The first of the Sternberg/Dietrich collaborations at Paramount is
one of the finest: a delicate romance between a legionnaire and a woman
with a past, set in a claustrophobic, studio-built Morocco composed
from the play of light and shade on extravagant sets. For all the
melodramatic qualities of script and performances, it's also a
perfectly realistic examination of the perils of desire and an
affirmation of l'amour fou, rooted deeply in emotional reality.
Sternberg's direction is stunningly evocative, and Dietrich is
sublime; the film also gives her one of her best cabaret numbers.
