I wonder what percentage of people know of this woman?

She was a legend, just like Marilyn Monroe was, yet for different reason.

www.marlene.com

I know who Marlene Dietrich was. Does that make me some kind of old coot now too? Huh? HUH!?

I wonder how many people realize Madeline Kahn was parodying Dietrich in Blazing Saddles?

Now THAT I did not know. Ha, I guess that means I'm back to whippersnapper status! Sweet!

There were recent news articles about her relationship with Hemingway.
Well, there's another name some won't know.


I used to hear of various people I thought were long dead, y'know, ancient history, and as I've gotten older, I realize a lot of them might have died during my, er, culturally unclued in years.

ah, I know Lili, and I recall the old black and white, Witness for the Prosecution.

Artist: Marlene Dietrich Lyrics
Song: Lili Marlene Lyrics

Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate
Darling I remember the way you used to wait
Twas there that you whispered tenderly
That you loved me
You'd always be
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Time would come for roll call
Time for us to part
Darling I'd caress you and press you to my heart
And there 'neath that far off lantern light
I'd hold you tight
We'd kiss good-night
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Orders came for sailing somewhere over there
All confined to barracks was more than I could bear
I knew you were waiting in the street
I heard your feet
But could not meet
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Resting in a billet just behind the line
Even tho' we're parted your lips are close to mine
You wait where that lantern softly gleams
Your sweet face seems to haunt my dreams
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

When we are marching in the mud and cold,
And when my pack seems more than I can hold
My love for you renews my might
I'm warm again
My pack is light
It's you Lili Marlene
It's you Lili Marlene

I think I was born in the wrong era.

When I was in high school and studying Lord Byron, I looked at a portrait in the text book and said "He looks like Tyrone Power"




The English teacher Mrs. Alice (Ladies, and I use the term loosely) Lawler, looked at me like I spent WAY too much time watching Million Dollar Matinee, but she had to agee with my assessment.

Sometime in the same year, I remember a girlfriend looking at me like I was a freak, because I told her this guy I met was really cute...."He looks just like Errol Flynn"

I LOVED Million Dollar Matinee! I forget you're really a Jersey girl Chai. Was that channel 11 or 9?

It is odd that Lord Byron looks like Tyrone Power. It is even more odd that Tyrone Power looks like Andy Kaufman.

You know, I really don't remember, somehow 11 sounds right. Wasn't 9 Joe Franklin?


Oh and there was the 4:30 movie every weekday on channel 7.
Remember, they'd take a 2 hour movie and hack a 1/2 hour here and there off of it, plus commerical time.

During the commercials was time to set the table, feed the dog, fight with your brother. Then at 6 when it was over, it was dinner time.

In the summer of '61, we used to play on this sandlot ballfield at the corner near the woods and Marlene Dietrich and MaryBeth Hilldritch and Nancy Croteu and Janice Ford used to stand by the telephone pole or behind the backstop and watch us. They used to laugh sometimes and we never knew if they were laughing at all of us or just something else, but it used to bother Buddy Nicolsen when he was trying to pitch and Marlene laughed. He would look at her and his face would get red. Then the girls would whisper to each other.

Once Austin hit the ball over the right field fence and all the boys went to go look for it. We had to go around the fence and down a short hill to the flat place under some pine trees to look for the ball. Larry Lorentzen stayed up near the fence marking the spot where the ball went over and yelled down stuff like "More to the left, cootie-heads, more to the left." I forget who found the ball, but we did and we all went back up to the diamond to resume the game.

Buddy wasn't with us. His glove was on the mound, but he wasn't anywhere around. Tommy Ford picked up the glove and said that he would take it to Buddy's house because he had probably forgotten it and gone home, but just then we saw Buddy and Marlene coming back up the hill and around the end of the fence. I'm pretty sure he was holding her hand, but as they came onto the field they separated.

Marlene walked towards the Valley Street gate and then met up with the other girls. They were doing all the talking, Marlene wasn't saying anything. Buddy took his glove back from Tommy and pounded his fist in it four or five times. He said something like he had to go soon or maybe now or in a little while. We took our positions and waited for Buddy to pitch.

David Croteu was up with Denny Anderson on first because you only got a single if you hit it over the right field fence. Buddy's first pitch about killed David catching him square in the back as he turned to avoid the deeply inside throw. He sprawled in the home plate dust howling. I looked over to see if his sister was watching but the girls were gone.

Sorry, sorry, man, sorry sorry Buddy said to David and then he headed out the Valley Street gate.

Later that summer Buddy and I were on on way to Globe Hollow for a swim and we saw written on the side of Potterton's store in two foot high letters:

DENNIS AND MARLENE FOREVER.

Buddy laid his bike down and walked around looking for something on the side of the road. We were about fifty feet from the store give or take a little. He found a chunk of coal about the size of a fist and hefted it a couple of times. I thought he was going to go over and scratch over the lettering, but instead he stood still for just a moment then wound up just like a pro and let fly. The coal flew in a slight arc and then exploded against the wall right between the letters M and A. It made a nice big black mark there.

Joe(then we went swimming and never spoke of these things again.)Nation