holiday. The good cast keep the story going but unfortunately, the ending lets things down a bit. It's far too goody-goody.

A nasty hum on all the disc, so returned to sender

Neither Cooper or Dietrich seem entirely at ease in this screwball comedy, although they warm up as the plot progresses. Much of the comedy, and the acting, seems a little forced, and the laughs depend on mild double entendres and suggestive remarks - especially over dinner in the thieves' hideaway villa.It's not a classic, and it's nowhere near the funniest comedy that Dietrich ever made (Destry Rides Again), but it more than passes the time.The restored print is wonderful, and the cars and costumes sparkle. The French and Spanish scenery depicts a long-lost era, all bucolic charm and elegant buildings, a snapshot of life just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and WWII. Dietrich is, as always, stunning, with arched eyebrows painted so high that they look like the antennae of some exotic insect.

This was the first pairing of Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper since Morocco a few years earlier. She had already become a seasoned actress, who usually outshone her clumsy, or merely bland, male co-stars ~ in the case of Victor McLaglen or Clive Brook, not difficult.Even the later relaxed, even dour Coop acted like a twitchy, gauche adolescent in his early films, and evidently hadn’t quite got rid of the tendency when he made this in 1936, though he’s otherwise fine as a jaunty young man on holiday in France snd Spain, where he {literally} runs into Dietrich’s beautiful, clever jewel thief.It’s a romantic comedy, and not a bad one, with the sublime Marlene ravishing as ever, and with a nicely judged performance as her ‘uncle’ by roguish John Halliday {to be seen four years later as Tracy Lord’s father in The Philadelphia Story}.The early scenes are hard to top, with doctor Alan Mowbray and high class jeweller Ernest Cossart very funny in a lovely two-hander of cross-purposes and befuddlement.The plot comes and goes, Frank Borzage’s direction is fine, and for me this is one for fans of Marlene, of which I am one.Entertaining, well worth a look.