No Angels – Mae West, Rosalind Russell & Carole Lombard

The present volume was intended to accompany this year’s Berlinale Retrospective. However, due to the current situation’s effects on cinematic materials in this section of the film festival, the Retrospective is postponed until 2022.

‘No Angels – Mae West, Rosalind Russell & Carole Lombard’ ‒ a bilingual German and English publication, written by the head of the Retrospective and artistic director of the Deutsche Kinemathek ‒ offers an in-depth, thematic preview of the next Retrospective. It also provides a background for the upcoming open-air screening of ‘I’m No Angel’, shown as part of the Berlinale Summer Special.

As leading comedians of their times, Mae West (1893–1980), Rosalind Russell (1907–1976) and Carole Lombard (1908–1942) continue to reach audiences in very individual ways. Mae West plays with feminine clichés, reversing established gender roles with ambiguous looks and suggestive language. In her roles as a self-confident career woman, Rosalind Russell captivates viewers with her quick-witted repartee while also surprising them with slapstick humor. Carole Lombard convinces audiences through her subtle elegance, sometimes as a spoiled heiress and millionaire, sometimes as an ambitious actress who wants to conquer the stage or screen.

Rainer Rother introduces these three screen legends in separate essays. He reveals how their comedies employed clichés, both playing with them as well as subverting them. West, Russell and Lombard’s memorable performances gave voice to courageous as well as graceful commentary in Hollywood’s golden era.

Rainer Rother

No Angels – Mae West, Rosalind Russell & Carole Lombard
Published by the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek

edition text + kritik, Munich
May 2021, 163 pages, b/w illus., German/English

ISBN 978-3-96707-504-5, 15 euros

Contacts
Review Copies

Binding requests for review copies should be addressed to:
edition text + kritik, Johannes Fenner, j.fenner@etk-muenchen.de
+49 (89) 436 000 18

Press Discount
Journalists are eligible to purchase a discounted copy for 9 euros. Please send requests to:

Deutsche Kinemathek, Heidi Zapke, hbzapke@deutsche-kinemathek.de
+49 (30)3009ß3-820

Author
To schedule interviews with Rainer Rother, the author and head of the Retrospective, please send requests to:
Deutsche Kinemathek, Heidi Zapke, hbzapke@deutsche-kinemathek.de
+49 (30) 300903-820

Berlinale Summer Special

Preview of the Retrospective 2022 / Film screening with an introduction

‘I’m No Angel’ (1933, directed by Wesley Ruggles, with Mae West, et al.)

Sunday, 20 June 2021, 10 pm, ARTE Sommerkino, open-air cinema Charlottenburg Palace, Spandauer Damm 10-22, 14059 Berlin

Ticket Information: www.berlinale.de