Lola (1961 film) carrying on or being redirected." Lola (1961 film) Lola is a 1961 romantic drama film, the debut film directed by Jacques Demy as a tribute to director Max Ophüls, described by Demy as a "musical without music". Anouk Aimée starred in the title role. The film was restored and re-released by Demy's widow, French filmmaker Agnès Varda. The names of the film and title character were inspired by Josef von Sternberg's 1930 film "Der blaue Engel", in which Marlene Dietrich played a burlesque performer named "Lola Lola". "Lola" takes place in the Atlantic coastal city of Nantes, France. A young
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