Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The ways that two German screen luminaries embodied the growing status and ambitions of 20th-century women are chronicled in this absorbing dual biography by historian Weiland. Born a year apart, movie star Marlene Dietrich and director Leni Riefenstahl both got their start in Weimar Germany's film industry-Riefenstahl tried out for the iconic show-girl part in The Blue, which eventually went to Dietrich-and became exemplars of the on-the-make new woman of the Jazz Age. Moving to Hollywood, the glamorous Dietrich specialized in playing jaded man-eaters with secret hearts of gold-a heart she displayed in real life by selling American war bonds and touring with the USO. Riefenstahl, upholder of wholesome Aryan virtue in Triumph of the Will and other Nazi propaganda movies, proved far more corrupt, furthering her own career by employing her skills to celebrate Hitler's regime. (She blithely used concentration camp inmates as extras.) Weiland highlights the entertaining soap opera in their stories, especially the parade of Dietrich's affairs with men and women-often abetted by her complaisant husband-which involved endless psychodrama and scenes. But she pairs the humor with incisive cultural analysis of the women's impact as proto-feminists who used sex appeal, savvy, and considerable talent to pioneer new roles for women. Photos. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Review by Library Journal Review
Separating fiction from the apocryphal, German political theory historian Wieland takes readers on a densely layered, whirlwind tour of Weimar Germany, 1930s Hollywood, the Third Reich, World War II, and more. She alternates distinct biographies of the most famous German woman of the 20th century, actress Marlene Dietrich (1901-92), and perhaps the most infamous filmmaker of all time, Leni -Riefenstahl (1902-2003). In effect, there's an implied comparison and contrast. Dietrich comes off as more objective, and less lurid, than the 1993 deconstructionist Marlene Dietrich by the star's daughter. The author matter-of-factly delves into the actress's love life (with men and women), focusing on her significant relationships, and unlike many biographers, accentuates Dietrich's warfront service. Conversely, Wieland dismantles Riefenstahl's lifelong protests of political naïveté, depicting her as a delusional, shockingly egotistical figure who was concerned only for her career and who savored her insider status with patron and protector Adolf Hitler. (Much of Wieland's ammunition comes from Joseph Goebbels's diaries.) Additionally, the author's concise descriptions convey the visual impact of Riefenstahl's overtly political propaganda films. VERDICT An absorbing read and a must-have for film collections. Highly recommended where Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts is popular. [See Prepub Alert, 4/20/15.]-Kent Turner, School Library Journal © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two icons and their turbulent times. Contemporaries growing up in Weimar Berlin, Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) and Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) both aspired to careers in entertainment: Dietrich as a concert violinist, Riefenstahl as a dancer. In her engrossing, richly detailed debut book, Wieland, a historian of political theory at the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Culture, offers parallel biographies of the two women, tracing their vastly divergent trajectories. Riefenstahl championed Nazis and exalted Hitler, while Dietrich left Germany for Hollywood stardom. When her future as a violinist was thwarted by tendinitis, Dietrich turned to acting, where her discipline and drive overcame her "modest gifts." "I had no special talent and I knew it. Everyone knew it," she confessed. Nevertheless, when Josef von Sternberg saw her in a revue, he decided he had found the star of his new project, The Blue Angel (1930). She would play Lola Lola, "a sassy, savvy, honky-tonk B-girl," a role that launched her career. Wieland documents her affair with von Sternberg and her many subsequent lovers, including Erich Maria Remarque, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jean Gabin, American Army Gen. James M. Gavin, Yul Brynner, Fritz Lang, and John F. Kennedy. She also had an intense, though platonic, friendship with Ernest Hemingway. A beloved entertainer of American troops, Dietrich later reinvented herself as a nightclub singer, but her career spiraled downward, and she often was beset by financial worries. Riefenstahl also diverted from dancing to acting, using her training in gymnastics and boxing for roles in mountain films, popular in prewar Germany. By the 1930s, she was not only acting, but producing, directing, and writing screenplays. Hitler, she learned, was a fan "and an anti-capitalist feminist to boot." She was entranced. Egotistical and self-promoting but nevertheless talented, Riefenstahl won accolades in Germany; managed to be acquitted of Nazi collaboration; and reinvented herself as a photographer. Wieland deftly traces both lives through their many ups and downs. A sweeping, revelatory dual biography. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
