Do we know how well Jean Arthur and Marlene Dietrich got along?
I ask because they are sooo different and from what I've read about Dietrich she didn't really like/trust many other women and was rather competitive.
No idea. Billy Wilder was quoted as saying that he had "one broad who won't look at herself in the mirror (Arthur) and another who won't stop (Dietrich)" and tells the story of how Arthur was sure he was favoring Dietrich in all their scenes together and was very angry with him. Years later, she actually saw the film and realized it wasn't true, so she went to his house and apologized immediately.
shareShe shouldn't have apologized! Did you see Jean's hairdo in this film? I know it was part of her character, but still!
(Well, I DO think it was nice she apologized... however, I'm still not sure that Jean was portrayed in her most flattering light.)
I can't say I personally was noticing Jean's hairdo all that much, just her beautiful face. I thought she was much more attractive than Dietrich in this film. After the 1930s, I didn't find Marlene Dietrich attractive in her roles anymore; to me, she looked too much like a template for drag queens.
"Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."
I can't disagree with you there. I *never* really understood Marlene Dietrich's appeal, to be honest.
shareI'm thinking the exact opposite.
Her hair was gorgeous and she never looked so beautiful than in that movie. Fell in love with her.
Jean and Marlene got along on camera, but privately Dietrich complained to her daughter and to her friends, and called Arthur "Ugly, Ugly!"
The Jean Arthur/ Billy Wilder story mentioned above is ALMOST totally true: Jean happened to come upon "A Foreign Affair" on late night TV in the 1980's. She had never seen it. She liked it very much, and called up Wilder the next day (she did not visit him) to praise the film and apologize for giving him a hard time.
Once thing nobody seems to notice is that John Lund was perfect for the part. He WAS Captain John Pringle. The role would not have worked with a major star like Bill Holden or Gregory Peck. It had to be John Lund, a guy not necessarily on the level. No way he would have gotten an Academy Award nomination, some actors and some kind of roles are never nominated. Sometimes actors are so perfect for their role (Kim Novak in "Vertigo"; Anthony Perkins in "Psycho"; Boris Karloff in "Bride of Frankenstein") that nobody realizes it's acting.
shareAccording to the Trivia section, Marlene didn't like Arthur or Lund. She called him stiff and said she was an ugly, ugly woman. I think Dietrich has issues because if she really thought she was so hot she wouldn't need to disparage her co-stars. It sounds like insecurity and jealousy to me. Promiscuity, which was said to be her trait, can also stem from a desperate need to be liked.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
Dietrich was bisexual--perhaps Arthur rejected advances or something happened there...some women get nervous. Or maybe that is why Dietrich did not like her?
I thought Arthur was beautiful in her way--natural, pretty as can be. The hair was dumb--a farmer's wife, so Scandinavian silly for a Congresswoman from D.C. But I didn't like this performance--it was stupid instead of her usual bright.
Dietrich was beautiful in her way--elegant, sophisticated, dressy, sparkling evening gowns and false eyelashes.
Someone went too far to contrast the women--Arthur would have had advice to get her hair done, and Dietrich had no place to get hers done!
Stop with the dime store psychology, please.
Actresses are competitive by nature, probably driven by insecurity to some extent, but all of this is canon with Dietrich. Nothing new.
It sounds like being sex symbol went to Marlene Dietrich head. Jean Arthur is gorgeous and aged very well. She is very far from ugly.
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