Morocco (Standard Edition)

Another Dietrich-von Sternberg film which continues unspooling in the mind long after the final credits. Ditch any 21st century expectations of what makes a great movie - in 'Morocco'. there's no plot to speak of, no tricksy editing and no action sequences. Although the story involves a alleyway mugging by knife-wielding assassins, and an attack on an enemy machine-gun post, these are dealt with in a casual, languid, distant manner, and never allowed to get in the way of von Sternberg's expressionist play of manners.To contemporary audiences the film is almost laughable. The actors take whole minutes to cross rooms and exchange clipped, enigmatic dialogue; Gary Cooper's Legionnaire Tom Brown seems to be forever arriving and leaving; while Dietrich's Amy is alternately cool as a cucumber or dizzy with pent-up distress. Cooper and Dietrich never ever say what they feel, instead they hide their emotions behind wry smiles, cigarette smoke and banter. Everything is unspoken. And nothing's filmed on location; von Sternerg's Morocco is a country of the imagination, all light and shade, whose shadowy turbaned residents are mostly seen and not heard, and only provide a exotic alien backdrop to the unfulfilled love affair at centre-stage.The movie contains some classic movie moments - Dietrich in tux and topper, kissing a woman on the lips; the love-scene in the bedroom with Cooper's fan foreplay; the polite dinner party where Dietrich scatters pearls in all directions when she hears the distant drums of the returning army; her distraught and frantic search through the ranks of the wounded soldiers; and the truly astonishing and surreal climax in the wind-whipped sands of the Sahara.

This review is for the BLURAY from PH/INDICATOR released July 2022. Filmed in 1930 the transfer is as good as perhaps you might expect, even if, to my untrained eye it is a 9 out of 10. Sound is good and subs are fine. Plenty of extras for those who enjoy commentaries etc. What about the film? Personally I think it is one of Diterich's finest (even if her hair style leaves a bit to be desired). She is sexy, tough but vulnerable and works well with top billed Cooper. I didn't really get why she was so obsessed with him when after initial "contact" he shows little enthusiasm for her. That should not take away any of the power of the film - the direction, sets and acting - and "that (brief) kiss", all done nearly 100 years ago. A cinematic milestone, though viewers may struggle to get into it in 2022. A good current price (£10) make this a worthwhile punt if you are in doubt (but you shouldn't be!!)

I like Marlene Dietrich. I like watching old films like these, they're easy going... It's worth getting just for the cabaret scene with her wearing that suit and top hat and kissing that woman.

I was aware when I decided to buy this DVD that the style of playacting might feel a little dated, but I was curious to see what it was like - partly for that reason. The disillusionments that the characters have behind them, and which influences their actions and reactions so much are not fully gone into, and the Moroccan environment is scetchy. All the same, the film is not uninteresting. Gary Cooper , Marlene Dietrich and the other main characters are nice to look at, and I do not regret buying the DVD.

an enjoyable movie

Based on the novel Amy Jolly by Benno Vigny and adapted by Jules Furthman, the film is about a cabaret singer and a Legionnaire who fall in love, but their relationship is complicated by his womanizing and the appearance of a rich man who is also in love with her. The film is most famous for the scene in which Dietrich performs a song dressed in a man's tailcoat and kisses another woman (to the embarrassment of the latter), both of which were rather scandalous for the period.Great Academy Award winning Performance Marlene playing along side Gary Cooper. "Pass me the Foster Grants".

Dietrich is dynamite!In this movie (her debut in America) her instructer made sure, that no one forgot Dietrich again.Memorable scenes!!

I can see why Gary Cooper had the part of Beau Geste in 1939, in Moroco he is a Legionair as well.The teaming with Marlene Deitrich was right. This was one of a string of films where Cooper was not a cowboy. He had a few years to go before his best film "The Story of Dr Wassell" this film was Cooper at his best.A.Ricketts