A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948)

Paramount Pictures

Produced by Charles Brackett. Directed by Billy Wilder. Original Story by David Shaw. Screenplay by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Richard Breen. Art Direction by Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler. Photography by Charles B. Lang, Jr. Edited by Doane Harrison. Songs: Black Market, Illusions and Ruins of Berlin by Frederick Hollander. Backgrounds filmed in Berlin: Templehof Airfield, the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. 116 min.

Cast: Jean Arthur (Phoebe Frost), Marlene Dietrich (Erika Von Schluetow), John Lund (Captain John Pringle), Millard Mitchell (Col. Rufus John Plummer), Peter Von Zerneck (Hans Otto Birgel), Stanley Prager (Mike), Bill Murphy (Joe), Gordon Jones (First M. P.), Freddie Steele (Second M. P.), Raymond Bond (Pennecott), Boyd Davis (Giffin), Robert Malcolm (Kraus), Charles Meredith (Yandell), Michael Raffetto (Salvatore), James Larmore (Lt. Hornby), Damian O’Flynn (Lt. Colonel), William Neff (Lee Thompson), Frank Fenton (Major Matthews), Bobby Watson (Hitler), Henry Kulky (Russian Sergeant), Norman Leavitt (File Room Guard), Harland Tucker (General McAndrew), George Carleton (General Finney), Len Hendry (Staff Sergeant), Edward Van Sloan (German Man), Lisa Golm (German Woman), Ilka Gruning (German Wife), Paul Panzer (German Husband), Richard Ryen (Maier), Phyllis Kennedy (Wac Tech. Sergeant), Ted Cottle (Gerhardt Maier, Jr.), Otto Waldis (Inspector), Frank Yaconelli (Accordion Player), Otto Reichow (German Policeman), Harry Lauter (Corporal), Rex Lease (M. P. Lieutenant).

In 1947, Billy Wilder was about to embark on his sixth major motion picture as a director. His first five included such classics and box-office hits as The Major and the Minor (1942), Double Indemnity (1944) and The Lost Weekend (1945). Although these films were highly praised by critics and the general public, the Catholic Church objected to the apparent Lolita theme, which was evident in The Major and the Minor, with an army major (played by Ray Milland) apparently becoming smitten with a twelve year old adolescent. Double Indemnity earned the ire of Insurance Companies nation-wide, while liquor distributors felt that The Lost Weekend would hamper their products as well. Mr. Wilder’s most recent project, which went into production under the working title Operation Candy Bar, would be his latest opus, taking satirical jabs at America’s occupation of Germany following World War II.
Filming began in the summer of 1947 when Wilder took a small crew to Berlin to film about a half dozen establishing shots amid war-torn cities and neighborhoods, which were now mountains of rubble where rescue workers were valiantly struggling to find survivors following the carnage. Originally, Paramount executives had wanted June Havoc for the part of Nazi femme fatale Erika Von Schleutow. But, Billy Wilder thought Marlene Dietrich, whose film career had been fading rather rapidly, would be an ideal choice for the role. When Wilder brought Miss Dietrich a rough draft of the script, she immediately declined because of her total disdain for the Nazis. However, the wily director insisted that Miss Dietrich watch June Havoc’s screen test, which turned out to be the final convincer to persuade her that the role was made to order for her.

The role of Phoebe Frost proved to be a no-brainer, with Jean Arthur being the lead contender, even though Miss Arthur had been absent from the screen for four years! With only four films under his belt, newcomer John Lund was cast as the young Captain Pringle, whose character completes the love triangle, even though he was thirteen years younger than Miss Arthur and twelve years younger than Miss Dietrich! Frederick Hollander was again on hand as composer of three songs sung by Marlene Dietrich as well as appearing on camera playing the piano in the cabaret scenes. Their professional association dated as far back as Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel) eighteen years earlier when the German actress warbled Falling in Love Again to worshipping, ill-fated Emil Jannings, who was cast as the tragic Professor Immanuel Rath. Hollander would also serve as writer for other Dietrich vehicles such as Song of Songs (1933), Desire (1936) and Destry Rides Again (1939).

Released on June 30th, 1948, under the re-christened title A FOREIGN AFFAIR, the film was met with disapproval by the United States Defense Department, who resented the satirizing of the U.S. occupation administration in postwar Berlin. Also, Germany showed total disapproval of the picture by banning it entirely. Stuart Schulberg, who was a member of the German Denazification Military Inspections, felt that the film was not appropriate for German audiences, verifying the point that “our initial disappointment with the picture later escalated to outrage and disgust.” Others stated that the idea of making a comedy in the midst of World War II was in total disregard to the human suffering of the German populace.

Nevertheless, A FOREIGN AFFAIR received generally good reviews from the critics, with Miss Dietrich’s triumphant return to the front ranks of Hollywood, heralding all of the ballyhoo. However, some critics agreed with the Defense Department, stating “What really shocks me about this Hollywood film is the attitude towards life that it reflects; the casual acceptance of irresponsibility and bad manners, of lawlessness and boorishness and mischief-making.” The film, however, did receive two Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay (Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and Richard Breen) and Black and White Photography (Charles B. Lang, Jr.), but lost on both counts to John Huston for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and William Daniels for The Naked City, respectively.

Of course, there would be more classic films presented by the fertile creative genius of Billy Wilder. He would later go on to make more cinematic gems like Sunset Blvd. (1950), Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Some Like It Hot (1959) and the Academy Award winning The Apartment (1960). Also, both he and Miss Dietrich reunited again nine years after A FOREIGN AFFAIR in the superb adaptation of the Agatha Christie courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution.

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