Marocco

"Talkies" had been around just a couple years when Paramount made "Morocco," but watching this film one might think it was a late silent movie. That's because of the dialog - or paucity of it. "Morocco" is a film with few lines and even fewer words in those few lines. But then, the two leads in this early desert flick never were known for their verbosity or lengthy lines of dialog. Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich both grew up in the silent era, and had many films under their belts by 1930. And, both of their careers were noted for roles with little dialog. As very good actors, their expressions and movements spoke a lot.

This is a good movie that gives a feel for the desert, a foreign legion setting, and life in colonial Africa. The time is during the Rif war of 1911-27, between Spain with France as an ally, and Berber tribes from the Rif (mountainous) region of Morocco. The film is based on German novel, "Amy Jolly, the Woman from Marrakesh," by Benno Vigny. Dietrich plays Mademoiselle Jolly, who is a cabaret singer. She is the woman of a love triangle that includes Cooper. Cooper is in a sultry role as Legionnaire Tom Brown.

Cooper was 29 and Dietrich 28 when this film was made. Both got their starts in silent films - Cooper in the U.S. and Dietrich in Germany. Cooper had been in some 50 movies before this and Dietrich had been discovered in Berlin. This was her Hollywood debut.

This is a good early look in sound films of two great stars of the silver screen. Jolly performs a couple of numbers that are risqué.

Marlene Dietrich is aboard ship to Mogador. An officer explains to fellow passenger Adolphe Menjou she's probably a vaudeville performer; they call one-way passages like her a suicide ticket. Her first night performing at Paul Porcasi's place she's a sensation. Soon she's beginning a tentative relationship with Foreign Legion private Gary Cooper. But Menjou is still in there, pitching.

Josef von Sternberg & Miss Dietrich's first American film still shows a lot of hesitancy with sound. There are vast silences between lines, giving this movie an air of being a chapter-heading show, with the lines explaining what is going on.... but you don't need to be told, the heat is palpable: not just the sexual heat, but the desert heat. Unfortunately, the prints available are not in great shape, and Lee Garmes' sharp images of von Sternberg's always rococo set designs are as much inferred as seen.

MOROCCO is first and foremost an atmospheric film. Anyone who looks for more didn't understand what Josef von Sternberg created here. It's pure atmosphere. A reverie. The film is at times creaky but it's understandable because it was made over 70 years ago! There are several stand-out scenes in MOROCCO, including the famous kiss scene and the one when Marlene breaks a pearl necklace but what makes this Sternberg film so memorable is the stunning ending. Suddenly, the creaky film looks positively contemporary. Are we really in 1930s and not the wild 1970s?!?! The brilliant ending MAKES the movie. Without it, it would probably have been an enjoyably moody but average 1930s flick. With it, MOROCCO becomes a timeless classic. It's probably the most stunning ending ever made, with so many layers of meaning with that one prolonged static shot. It's visually brilliant and sexy on so many levels.

It's interesting to read other reviews of Morocco. Some people just don't seem to have a clue, and it would be fascinating to learn what they think of as a good film from this era. Nevertheless, I was surprised to see that only one reviewer mentioned the sound, and that was to criticize it. Sternberg's use of sound as a tool jumped right out at me. There are numerous scenes in this film which have the possibility of being overly tedious and run the risk of being boring. Much is made of Sternberg's visual prowess and the rich texture displayed here, but I'm surprised that everyone seems to be missing the effect of the sound. Throughout the film, in scenes which need to build tension yet are visually somewhat tiresome (Legionaires marching in the street for example) Sternberg uses various sound devices artfully. We hear the monotonous drumbeat as the men march. The longer this goes on, the more irritating it becomes and as a result, puts the audience on edge. This adds to the tension of the scene immensely. The same thing happens in other parts of the film when we hear a short nearly monotone musical phrase repeated over and over ad nauseum, or when the sound of the wind blowing through the trees also becomes irritating. Each time, the scene is intended to build tension and each time, Sternberg's use of sound perfectly complements the visual to achieve the desired effect. This movie is on my "you gotta see this one" list.

Either if you're a man or a woman, you'll fall for Amy Jolly, that would be read 'amie jollie' = beautiful friend, in French speaking Morocco. Marlene Dietrich not exactly at her best, but very sexy, playing gracefully from a man-eater 'Carmen' (plenty of suggestions linking both characters) to a female sutler, following 'her man' into the desert. First, on high heels shoes, than taking her shoes off, and going on naked feet, along with a handful of native women, and donkeys, and she-goats. One tends to forget the great director (von Sternberg) behind this great woman-star, and that's unjust. The script may have been good, but it would not develop onto this smooth running 90 minutes of relative inaction (for 21st century standards), but for the cleverly devised sequences, photography, and dialogues.

I'm so glad I finally saw this movie yesterday on the big screen, at a special session. Those who can't afford this luxury, certainly can afford renting, nay, buying this video?