DELAYED RAYS OF A STAR

Narrator Orlagh Cassidy delivers amazing performances of two women and gives full dimensions to the people in their orbits. Chinese-American Hollywood actress Anna May Wong attends the Berlin Press Ball in 1928, where she meets brash, beautiful German actress Marlene Dietrich and Nazi propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Cassidy provides a finely etched Wong, a superb actress whose career path was limited because she couldn't star opposite white actors due to antimiscegenation laws. Cassidy's Dietrich remains remarkably understated yet credible, despite the leggy legend's crass language and uninhibited behavior. Cassidy also makes Riefenstahl's unwavering political and aesthetic stance unapologetically clear. A mix of fact and informed speculation, this intimate history of three influential twentieth-century artists offers exceptional listening. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2019]