The Blue Angel (1930)

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	...	Professor Immanuel Rath
Marlene Dietrich	...	Lola Lola
Kurt Gerron	...	Kiepert, the Magician
Rosa Valetti	...	Guste, His Wife
Hans Albers	...	Mazeppa, the Strong Man
Reinhold Bernt	...	Der Clown / The Clown
Károly Huszár	...	Proprietor of The Blue Angel (as Karl Huszar-Puffy)
Die Weintraub Syncopators	...	Group Cast Performers (as The Weintraub Syncopators)
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
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Kapitän / Captain

Storyline

Germany 1924. Middle aged Dr. Immanuel Rath is a literature professor at a boys college. Most of his students don't much like him, often calling him "unrath" - German for garbage. Dr. Rath learns that many of his boys often frequent a cabaret called Der blaue Engel - the Blue Angel - which he believes is corrupting their impressionable young minds. He heads to the Blue Angel himself to catch the boys in the act and shame them into not going again. Over several visits, Rath is able to catch the boys, but in the process he also understands what attracts the boys, namely the headlining performer Lola Lola. Rath falls under Lola's spell, he who falls in love with her - and she seemingly with him - so much so that he wants to marry her and give up his teaching career to be with her on her travels from cabaret to cabaret. Their relationship ends up not being what either envisioned, the question being how they will both deal with their disintegrating relationship and the reasons behind that ...

---

Plot Keywords:

nightclub | female corrupts male | unrequited love | based on novel | legs | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Music

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English French

Release Date:

5 December 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blue Angel

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,410

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA), UFA Tonfilm, Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 107 min (TCM print) 108 min (German) 94 min (English)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm) 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 Hollaender, 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 supervised the film's orchestral arrangements. As the test ends, Dietrich breaks character and apologizes to Hollaender.

---

Goofs

When the professor returns to his class and the boys burst out in uproar, the drawing on the blackboard shows three lines with Lola's name. The director, drawn by the noise, enters the class and now there are only two lines. After the class is dismissed, the third line has returned.

---

Quotes

Kiepert: What a dame! Professor, you have impeccable taste.

---

Alternate Versions

Simultaneously shot in two versions (English and German) with the same cast; the German (with English subtitles) version is more popular because of the heavy German accents of the cast in the English language version. English lyrics for the songs were written by Sam Lerner.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)

---

Soundtracks

Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen wünscht Papageno sich!
(uncredited)
(from singspiel "Die Zauberflöte")
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

an entertaining, funny/sad classic

It's almost hard for me to picture what I will tell about The Blue Angel to those I recommend it to. It's a very special movie, and not necessarily for the only reason that some remember the film mostly for. Of course, Marlene Dietrich, in her debut, is stunningly sexy, in clothing in some scenes (and the legs of course) that must've caused some turned eyebrows on its first release. But despite her great charisma, and a certain feminine attitude that was unique for the time, there is really another big factor that makes the Blue Angel work a lot more for me than I thought. Hearing about the film, I got the impression it might be more of a vehicle for Dietrich, the inspiration for what would come in Madeline Kahn's equally memorable turn in Blazing Saddles. What I didn't expect was such a well-rounded, bittersweet kind of story going along, not to mention a sublime, powerful lead performance.

It's really the story of Professor Rath, played without a cue missed (and with some of his own ingenuity) by Emil Jannings. Here is a teacher with high morals, and little tolerance for his College student's impudence. He finds out from a classmate interrogation that some of the kids are sneaking off to 'the Blue Angel', a club with dancers, music, and singing in half-naked costumes. He meets Lola (Dietrich) and against all his better judgment, he falls in head over heels, loses his job, and then...well, it might be best to leave it there. What then ensues is a sort of collision of an enriching structure from director Josef von Sternberg (in that the unexpected occurs at times, if only in the little behaviors and bits of business with the characters), and Janning's acting.

I loved how it sort of went past the barriers that might have stifled other filmmakers at the turn of the start of silent to sound- the musical numbers makes the Blue Angel club seem hypnotic, sensual, and a little crazy. Then the use of the camera, its stillness most times, focusing on the subtleties of the acting, bring forward the remnants of the finely-tuned theatrical acting from the silent era. What Jannings does here is make a character with a total arc, in this sort of downward spiral that soon occurs once he's made his decision in terms of how he feels vs his career. The last twenty minutes or so, when it finally comes back around for the teacher a 180- from respected teacher to, well, you'll see- is rather shocking, and not as light and amusing as during the first forty minutes or so.

But it also shows that Jannings, more often than not, is fearless in his timing and expressions. It's not a completely realistic performance here and there, but it sometimes doesn't need to be. Sternberg sets up such a mood that persists, with little touches (i.e. shots of the statues moving as the clock chimes, expressionistic angles), that give Janning's enough room to do what he does. He helps make the character, who at first seems very expectable and usual (a cranky teacher) into someone we care about. Of course, one doesn't discount Dietrich's presence in the film as enough to seek out the film. She doesn't necessarily give a great acting turn, but in terms of just a great screen presence at times, of providing enough airs to make it clear why Janning's character is falling for her like this. That there are good supporting actors all around them is a plus as well.

It's one of those rare films you might smile one minute and then get a little sad at the next. It's quite a lovely little movie.