The Blue Angel
(1930)
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The Blue Angel
(1930)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Emil Jannings | ... | ||
| Marlene Dietrich | ... | ||
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Kurt Gerron | ... |
Zauberkünstler Kiepert /
The Magician
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Rosa Valetti | ... |
Guste Kiepert /
The Magician's Wife
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Hans Albers | ... |
Mazeppa /
The Strongman
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Reinhold Bernt | ... |
Der Clown /
The Clown
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Eduard von Winterstein | ... |
Schuldirektor /
The Director of School
(as Eduard V. Winterstein)
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Hans Roth | ... |
Hausmeister /
The Caretaker of the Secondary School
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Rolf Müller | ... |
Gymnasiast Angst /
Pupil
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Roland Varno | ... |
Gymnasiast Lohmann /
Pupil
(as Rolant Varno)
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Carl Balhaus | ... |
Gymnasiast Ertzum /
Pupil
(as Karl Balhaus)
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Robert Klein-Lörk | ... |
Gymnasiast Goldstaub /
Pupil
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Charles Puffy | ... |
Wirt /
Innkeeper
(as Karl Huszar-Puffy)
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Wilhelm Diegelmann | ... |
Kapitän /
Captain
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Gerhard Bienert | ... |
Polizist /
Policeman
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Immanuel Rath, an old bachelor, is a professor at the town's university. When he discovers that some of his pupils often go into a speakeasy, The Blue Angel, to visit a dancer, Lola Lola, he comes there to confront them. But he is attracted to Lola. The next night he comes again--and does not sleep at home. This causes trouble at work and his life takes a downward spiral. Written by Yepok & Justin
I think this is more a commentary on the human condition than it is a movie review. von Sternberg presents Professor Rath as pompous, rather inflexible and naive, and then reduces him gradually to a pitiful, self-debasing wretch
- much like Tyrone Power's character in "Nightmare Alley". Rath, appears
to me, not so much the victim as a drunken jaywalker who wanders out into traffic and is totally shocked when he is hit by a truck. Emil Jannings, without doubt, delivers everything that von Sternberg could have asked for.I have never been a big Marlene Dietrich fan, but I have to admit that, in this early effort, her utter sexuality and the casual way she dispenses it is hypnotic. Her character is also complex. Between her first encounter with Rath and those final scenes, her attitude toward him changes from amusement and ridicule to concern, pity, and even affection. His return to his home town and his descent into total degradation is painful to watch, yet she chooses this opportunity to humiliate him even further by offering herself to Mazeppa while he watches. I'm baffled.
The corruption and hopelessness of the German cafe circuit is a perfect backdrop for this study of the human condition. When one reaches their absolute nadir - like Rath - there are few choices left. Suicide, violent hostility, or if you are lucky - the determination and will to climb out of the cesspool. Rath was a day late and a reichsmark short. I would like to think that if he had more time he would have made it.