Morocco (film) agreed to bring the German actress to Hollywood under a two-picture contract, in February 1930. When Dietrich arrived in the United States to begin filming "Morocco" "[she] was subjected to the full power of Paramount's public relations machine" launching her into "international stardom" "before" American moviegoers had seen her as Lola Lola in "The Blue Angel", which appeared in U.S. theatres in 1931. Premiering in New York City on December 6, 1930, "Morocco"s success at the box-office was "immediate and impressive". Accolades for the film were issued by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein, film critic Robert E. Sherwood and filmmaker Charles
Marlene Dietrich Paramount to make her first color film "The Garden of Allah" (1936) for independent producer David O. Selznick, for which she received $200,000, and to Britain for Alexander Korda's production, "Knight Without Armour" (1937), at a salary of $450,000, which made her one of the best paid film stars. While both films performed respectably at the box office, her vehicles were costly to produce and her public popularity had declined. By this time, Dietrich placed 126th in box office rankings, and American film exhibitors proclaimed her "box office poison" in May 1938, a distinction she shared with Greta Garbo, Joan