Morocco Blu-ray - Marlene Dietrich

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Amy Jolly')

Directed by Josef von Sternberg
USA 1930

Von Sternberg's first Hollywood picture, and his second collaboration with Dietrich (they first worked together on The Blue Angel). Dietrich vamps it up again as the mysterious Amy Jolly who runs away from her past with a one-way ticket to Morocco. Menjou is the poor sap around whom she runs rings, and Cooper gives a subtle performance as the Foreign Legionnaire she really loves. OK, so the plot is pure melodrama, but it's Dietrich the eye is drawn to. She sizzles with a heat and passion that completely upstage just about everyone and everything else. Who could forget the sight of Marlene as the nightclub singer Amy, clad in a tuxedo, planting a kiss on the lips of another woman? Stuffed to the gills with wonderfully silly melodrama, smoky bars and passionate embraces, it's a great film and a fine example of the magic woven by the extraordinary partnerships of Sternberg-Dietrich and Dietrich-Cooper.

***

With this romantic reverie, Marlene Dietrich made her triumphant debut before American audiences and unveiled the enthralling, insouciant persona that would define her Hollywood collaboration with director Josef von Sternberg. Set on the far side of the world but shot outside Los Angeles, Morocco navigates a labyrinth of melancholy and desire as the cabaret singer Amy Jolly (Dietrich), fleeing her former life, takes her act to the shores of North Africa, where she entertains the overtures of a wealthy man of the world while finding herself increasingly drawn to a strapping legionnaire with a shadowy past of his own (Gary Cooper). Fueled by the smoldering chemistry between its two stars, and shot in dazzling light and seductive shadow, the Oscar-nominated Morocco is a transfixing exploration of elemental passions.

Poster

Theatrical Release: November 14th, 1930

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Comparison:

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Region 0 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Süddeutsche Zeitung - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT

2) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Cover		*Part of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood* [Blu-ray] with Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil Is a Woman:**
Distribution	Süddeutsche Zeitung - Region 0 - PAL	Criterion - Spine #931 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
	In Region 1 Marlene Dietrich: The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings) is REVIEWED HERE
Runtime	1:27:48 (4% PAL Speedup)	1:32:17.156
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.88 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,191,813,987 bytes Feature: 27,380,459,520 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.45 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), DUB: German (Dolby Digital 2.0)	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, German, None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Süddeutsche Zeitung Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Trailer advertisement for Süddeutsche Zeitung • Text screen bios etc. in German DVD Release Date: July 9th, 2005 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 15	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.19:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,191,813,987 bytes Feature: 27,380,459,520 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.45 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Weimar on the Pacific - new documentary about actor Marlene Dietrich’s German origins, featuring film scholars Gerd Gemünden and Noah Isenberg (29:10) • New interview with film scholar Janet Bergstrom (31:09) • The Real Amy Jolly - interview with Kinemathek curator Silke Ronneburg (4:33) • The Legionnaire and the Lady, a 1936 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Morocco, featuring Dietrich and actor Clark Gable (59:09) A book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme Blu-ray Release Date: July 3rd, 2018 Custom Blu-ray Case Chapters 16

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: (May 2018) Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray: This is the first disc of Criterion's Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood Blu-ray that has Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman. We will review all of them, shortly.

Morocco is an old film - just out of the Silent Era and the 1080P attraction is centered around film grain. It is in the accurate 1.19:1 aspect ratio and compared to the DVD shows more information in the frame - on the top, bottom and left edge - losing a sliver on the right. It doesn't look dynamic but is seems very true-to-source in-motion with a max'ed out bitrate on a dual-layered disc. Any weaknesses in the visual quality would be part of the existing source and/or production limitations of the time.

Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) but the film's audio sufferers from its early production roots and does not sound great - often hollow, no depth etc. The score is by Karl Hajos (City Streets, Werewolf of London, Summer Storm) and of course we can enjoy Quand l'amour meurt and What Am I Bid for My Apple? as sung by Marlene Dietrich in Lo Tinto's nightclub. It can sound scratchy and weak even in the uncompressed track, but we suspect this I the best it can sound for home theater consumption. Criterion add optional English (SDH) subtitles in a slightly larger-than-usual font (see sample below). The Blu-ray disc is Region 'A'-locked.

This first disc has 4 supplements. Weimar on the Pacific is a new 1/2 hour documentary about actor Marlene Dietrich’s German origins, featuring film scholars Gerd Gemünden and Noah Isenberg. It delves into her sexuality and preferences and is quite interesting. There is also a new 31-minute interview entitled Crazy Love with film scholar Janet Bergstrom from 2014 as produced by Robert Fischer's Fiction Factory. It covers the story behind Marlene Dietrich’s first Hollywood picture, detailing every phase of the film’s production as well as its reception. The Real Amy Jolly - is a short interview with Kinemathek curator Silke Ronneburg who describes the real woman who was the basis for Marlene Dietrich's character in Morocco. The Legionnaire and the Lady is an hour-long 1936 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Morocco, featuring Dietrich and actor Clark Gable. The package has the other five films and a book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme.

Criterion add essential value for this brilliant von Sternberg war-romance with their extras. Dietrich's sexuality is impossible to restrain and this is a fabulous way to start this desirable Blu-ray set.

***

ON THE DVD (2005): This is by no means a pristine transfer although it appears to be free of digital manipulations and has some nice film grain. The image is dark and a little cloudy but that seems to follow the atmosphere of the film. Audio is likewise a bit weak, but I am thrilled that optional English subtitles are included, although they don't always follow the literal translation of the dialogue all the time (actually more elaborate sometimes). No extras save some German text screens and an advert for Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Great to have this pure stylish film in my library. Dietrich just drips off the screen. The price tag of about $12 US makes it a very desirable purchase.

NOTE: (Thanks Pavel!)- It is issued by Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the biggest German newspapers, in their series Cinemathek. This series should contain 50 DVDs, one DVDs issued each week, mostly reissues of movies previously issued by different companies (not in the case of Morocco). Süddeutsche Zeitung also has similar Bibliothek and Diskothek series.

Gary W. Tooze

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