Dishonored

one of old fashion films who, using the story only as pretext, gives magnificent cinematography. a war story, remembering Mata Hari biography, it is the scene for brilliant, fascinating, ambiguous, charming performance of Marlene Dietrich. not a real surprise. only delight. because each word, each gesture, each dialogue becomes a Persian carpet of details. the clothes, the music, the piano, the cat, the attitude of a woman who covers her patriotic feelings in a refined form of hedonism, her forbidden love story who has the only sin to not give to her the right partner to be easily credible, the last scene who gives to death new nuances are the ingredients of great example of high cinematography. and that does Dishonored memorable.

(Flash Review) This time around Dietrich is using her allure to gain secrets of the enemy Russians as a spy rather than to just toy with men's emotions in some of her other films. She is a widow to a man who died in battle and due to her somber background no longer fears death so is a well-suited to her new role of being a spy. After a first successful assignment, the next man matches her intellect and she grows fond of him which ultimately leads to some tough decisions which leads to a very shocking ending. As always Dietrich is in several stylish outfits which complement the film's visual styles of layering objects and using lights & darks to create a moody atmosphere. Style is even on her mind in the most unexpected moments. As opposed to some of her other films, the story feels better focused, paced and more interesting.

Having just viewed this movie for the first time, I must say that from what I've seen written about Dishonored it seems somewhat unappreciated. While perhaps not a masterpiece on the level of other von Sternberg/Dietrich pairings, such as the two greats The Blue Angel and Blonde Venus, like them both it oozes with the unmistakable marks of its director: the stark dialogue, the lavish attention to atmosphere (such as all the wonderful interiors), and a pervading sense of marvelous oddness. Von Sternberg shows us that the real triumph of his cinema is not one of the reality it affords, but one of style, of which Dishonored has enough to spare.

Well now this is just very silly. As others have pointed out, Victor McLaglen acts his best but is fatally miscast - too rigid, charmless, snide and creepy in a role that is crying out for a Clark Gable or Cary Grant. On the other hand Dietrich was never more beautiful, and you can feel Sternberg's worshipping of her through the camera lens. The photography is luscious and the BluRay restoration a joy. Warner Oland has a small role as something other than Charlie Chan, which is very odd to see. The story, dialogue and characters are thoroughly unbelievable at every turn, and the whole thing, really, is just a delirious but delightful mess, a stilted, fevered, nonsensical fairytale dream about spies, but no less likeable for all that. Accept it and love it for what it is, because it isn't like anything else.

Most will dislike Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored. The plot is often ridiculous, and that's what most people like to comment on. I found it hypnotic. The inconsistencies didn't annoy me so much as entertain me. In a way, this could be called a camp classic. Whatever type of classic it is, though, it is an amazing film. Confer the scene nearer the beginning when Marlene Dietrich walks right up to the camera, within inches of its lense. How about the scene where she plays a Russian peasant girl to infiltrate the Russian army (she's an Austrian spy)? She climbs up on a high ledge and starts meowing at the man whom she is seducing. The final sequence is stunning and audacious. I'm skipping a few lines in order to give sufficient room to write this SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who else but Marlene Dietrich would insist that her lipstick were on straight before she was executed by firing squad?