The Song of Songs

Interesting to see Dietrich, early in her Hollywood career, working with a director other than her Pygmalion, Josef von Sternberg. The latter director provided beautiful but often-static set-ups for framing her, while Mamoulian's musicality and fluid camera release her. (Think also of his direction of Garbo in "Queen Christina," and that film's famous scene in which she moves lovingly and rhythmically--it was timed to a metronome-- around the bedroom, watched by her lover. )

I think this is one of Dietrich's best performances. She passes through many phases, from naive young girl to earthy woman. Her song "Johnny" is sublime--and moving, when she angrily tears into the second chorus after spotting in the audience the lover who had abandoned and disillusioned her.

"The Song of Songs" could never have been made once the new and MUCH tougher Production Code went into force in July, 1934. Up until then, believe it or not, films often had a lot of content that might shock folks today! A few films had nudit, such as in 1925's "Ben Hur". A few featured cursing or people flipping 'the bird' as in 1933's "Parachute Jumper". And, a few had practically EVERY sin known to mankind in them, such as with 1932's "The Sign of the Cross"...which depicted lesbianism, bestiality and more! This was because although there was a production code before 1934, studios routinely ignored it because they realized that sex sells! But by 1934, ticket sales waned and various conservative groups were pushing for boycotts...hence the tough new code.

When the story begins, the country girl, Lily (Marlene Dietrich) leaves her home and heads to the big city, Berlin. Soon she meets Richard (Brian Aherne) and he asks her to model for him, as he's a sculptor. Well, she quickly agrees...not realizing it means NUDE modeling! And, despite her misgivings, she goes through with it and the statue is exquisite*. Soon the pair fall in love, though Richard is a putz and isn't willing to marry her. However, his friend, Baron von Merzbach (Lionel Atwill), sees the statue and adores it...and is determined to meet and marry Lily! She doesn't love the Baron, but she is now alone and helpless. What's next? Well, quite a bit! See the film and find out for yourself what happens to sweet Lily.

This is an odd film, as it tries to be a wicked AND a nice film at the same time. You don't see any nudity...just the beautiful naked statue of Dietrich. And, although her character poses nude, she is no libertine but a nice and likable young lady.

So is it any good? Well, considering it has a lot of slick Paramount touches, it's obvious the studio wanted to make a prestige film. The director isn't her usual Josef von Sternberg but they instead assigned the film to Rouben Mamoulian (a very fine director) and it features an excellent supporting cast, lovely sets and period costumes. It simply looks great. As far as the story goes, it's quite good...though the resolution at the end did seem a bit abrupt. Still, this is one of the actress' better films...well worth seeing and very well made.

*To promote the film, apparently Paramount made many copies of the statue and set them to theaters around the country. I would LOVE to find and purchase one of the statues....though I've not been able to find anything more about it on the internet.

The plot to this film is pretty simple, but wow, Marlene Dietrich is fantastic in the leading role, and director Robert Mamoulian makes the most of his actors and the script in crafting a beautiful film. Dietrich skillfully handles her role which shifts from a naïve young country girl, to a model and lover of a sculptor, to the unhappy wife of an older man, and lastly to a cabaret girl. Her performance is especially impressive for the time, when over-acting and exaggerated facial gestures were common; Dietrich by contrast is polished and smooth, sexy in a sultry, understated way, and quite a singer on top of all that. Director Robert Mamoulian, who also directed the brilliant Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1931, pulls all the right strings here, and there are some beautiful shots, examples of which are shifting clouds in front of the moon and sunlight reflecting off the water as Dietrich is out riding. The movie is also elevated by quotes from the poetry of the Biblical book of the Song of Songs, and it's a nice mix of sophistication and pre-Code naughtiness. The scene when Dietrich disrobes for a nude modeling session, where Mamoulian cuts to sculptures to represent her body, brings a smile. The plot itself isn't going to blow you away, but Dietrich will. Very enjoyable.

Ruben Mamoulian surprised me with this film. It's a melodramatic story, but very well edited, both image and sound. Therefore the film looks amazingly modern. There is good rythm in the scenes. Marlene Dietrich is rather natural compared with her later films. She is not the sexgoddess as we know her. It is a gift Mamoulian has over the 1930 divas. I never thought he was a great director, but since Becky Sharp I find his films interesting and great works of art.

Were this not made by Rouben Mamoulian and were it not to star Marlene Dietrich this picture would be rubbish but it is made by Rouben Mamoulian and it does star Marlene Dietrich and consequently it's fabulous.

Marlene Dietrich gives an outstanding performance. Her portrayal of an innocent naïve country girl becoming an unhappy woman of the world is both exaggerated to near-melodramatic levels yet is also completely credible and convincing. It's not a happy transition and you personally feel a stab of pain as you sense each subtle change in her personality. You want her to stay that simple, naive sweet girl but realise, as you grow to think you know her, that nobody's forcing her down these paths. Everything which happens to her, she does it to herself. She's a wonderfully flawed cleverly written character.

Even for a 'pre-code' film, the exploration of sexual desire is unusually and overtly erotic. Dietrich's convent-girl character Lily, excited by finding herself in the big city becomes a nude model for a local sculptor and that inevitably leads to a sexual awakening in both herself and the sculptor. As I said, such a load of nonsense, clearly written by a frustrated spotty teenager would need Paramount's A Team to make this turkey float - but they did it in spades and peppered it with some surprisingly sophisticated sexual humour.

Sometimes Mamoulian is less than subtle such as when he has the sculptor caressing the breasts of his life size statue whilst watching the shadow of his muse undress. It's 1933 yet incredibly this is still one the most powerfully erotic yet beautifully sensitive scenes in cinema. That naked, put white statue features throughout the film; it's her Dorian Grey, it retains that Garden of Eden innocent beauty whist the real Lily is gilded with the world.

Another earlier scene which is pivotal to Lily's evolution is when she's first asked to take her clothes off. Just using her eyes, you can see Dietrich has just discovered the immense power over men her naked body has. It's a surprisingly honest depiction of sexuality, identity, obsession but above all: whatever love is. Stevie Nicks wrote that love's a state of mind and this film shows what love means to the minds of all its different characters. It can be creative, destructive, enriching and vindictive but for Lilly it will never be as she dreams it could be as in Solomon's Song of Songs.