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Der blaue Engel
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Der blaue Engel (1930) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   4,490 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 7% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Heinrich Mann (novel)
Carl Zuckmayer (writer) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Blue Angel on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
3 January 1931 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Musical more
Plot:
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... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
NewsDesk:
'Moon' Director Will Go 'Mute'
 (From CinemaSpy. 29 June 2009, 9:10 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Humiliation, Degradation, Despair more

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)
Emil Jannings ... Prof. Immanuel Rath

Marlene Dietrich ... Lola Lola
Kurt Gerron ... Kiepert (the magician)
Rosa Valetti ... Guste (the magician's wife)
Hans Albers ... Mazeppa (the strongman)
Reinhold Bernt ... The clown
Eduard von Winterstein ... The director of school (as Eduard V. Winterstein)
Hans Roth ... The caretaker of the secondary school
Rolf Müller ... Pupil Angst
Roland Varno ... Pupil Lohmann (as Rolant Varno)
Carl Balhaus ... Pupil Ertzum (as Karl Balhaus)
Robert Klein-Lörk ... Pupil Goldstaub
Charles Puffy ... Innkeeper (as Karl Huszar-Puffy)
Wilhelm Diegelmann ... Captain
Gerhard Bienert ... Policeman
Ilse Fürstenberg ... Rath's maid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Weintraub Syncopators ... Group cast appearance
Friedrich Hollaender ... (uncredited)
Wolfgang Staudte ... Pupil (uncredited)
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Directed by
Josef von Sternberg 
 
Writing credits
Heinrich Mann (novel "Professor Unrat")

Carl Zuckmayer (writer) &
Karl Vollmöller (writer) and
Robert Liebmann (writer)

Josef von Sternberg  uncredited

Produced by
Erich Pommer .... producer
 
Cinematography by
Günther Rittau 
 
Film Editing by
Walter Klee (English version)
Sam Winston  (as S.K. Winston)
 
Art Direction by
Otto Hunte 
 
Makeup Department
Waldemar Jabs .... makeup artist (uncredited)
 
Art Department
Emil Hasler .... assistant production designer
 
Sound Department
Fritz Thiery .... sound
 
Stunts
Harry Froboess .... stunts (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Hans Schneeberger .... assistant camera
 
Music Department
Franz Waxman .... orchestrator (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Tassilo Schneider .... english subtitler: German version
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Professor Unrat (Germany) (working title)
The Blue Angel (USA)
more
Runtime:
124 min | USA:107 min (TCM print) | UK:106 min | 108 min (cut)
Country:
Germany
Language:
German | English
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
UK:PG (video rating) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 (1952) | Finland:K-8 (1993) | Norway:16 | Germany:12 (re-rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1930) | Sweden:15
Filming Locations:
Berlin, Germany more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Marlene Dietrich's screen test for this film survives. In it, she upbraids an unidentified piano player for his bad playing and sings two songs, the first of which is "You're the Cream In My Coffee." more
Quotes:
[to stuffy Professor Immanuel Rath, who is dressed in a clown suit]
Lola Lola: Your boys should see you now.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Zomergasten: (#2.1)" (1989) more
Soundtrack:
Nimm Dich in Acht vor blonden Frau'n more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful:-
Humiliation, Degradation, Despair, 7 June 2007
9/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Proper and respectable Emil Jannings, a teacher at a boys high school takes quite an interest in their moral well being. Seems there's this naughty establishment called The Blue Angel in his town where women have been known to entertain in various states of undress. Some of his boys have some postcards of one of the dancers and Jannings catches them with it. After confiscating the material, Jannings decides to go down to the Blue Angel and tell them not to be catering to minors.

Of course he takes one look at the subject of those naughty postcards and since it turns out to be Marlene Dietrich, he realizes his own education has been sadly neglected.

He's spotted the kids in the establishment, but they've spotted him as well. From an authoritarian figure, Jannings is now a figure of derision and has no authority in or out of the classroom. He marries Marlene and tours with her company as a clown. A return to his hometown proves to be more than he can bear.

Though Marlene Dietrich became an international sex symbol from this film and got a Hollywood contract as a result, the film is really the story of Jannings, his downfall, his humiliation, his degradation. Their respective career paths were really meeting halfway in this film. She was going to America on the strength of this film, Jannings was returning to Germany where he became a very big star and leader of Adolph Hitler's amen corner in German cinema

In the supporting cast is also Kurt Gerron who is a magician and manager of the troupe of entertainers Marlene and Jannings are part of. His life had the worst tragedy of all, as a Jew he met death in Auschwitz, but not after undergoing a lot of humiliation before. Not unlike what Jannings had in the film, but this was real life.

The Blue Angel is a milestone film for many people and in an indirect way for Adolph Hitler as well since he got his biggest film star from the cast. Still though it's a stunning bit of cinema with performances that still hold up very well today.

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Message Boards

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Movies made in two languages karl_the_best48
German or English Version? ejgreen77
Why does she marry him?! nutriafritz
the ending gk_891
Is The Blue Angel A Rework of Carmen ? Spheer2002
Falling in Love Again, what instrument is it? vesperianne
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