Rent Desire (1936)

3.7 of 5 from 58 ratings
1h 32min
Rent Desire (aka The Pearl Necklace) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper star in this comedic drama about a crime spree that leads to love. In the most elaborate jewel heist in European history, the beautiful and conniving "Countess" Madeline (Dietrich) embezzles a small fortune in pearls. As she makes her getaway to Spain to deliver the hot goods, her escape is thwarted by car trouble, until a handsome and likeable young tourist (Cooper) helps her out. She shows her gratitude by leaving the unsuspecting good Samaritan in the dust - literally! But when he accidentally ends up with the pearls, she must feign romantic interest to get them back.
The charade soon turns into the real thing however; and Madeline realises that her only hope of happiness is to clean up her act - no matter what the cost - or lose the man she loves.
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Frank Borzage, Ernst Lubitsch
Writers:
Hans Székely, Robert A. Stemmle, Edwin Justus Mayer, Waldemar Young, Samuel Hoffenstein, Vincent Lawrence, Benn W. Levy
Aka:
The Pearl Necklace
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Genres:
Classics, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Collections:
Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Marlene Dietrich, Top 10 European Remakes, Top Films
BBFC:
Release Date:
04/05/2008
Run Time:
92 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Subtitles:
Czech, Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
BBFC:
Release Date:
15/01/2024
Run Time:
96 minutes
Languages:
English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.37:1
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Audio commentary with writer and critic Nathaniel Bell and film historian David Del Valle (2021)
  • Frank Borzage Oral History (1958, 40 mins): rare archival audio recording of the filmmaker in conversation with George Pratt
  • Mr Cooper Goes to Hollywood (2023, 12 mins): film historian and curator Nathalie Morris discusses the stardom and style of iconic Hollywood actor Gary Cooper
  • Lux Radio Theatre: 'Desire' (1937, 55 mins): radio play adaptation of the film's screenplay, starring Marlene Dietrich alongside Herbert Marshall in the Gary Cooper role
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray

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Reviews (1) of Desire

Screwball Romance. - Desire review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
04/01/2023

Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper had starred together in Morocco (1930), her Hollywood debut. And it's a pleasure to see them reprise their partnership in Desire because they are both so suggestive of thirties A-list glamour. She is exotic in her shimmering white costumes, he is saturnine in a dinner jacket as the bewildered American adrift in European romance and adventure.

Frank Borzage was a great director but Desire is much more representative of its producer, Ernst Lubitsch. The story commences in his Paris of the imagination, among jewel thieves posing as aristocrats, before taking the screwball road to Spain. The audience is vicariously placed in Cooper's brogues as the naive tourist gets a fast education.

It's similar territory to Lubitsch's peerless Trouble in Paradise (1932), except by the mid thirties, censorship had put mitts on the famous Lubitsch touch. There is no real sexual risk taking here which makes the film much less exciting. The incidentals of the genre are still in place; the sophisticated stars, the amazing clothes, the swanky hotel suits. But there is no je ne sais quoi. And even less frou-frou.

By 1936, the screwball comedy had taken to the highways of America. Lubitsch's scenarios of elegant crooks posing as phoney toffs was old hat. Desire is fun but a little tired. There's some decent sitcom. And Marlene sings. But this kind of film was done better in the pre-code era when the Countess' gown could be a little more risky, and her innuendo too.

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