The Blue Angel (1930)
"Der blaue Engel" (original title)

An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Heinrich Mann (novel), Carl Zuckmayer,

Stars:

Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emil Jannings	...	Prof. Immanuel Rath
Marlene Dietrich	...	Lola Lola
Kurt Gerron	...	Zauberkünstler Kiepert / The Magician
Rosa Valetti	...	Guste Kiepert / The Magician's Wife
Hans Albers	...	Mazeppa / The Strongman
Reinhold Bernt	...	Der Clown / The Clown
Eduard von Winterstein	...	Schuldirektor / The Director of School (as Eduard V. Winterstein)
Hans Roth	...	Hausmeister / The Caretaker of the Secondary School
Rolf Müller	...	Gymnasiast Angst / Pupil
Roland Varno	...	Gymnasiast Lohmann / Pupil (as Rolant Varno)
Carl Balhaus	...	Gymnasiast Ertzum / Pupil (as Karl Balhaus)
Robert Klein-Lörk	...	Gymnasiast Goldstaub / Pupil
Charles Puffy	...	Wirt / Innkeeper (as Karl Huszar-Puffy)
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Kapitän / Captain
Gerhard Bienert	...	Polizist / Policeman

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

professor | obsession | marriage proposal | unrequited love | cuckold | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English

Release Date:

3 January 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blue Angel

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$6,451 (USA) (13 July 2001)

Gross:

$77,982 (USA) (7 December 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 107 min (TCM print) 108 min (cut) 94 min (English)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marlene Dietrich's screen test for this film survives. In it, she pretends to upbraid her pianist, played by Friedrich Hollander, the film's composer. She then sings the chorus of "You're the Cream In My Coffee" a number of times, in English, after which she climbs on the piano, hitches up her skirt (to show her legs) and sings, in German, a torch song called "Why Cry" by Peter Kreuder, a well-known song-writer who became the film's orchestrator.

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Quotes

Lola Lola: They call me Lola.

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Connections

Referenced in Marlene (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Ich bin die fesche Lola"
(uncredited)
Written by Friedrich Hollaender
Performed by Marlene Dietrich

User Reviews

Descent Into Hell

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.