Falling in Love Again - From the Blue Angel to the Front Line

In this episode of The A to Z of Wartime Song, Lili Redman and Tom Carradine travel back to one of the most extraordinary moments in modern cultural history - Weimar Republic Berlin - to explore Marlene Dietrich's signature song, "Falling in Love Again," composed by the brilliant Friedrich Hollaender for the 1930 film The Blue Angel. They trace Dietrich's remarkable journey from a Berlin chorus girl to one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars - a woman who turned down the Nazi Party's lucrative offers, renounced her German citizenship, and ended up performing for Allied troops within a few kilometres of German lines, armed with songs, a musical saw and a mind-reading act taught to her by Orson Welles. Along the way, they paint a vivid picture of Weimar Berlin itself - its queer nightclubs and cabarets, its Nobel Prize-winning scientists, its organised chaos - and the moment it was all extinguished almost overnight when the Nazis came to power in 1933. There's also a fascinating portrait of Hollaender himself - born in London to a circus family, trained at the Stern Conservatory, and eventually forced to flee to Hollywood where he rebuilt his career composing for over a hundred films. Smoky, sultry and utterly iconic, this episode is a love letter to a brief, brilliant moment in history - and the song that came to define it. SPOTIFY PLAYLIST You can listen to ALL of the songs that Tom and Lili talk about in the episode on their Spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FQDrBphYqYLAuN6Jm01PN?si=b777dc33a703408a REFERENCES Boater Day (Straw Hat Day) - 15th May https://nationaltoday.com/straw-hat-day/ Falling in Love Again - Marlene Dietrich (Original 1930 Version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhJuu7Y-hww&list=RDdhJuu7Y-hww&start_radio=1 Dusty Limits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_Limits / https://www.instagram.com/thedustylimits/ Marlene Dietrich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlene_Dietrich Marlene as Lola Lola in Blue Angel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYXg7LlzyO8&list=RDGYXg7LlzyO8&start_radio=1 The Blue Angel - Movie 1930 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdww58D6rhc Marlene performing at the Front https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkvfaw4mlOM Weimar Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic The Eldorado https://adventuresintimeandgender.org/stories/the-club-history/ The Kit Kat Club https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KitKatClub Moka Efti https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/24/babylon-berlin-real-1920s-superclub-behind-weimar-era-thriller Babylon Berlin - TV Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_Berlin Haus Vaterland https://www.the-berliner.com/berlin/haus-vaterland-history-the-lost-pleasure-palace-of-potsdamer-platz/ Kurt Weill https://www.kwf.org/kurt-weill/ Bertolt Brecht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht The Eldorado - as the Nazi Headquarters https://perspectives.ushmm.org/item/photo-of-the-eldorado-club Friedrich Hollaender https://www.frederickhollandermusic.com/ Tingel Tangle Theatre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyBV5Odi-PQ A Foreign Affair - With Hollaender at the piano (at 31:30) https://m.ok.ru/video/3845684660924 Those Town from Earth - Frederick's Novel https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/those-torn-from-earth-preface-by-thomas-mann/author/hollander-frederick/ Falling in Love Again - Sheet Music PDF https://www.sheetmusicsinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Falling-In-Love-Again-1930.pdf Emil Jannings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Jannings Falling in Love Again - Billie Holliday https://youtu.be/jIcc5EDJFRw?si=Z2L0Lr38YAoAMkT1 Falling in Love Again - Gracie Fields https://youtu.be/XaJXb3gSxIs?si=76Rr3sghmyTUzU4q Paul O'Grady as Marlene https://youtu.be/wjiWfVHB3Fo?si=dL13y6kreMyyQ0_G Lieutenant Gruber in 'Allo 'Allo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFCCNGFR4jo 'Allo 'Allo https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006xyt3 Das Lila Lied - The Lavender Song (Marek Weber 1921) https://youtu.be/d_a3UkF3aTI?si=qhzCDzl1OYr6ALv_ My Ship - Hildegarde https://youtu.be/cSTzg81oD4s?si=ueTDdJHghGOt0Url Johnny, wenn du Geburtstag hast - Marlene Dietrich https://youtu.be/PJxgmQ06awk?si=6u50CB7xBC6SUxsb Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus - The Comedian Harmonists https://open.spotify.com/track/4tzGDmOcO3oZcVh3BjkIWn?si=13890bfd8fa043b3   CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Wartime Songs 00:50 Catch Up 01:46 F = Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) 04:13 Marlene Dietrich 09:34 The Weimar Republic: A Cultural Explosion 21:12 Fredrick Hollander 26:16 Discussing the Sheet Music 26:54 Emil Jannings 29:14 Discussing the Lyrics 32:48 Discussing the Music 36:05 Discussing the Versions: Marlene Dietrich 37:52 Billie Holiday 38:50 Gracie Fields 40:50 Which Is Our Favourite? 42:10 If You Liked That You'll Like This 48:25 Mentioned in Dispatches 49:07 Teaser for Next Week 49:52 Outro SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS You can follow the podcast on social media: http://instagram.com/warsongspod https://www.facebook.com/warsongspod Find more information about Lili Redman here: https://liliredman.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lili__redman/ https://www.facebook.com/ScalaLil Or Tom Carradine here: https://www.tomcarradine.com/ https://www.instagram.com/tomcarradine https://www.facebook.com/mrtomcarradine CONTACT THE PODCAST If there's a wartime song that you think they should discuss, or if you have a personal or family story connected to one, drop them a line at [email protected] to be "Mentioned in Dispatches". LISTENING LINKS Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7ktQ4nyudmPRLcCNyNxEfv?si=ac9e1babe6834f2b Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-a-to-z-of-wartime-song/id1806037318 If you've enjoyed this episode Lili and Tom would be grateful if you'd leave a review and make sure you've subscribed and turned on notifications so you'll never miss an episode.