Marlene Dietrich at her best in the German language version of Joseph Von Sternbergs THE BLUE ANGEL, unfortuonatly the English language version was rushed and not made very well so the film never really went down well with 1930s English speaking audiences. The film to me is a dark look at self destruction and degradation. My favourite scene in the film is at the end when Lola Lola is sitting almost triumphantly on a bar stool crooning "falling in love again" whilst her lover, the once great professer slips out into the dark street preparing to walk the long road to death. Although visually the film is no longer superior and Dietrich does not appear to have lost any of her plumpness as she would for her American debut she still appears radiant and her on screen persona would never be quite so strong again, maybe it is because this is the only film that Dietrich would make speaking in her Mother tongue.
Reviews
6 Reviews
Dishonored
(1931)
Not Dietrichs best.
26 November 2001
After THE BLUE ANGEL and MOROCCO, DISHONORED was a bit of a come down for me, in my opinion it is the one film that Dietrich made with Joseph Von-Sternberg that has the least meaning, Publicity hyped it up because it was released at the same time as MGMs MATA HARI with Greta Garbo, unfortunately for Dietrich she was no match for Garbo and MATA HARI wins hands down. DISHONORED is slow, Dietrichs costumes are awful and sloppy and her acting is at its worst, even Von-Sternbergs famous lighting and Visual brilliance is not there, i am highly surprised that it was a hit at all.
Morocco
(1930)
Who can forget that kiss?
26 November 2001
This is without a doubt the film that set Marlene Dietrich up as a Major American star, THE BLUE ANGEL was released after MOROCCO in the USA and was a hit for both her and her director Joseph Von-Sternberg, From Marlene's first scene in the film the transformation from Berlin cabaret girl to sophisticated woman of the world was startling. MOROCCO gave Dietrich some fine songs to croon including "When love dies" in that infamous Nightclub scene where Dietrich plants a kiss on the lips of another woman whilst dressed in her soon to be trademark Tuxedo. The film got all women over America jumping into there husbands suits, as Paramount publicity said "The woman even women can lust after".
Der blaue Engel
(1930)
A great achievement
26 November 2001
Although i dont care much for the English language version of the film, the German language version is a true masterpiece and who can forget Lola Lola straddled over the chair crooning "im made for love from head to toe", whilst her lover creeps away to die, the film has for me more than an iconic status as Von-Sternberg and Dietrichs first film together, it does not even show Dietrich at her most beautiful, but it is certainly her most seductive role and she would never repeat a performance quite as magically and naturally again, this was of course not her fault, after the Blue Angel every film that Dietrich made was tailor made for what Directors knew she could do.
The Misfits
(1961)
Marilyn proves she can act
24 November 2001
I dont care what Marilyns critics say. they dont want to believe that Marilyn was a great and serious actress. THE MISFITS is apart from BUS STOP, Monroes greatest performance, she also played in a way her hardest role, herself. Emotionally disturbed and her marriage on the verge of break-up she put her all into the role as a divorcee. Arthur Miler tailor made the script for her and it was a great movie for her to finish her career on. Gables performance is nit his best nor is Montgomery Clifts. But the toching Vulnerability if Marilyn on screen just takes my breath away, she was ready to move into the 60s and the raging sex-bomb image had given way to a more delicate kind of sex. After the flop of LETS MAKE LOVE-1959, Marilyn desperatly needed this film to be a hit, instead the Critics tore Marilyn apart, they loved to tear her apart no-one could see her as more than a airhead comidienne, but today off course people say that she was probably one of the Greatest comidiennes in history which makes this, her first completley dramatic role so amazing, at 35 she had found her forte, a gift that had come out of years of abuse, her new air of acting perfection could be seen in the incompleted SOMETHINGS GOT TO GIVE.
The Devil Is a Woman
(1935)
Did she ever appear more beautiful?
24 November 2001
It may have been one of the flops of Dietrichs career upon its initial release in 1935 but that was mainly due to bad publicity, the Spanish government demanded that the film be banned and destroyed, thus making it such a rare treat to see for Dietrich fans. The film was also the only film that Marlene kept a personal copy of, Joseph Von-Sternbergs lighting and Dietrichs new eyebrows and make-up techniques make Marlene appear more beautiful than she ever did before or again. It is true that the films script is poor but one can forgive that, one can even forgive Dietrichs wooden acting and the poor songs she was forced to sing in the picture, we can forget about everything that is bad about the film because there is something so very impressive about it visually that when i watched it i couldnt take my eyes off the screen, today off course it is truly a masterpiece and the costumes that Dietrich wears are some of her most impressive, almost exceeding those marvellous costumes that she wore in Shanghai Express. It is sad to think that after this film Dietrichs career began to skid and never fully recovered.
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