Marlene Dietrich, Photographs and Memories, Signed by Her Daughter
[Signed by Marlene Dietrich’s Daughter] Riva, Maria. Marlene Dietrich, Photographs and Memories, From the Marlene Dietrich Collection of the FilmMuseum Berlin. First Edition. 2001. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition—minor staining to upper left corner of the jacket. Book is signed “Maria Riva Feb. 2002” on the title page. Compiled by Jean-Jacques Naudet.
Maria Riva was more than Marlene Dietrich’s only child; she was her assistant, confidante, and, at times, therapist. Her monumental biography of Dietrich remains one of the most revealing books ever written about a Hollywood star. This volume draws on the vast Dietrich archive in Berlin, but what distinguishes it from countless other photographic tributes is Riva’s presence. Caption by caption, she supplies the private context, family history, and personal observations that transform these objects from celebrity memorabilia into something far more intimate. Few people knew Dietrich better, and fewer still observed her with such clarity.
“A ship now sails the seas, registered as the Marlene; numberless children grow up with a name unknown to the world not long ago. ‘Marlene’ is a contraction of ‘Maria Magdalene,’ two names not often found in one person.”
--Josef von Sternberg