Monday, January 3, 2011

A Dietrich Double Feature

Tonight is Josef von Sternberg night on Turner Classic Movies, and featured are a pair of pre-Code collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, Shanghai Express and my personal favorite, Morocco.

You can read a bit about the former here, and a full-length review of the latter here.

Here is tonight's schedule from TCM's website:

8:00pm [Romance] Shanghai Express (1932)
A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-82 mins

9:30pm [Romance] Morocco (1930)
A sultry cabaret singer falls hard for a Foreign Legionnaire.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou, Ullrich Haupt Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-92 mins

11:15pm [Drama] Crime and Punishment (1935)
A young student murders for money then tries to escape his guilt and a brilliant detective.
Cast: Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold, Marian Marsh, Tala Birrell Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-88 mins

1:00am [Crime] Shanghai Gesture, The (1941)
A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
Cast: Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, Ona Munson Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-98 mins

2:45am [Adventure] Macao (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-81 mins

4:15am [Musical] King Steps Out, The (1936)
A young woman saves her sister from marriage to an emperor that she doesn't love.
Cast: Miss Grace Moore, Franchot Tone, Walter Connolly, Raymond Walburn Dir: Josef von Sternberg BW-85 mins