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 in the German city of Belsen throughout the war years, running a cinema frequented by Nazi officers and officials who oversaw the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Dietrich's mother remained in Berlin during the war; her husband moved to a ranch in the San Fernando Valley of California. Dietrich vouched on behalf of her sister and her sister's husband, sheltering them from possible prosecution as Nazi collaborators. Dietrich would later omit the existence of her sister and her sister's son from all accounts of her life, completely disowning them and claiming to be an only child. Dietrich received the Medal of Freedom