The film career of actress Marlene Dietrich started with silent films, as she made her film debut with The Little Napoleon (1923). She was propelled to international fame by director Josef von Sternberg, who cast her as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930). The film's commercial success brought her a contract with Paramount Pictures in the United States.

Paramount sought to market Dietrich as a German answer to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Swedish actress Greta Garbo. Her first American film, Morocco (1930), directed by Sternberg, earned Dietrich her only Academy Award nomination. She would appear in several other films directed by Sternberg, including Dishonored (1931), Blonde Venus (1932) and Shanghai Express (1932).

Dietrich and Sternberg's last two film collaborations, The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935)—the most styled of their collaborations—were their least successful at the box office. Her first sound film without Sternberg was 1933's The Song of Songs, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, although she and Sternberg would later work together another two times.

Without Sternberg, Dietrich—along with Joan Crawford, Mae West, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn and others—was labeled "box office poison" after the film Knight Without Armour (1937) proved a box office failure. In 1939, however, her stardom was revived when she played a cowboy saloon girl in the Western comedy Destry Rides Again opposite James Stewart, singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have".

While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in films, including appearances for such distinguished directors as Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, in successful films that included A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Touch of Evil (1958) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). Her final film appearance was as herself in the 1984 documentary Marlene.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich as the ninth-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema.

Film

Silent feature films Year Title Role NotesRef. 1919 Im Schatten des Glücks Unconfirmed role 1923 Kathrin, a housemaid 1923 Tragedy of Love Lucy 1923 Man by the Wayside Kramerstochter 1924 1924 Leap Into Life Mädchen am Strand 1925 Dancing Mad Dance extra 1926 Manon Lescaut Micheline 1926 Madame Wants No Children Dancer Uncredited 1927 Kokotte 1927 Sophie 1927 Heads Up, Charley Edmee Marchand 1927 His Greatest Bluff Yvette 1927 Café Elektric Erni 1928 Princess Olala Chichotte de Gastone 1929 Dangers of the Engagement Period Evelyne 1929 I Kiss Your Hand, Madame Laurence Gerard (Lucille in the US) 1929 Stascha 1929 Ethel Marley

Sound feature films Year Title Role Notes 1930 Lola-Lola Separate German and English versions were shot simultaneously. 1930 Morocco Mademoiselle Amy Jolly 1931 Dishonored Marie Kolverer 1932 Shanghai Express Shanghai Lily 1932 Blonde Venus Helen Faraday 1933 Lily Czepanek 1934 Princess Sophia Frederica / Catherine II 1935 Concha Perez 1936 I Loved a Soldier Anna Sedlak Unfinished film 1936 Desire Madeleine de Aupre 1936 Domini Enfilden Her first Technicolor film 1937 Knight Without Armour Countess Alexandra Vladinoff 1937 Angel Maria Berker 1939 Destry Rides Again Frenchy 1940 Seven Sinners Bijou Blanche 1941 Countess Claire Ledoux 1941 Manpower Fay Duvall 1942 Elizabeth Madden 1942 Cherry Malotte 1942 Pittsburgh Josey "Hunky" Winters 1944 Kismet Jamilla 1944 Follow the Boys Herself 1946 Martin Roumagnac Blanche Ferrand 1947 Golden Earrings Lydia 1948 Erika von Schlütow 1949 Jigsaw Herself Uncredited cameo 1950 Stage Fright Charlotte Inwood 1951 No Highway in the Sky Monica Teasdale 1952 Rancho Notorious Altar Keane 1956 Around the World in 80 Days Saloon hostess Cameo 1956 Maria de Creveçoeur 1957 Witness for the Prosecution Christine Vole (Helm) / Cockney woman 1958 Touch of Evil Tanya 1961 Judgment at Nuremberg Frau Bertholt 1962 Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler Narrator Voice 1964 Paris When It Sizzles Herself Uncredited cameo 1978 Just a Gigolo Baroness von Semering 1984 Marlene Herself Voice

Short films Year Title Notes 1928 Die gluckliche Mutter Dietrich biographer Steven Bach notes that the release of this film has not been verified. 1935 Promotional short film publicizing costumes designed by Travis Banton. 1937 Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 7 1943 Show Business at War 1944 Memo for Joe

Television Complete list of television appearances (excluding news footage): Unicef Gala (Düsseldorf, 1962): Guest Appearance Cirque d'hiver (Paris, 9 March 1963): Cameo as "Garcon de Piste" Deutsche-Schlager-Festspiele (Baden-Baden, 1963): Guest Appearance Grand Gala du Disque (Edison Awards) (The Hague, 1963): Guest Appearance Galakväll pa Berns (Stockholm, 1963): Concert, with introduction by Karl Gerhardt and orchestra conducted by Burt Bacharach Royal Variety Performance (London, 4 November 1963): Guest Appearance The Stars Shine for Jack Hylton (London, 1965): Guest Appearance The Magic of Marlene (Melbourne, October 1965): Concert, with orchestra conducted by William Blezard. The 22nd Annual Tony Awards (New York, 21 April 1968): Acceptance Speech Guest Star Marlene Dietrich (Copenhagen – for Swedish Television, 1970): Interview I Wish You Love (An Evening with Marlene Dietrich) (London, 23 & 24 November 1972): Concert TV Special, with orchestra conducted by Stan Freeman.

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