Von Sternberg. John Baxter
Screen Classics
Screen Classics is a series of critical biographies, film histories, and analytical studies focusing on neglected filmmakers and important screen artists and subjects, from the era of silent cinema to the golden age of Hollywood to the international generation of today. Books in the Screen Classics series are intended for scholars and general readers alike. The contributing authors are established figures in their respective fields. This series also serves the purpose of advancing scholarship on film personalities and themes with ties to Kentucky.
Series Editor
Patrick McGilligan
Books in the Series
Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film Ruth Barton
The Marxist and the Movies: A Biography of Paul Jarrico Larry Ceplair
Warren Oates: A Wild Life Susan Compo
Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel Nick Dawson
Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder Gene D. Phillips
Claude Rains: An Actor’s Voice David J. Skal with Jessica Rains
Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley Jeffrey Spivak
VON STERNBERG
John Baxter
Copyright © 2010 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved.
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Photographs from The Last Command, The Drag Net, Shanghai Express (Dietrich close-up), Der Blaue Engel (production shot), The Scarlet Empress (Dietrich–von Sternberg), The Devil Is a Woman, The King Steps Out, The Shanghai Gesture (Munson-Tierney and set design), Jet Pilot, and The Saga of Anatahan are courtesy of the Joel Finler Collection. Portraits of David Stratton and Josef von Sternberg are courtesy of Robert McFarlane. All other photographs are from the author’s collection.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baxter, John, 1939–
Von Sternberg / John Baxter.
p. cm. — (Screen classics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography.
ISBN 978-0-8131-2601-2 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Von Sternberg, Josef, 1894–1969. 2. Motion picture producers and directors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN1998.3.V66.B39 2010
791.4302′33092—dc22
[B]
2010023313
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
For Curtis Harrington, true believer
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.
—T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Contents
The World, the Flesh, and William A. Brady
The Woman All Women Want to See