Morocco (1930)

A cabaret singer and a Legionnaire fall in love, but their relationship is complicated by the results of his womanizing and due to the appearance of a rich man who wants her for himself.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg (as Josef Von Sternberg)

Writers:

Jules Furthman (adapted by), Benno Vigny (from the play "Amy Jolly" by)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gary Cooper	...	Légionnaire Tom Brown
Marlene Dietrich	...	Mademoiselle Amy Jolly
Adolphe Menjou	...	Monsieur La Bessiere
Ullrich Haupt	...	Adjutant Caesar
Eve Southern	...	Madame Caesar
Francis McDonald	...	Sergeant Tatoche
Paul Porcasi	...	Lo Tinto

Storyline

The Foreign Legion marches in to Mogador with booze and women in mind just as singer Amy Jolly arrives from Paris to work at Lo Tinto's cabaret. That night, insouciant legionnaire Tom Brown catches her inimitably seductive, tuxedo-clad act. Both bruised by their past lives, the two edge cautiously into a no-strings relationship while being pursued by others. But Tom must leave on a perilous mission: is it too late for them?

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Plot Keywords:

love | legionnaire | singer | nightclub | foreign legion | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish Arabic Italian

Release Date:

6 December 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amy Jolly

Filming Locations:

Yuma, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marlene Dietrich's and Josef von Sternberg's second out of seven feature-film collaborations.

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Quotes

Amy Jolly: [singing, at the nightclub] What am I bid for my apple, the fruit that made Adam so wise? On the historic night, when he took a bite, they discovered a new paradise. An apple, they say, keeps the doctor away, while his pretty young wife has the time of her life, with the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker... Oh, what am I bid for my apple?

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Connections

Featured in Sex, Censorship and the Silver Screen: The Temptations of Eve (1996)

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Soundtracks

Quand l'amour meurt
(1904) (uncredited)
Music by Octave Crémieux
Lyrics by Georges Millandy
Sung by Marlene Dietrich in Lo Tinto's nightclub

User Reviews

Marlene Comes to America

After her stunning international success in The Blue Angel, Marlene Dietrich was open to all kinds of film offers from all countries. She shrewdly negotiated with Adolph Zukor at Paramount Pictures in the USA and made her feature film debut in Morocco co-starring with Paramount's number one leading man Gary Cooper. She couldn't have predicted it, but it was a permanent move away from Germany.

Dietrich was a package deal for with her came the director of The Blue Angel Joseph Von Sternberg. No doubt Von Sternberg created the image that we now know her for, sensual, alluring, and standing by her man when she does make her choice.

One thing about Morocco I found different than most of the films I've seen of Dietrich is that she's not in control of the situation. In most films she usually is, but in Morocco Cooper's very much in charge. She's got a wealthy man in Adolphe Menjou panting after her, but she can't see him for beans. It's Gary Cooper an ordinary dogface Foreign Legionaire that she's fallen for.

Cooper in fact plays a part Tyrone Power would affect great success with later, a hero/heel. Cooper is carrying on an affair with the wife of one of the officers at his post when he meets Dietrich. The man must have had something going for him.

Von Sternberg did a great job in creating the atmosphere of not only Morocco, but of the Foreign Legion. Men with forgotten pasts and dubious futures, living only for the moment.

Although I think Marlene Dietrich did better films than Morocco in her Hollywood years, Morocco was a grand and auspicious beginning for her.