When DIETRICH departed for
'Destination Unknown' her 55 lb baggage allowance comprised the following: tropical
uniforms; boots; grey flannel men`s trousers, transparent Vinilite slippers; silk-lined
cashmere jumper by Mainbocher; lingerie; a strapless brocade dress and two long,
seguined gowns in white and gold. The dresses were heavly encrusted with beads that no crease would
show. MARLENE also
carried her singing saw in a black leather case; three month' supply of cosmetics;
labelled in huge nail-pollish letters (for dressing by torchlight), and supply of special
soap for the hair that she had had specially made, and which would lather in practically
no water.
These USO Shows teached
DIETRICH how to manipulate audience, time her laughs and deal with hecklers. During her
time with the forces, the whole way in which she presented herself as a performer
underwent a change. This
could been seen not only in the self-deprecating humour with which she quitly derided her
glamour image - something that she has retained until her later great appearences, as in
her famous dismissal of her glamour and mystery as 'kitch' and 'quatsch' - but in her very
delivery of the Songs.
DIETRICH contracted
pneumonia in Italy in 1944, and in the Ardennes her hands froze.