Main Cast: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rose Valetti, Hans Albers
Release Year: 1930
Country: DE
Run Time: 103 minutes
Plot
Marlene Dietrich became an immediate international star on the strength of her performance as the temptress Lola Frohlich in Josef von Sternberg's classic tale of love and obsession. Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) is a strict and humorless schoolmaster who is shocked when he discovers the boys in his class have been spending their time at a sleazy cabaret called The Blue Angel, where an entertainer named Lola (Dietrich) keeps the men in thrall and sells suggestive postcards of herself. Rath goes to the club in hopes of catching his students and giving them a severe dressing-down, but he instead finds himself entranced by the carefree atmosphere of the club, and is struck by Lola's earthy, sensual beauty. Rath finds himself strongly attracted to Lola, and she later entertains him in her dressing room. When word of Rath's infatuation with Lola spreads to his students, he is taunted mercilessly, and eventually Rath is dismissed from the school. While Lola agrees to marry Rath, she shows little affection for him and delights in humiliating him, making him her servant and forcing him to play a clown in her stage show. The Blue Angel was shot in both German and English language versions; the German is preferable, as most of the cast were obviously more expert in that tongue. Dietrich introduced her theme song, "Falling In Love Again", in this picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Der Blaue Engel is one of the masterpieces of the early sound era, notable in using sound to enhance atmosphere and establish characterization. Germany in 1930 was in desperate economic turmoil from reparations following World War I, and the film mirrors the bleak, unhappy view of the future common in German society at that time. The story is a superb portrait of cruel, obsessive love and the unrelenting degradation that ensues. Director Josef Von Sternberg skillfully paces the film so that the descent of the Professor (Emil Jannings) is both believable and understandable. Indeed, it is clear that the camera adores Lola (Marlene Dietrich) every bit as much as does the professor. The film made an international star of Dietrich, and she is matched in performance by Jannings, in what is perhaps his best-remembered screen role. The film also launched the song "Falling in Love Again,"which, like the film itself, has amply stood the test of time. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Karl Huszar-Puffy - Innkeeper; Eduard von Winterstein - Headmaster; Reinhold Bernt - The clown; Gerhard Bienert - Policeman; Wilhelm Diegelmann - Captain; Ilse Furstenberg - Rath's maid; Robert Klein-Lork - Goldstaub, a Student; Rolf Muller - Angst, a Student; Hans Roth - The janitor; Roland Varno - Pupil Lohmann; Carl Ballhaus - Pupil Ertzum
Credit
Roland Petit - Choreography, Smauel Lerner - Consultant/advisor, Josef von Sternberg - Director, S.K. Winston - Editor, Frederick Hollander - Composer (Music Score), Franz Waxman - Composer (Music Score), Frederick Hollander - Songwriter, Robert Liebmann - Songwriter, Emile Hasler - Production Designer, Otto Hunte - Production Designer, Günther Rittau - Cinematographer, Hans Schneeberger - Cinematographer, Erich Pommer - Producer, Emile Hasler - Set Designer, Otto Hunte - Set Designer, Fritz Thiery - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Liebmann - Screenwriter, Carl Zuckmayer - Screenwriter, Karl Vollmoeller - Screenwriter, Heinrich Mann - Short Story Author
