Hagen VerlegerTypography & Book Design

The Apple Scene

Front cover with a blow-up of Dietrich’s face
Front and back cover
Botticelli’s “Venus” (mirrored)
The scene’s setting
A portrait by Dürer (1497) and Dietrich’s face
Handing over the apple
Apple and key
Cooper facing the “forbidden fruit”
The death mask of Queen Louise of Prussia …
… and Marlene Dietrichs’s face, both encompassing a transcription of the scene’s dialogue
Four spreads comparing facial expressions
Comparison of Dietrich and Cooper
The apple in a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger (1517)
Historical depictions of the apple scene
Close-up of the historical imagery
Stack of books, back cover

This pamphlet presents the visual analysis and interpretation of a scene from Josef von Sternberg’s 1930 film “Morocco,” starring Marlene Dietrich (Mademoiselle Amy Jolly) and Gary Cooper (Légionnaire Tom Brown).

The so-called “Apple scene” sees Dietrich selling an apple to Cooper and presenting him with the keys to her room in exchange for the money. The analysis concentrates on the actors’ facial expressions and gestures during the 2-minute scene, associatively contrasting them with historical imagery.

18 × 24 cm, 40 pages (1C), unique copy, self-published.