Josef Von Sternberg & Marlene Dietrich on the set of Dishonored (1931, dir. Josef Von Sternberg)

“The strongest appeal [of the film medium] to the masses was the simplest one: the formula always revolves around sex and its biological associate, violence. One bond that links all audiences is the animal in man.”

-Josef Von Sternberg

Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in The Blue Angel (1930, dir. Josef Von Sternberg)

Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (1932, dir. Josef von Sternberg)

“Shadow is mystery and light is clarity. Shadow conceals - light reveals. To know what to reveal and what to conceal and in what degrees to do this is all there is to art.”

-Josef von Sternberg

Marlene Dietrich in The Scarlet Empress (1934, dir. Josef von Sternberg)

The Blue Angel (1930, dir. Josef Von Sternberg) (via)

“I am, at heart, a gentleman.”

-Marlene Dietrich (photographed on the set of Morocco, 1930) (via)