Seven Sinners

A return to the territory (if not quite the spirit or the style) of Dietrich's great films with von Sternberg in the early '30s. Here she plays Bijou, another member of that 'foreign legion of women' introduced in Morocco: a singer who shuttles around the islands of South-East Asia on a string of deportation orders, a trail of wrecked nightclubs and local riots in her wake. This time, her hopeless affair is with Wayne's staunch US Navy lieutenant (fortunately they both love the navy as much as each other), but she winds up sharing a tipple with the alcoholic doctor of a tramp steamer. True to form, Garnett directs it with panache but without finesse. His lighting and his use of Dietrich as an icon both reflect a viewing of the Sternberg films, but he doesn't seriously attempt the cruelty or the emotional pain of his models. Dietrich, as the woman 'not quite ready for the word derelict', is wonderful.