Marlene, My Friend

"I always feel at ease when I am talking to you, David, that is because you are one of the few men in the world who has tried to understand me. I admire your fearlessness, the way you say things honestly, without pulling any punches." Marlene Dietrich.

David Bret's Marlene, My Friend was written with her approval and is complimented by her own words. Her only condition was that the book should not be published until after her death,

The book includes a series of candid interviews, the last just two days before her death on 6 May 1992, and reveals a Dietrich far-removed from the images she conveyed in such films as Dishonoured and of course The Blue Angel, the vehicle which precipitated her to international acclaim.

Dietrich admits to hating almost all her films, more than a few of her famous songs and many of her co-stars, film directors and contemporaries. Her true vocation, she says, only came when she began her second career, that of an exceptionally gifted chanteuse-réaliste. She speaks fondly of the greatest loves of her life, platonic and otherwise: Maurice Chevalier, James Stewart, Edith Piaf, Jean Gabin, Zbigniew Cybulsky, Johnny Hallyday and Vladimir Ashkenazy among them. Although David Bret also encountered the sharp end of Dietrich's teutonic tongue, these brief interludes were more than compensated for by the passionate, caring side of her nature, and by the incredible frankness with which she told Bret her story.In this remarkable biography, David Bret recounts Marlene Dietrich's story as she wanted it to be told. Illustrated with many rare photographs given by Marlene herself, it is a vivid and fascinating portrait of this truly inspirational superstar, and a wonderful testament to a great friendship.

Meine Freundin Marlene Dietrich

Ich kaufte mir dieses Album vor allem um Deutsch besser zu lernen; ich kannte das Lied 'Lili Marlene' und ich dachte, es wäre interessant. Aber sobald ich es hörte, wurde ich ein Fan. Marlenes Stimme ist klar und nett und voller Gefühl.

Die meisten der Lieder sind auf Deutsch, mit drei auf Französisch und drei auf Englisch. Meine Favoriten sind die Kriegslieder 'Wenn die Soldaten' und 'Im den Kasernen'. So einfach, wie Kinderslieder, aber auch traurig und alt, Sie scheinen aus einer anderen Zeit zu kommen.

Es gibt auch die Volkslieder aus den 60er Jahren; Bob Dylans 'Blowing in the Wind' und Pete Seegers 'Where have all the flowers gone' - Ein hervorragende Album, dass ich wieder und wieder gehört habe!