USA. New York. Marlene Dietrich at the recording studios of Columbia Records, who were releasing most of the songs she had performed for the troops during World War II, including Lili Marlene and Miss Otis Regrets. She was 51 years old and starting a come-back in show business. It was a wet and cold November night and work could only begin at midnight, at the advise of Marlene's astrologer. 1952.