The Woman One Longs For

Presented by Roving Shows and Island Jazz.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt, Germany, 1929, Drama.
Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Kortner.
Silent with Live Improvised Musical Accompaniment by Natalie Williams Calhoun.
On a train journey through Europe, a newly married man becomes captivated by a mysterious woman whose presence unsettles his carefully ordered life. With its atmospheric visuals and Dietrich’s mesmerizing screen presence, the film offers a rare glimpse of the future star just before her international breakthrough. “Meet Marlene Dietrich, before Josef von Sternberg and The Blue Angel: much of her mystique is already present. This sophisticated German silent observes a precarious, dangerous love triangle. Two men are entranced by the same woman: one deserts his bride on their wedding night and the other may have killed to possess her. Neither seems to get what he wants, yet Dietrich’s ‘woman one longs for’ is not a scheming femme fatale... maybe. The fluid, very modern direction of Curtis Bernhardt will be a revelation - this obscure Marlene Dietrich starrer is a superior piece of filmcraft.” - cinesavant.com

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 76 min