QUICK TAKES - June 25, 2009

A collection of 130 letters and short notes written by the late actress Marlene Dietrich sold Wednesday for $4,200, a Berlin auction house said.

The Berlin-born film legend’s husky voice and smoldering eyes seduced audiences for more than four decades in German movies such as “The Blue Angel” and many American films, including “Destry Rides Again” with Jimmy Stewart and “The Spoilers” with John Wayne.

The letters were written to Swedish costume designer Max Goldstein in Dietrich’s large, spider-like handwriting and span four decades. Goldstein was born in Berlin in 1925 and died in 2008 in Paris.

The collection was sold to a private telephone bidder, but a spokeswoman for the J.A. Stargardt auction house would not give any details about the purchaser’s nationality or his or her plans for the items.