The Blue Angel [1930]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Two things make it impossible to consign Josef von Sternberg's seedily atmospheric 1930 masterpiece The Blue Angel to the archives of museum land: it was the first film to put Marlene Dietrich in front of an international audience; and it features a towering performance from Emil Jannings as the professor whose fall from grace is precipitated by his obsession with Dietrich's archly vampish showgirl Lola-Lola. On both counts The Blue Angel remains a potent, vibrant work which still has moments of real relevance. Dietrich's performance is indeed hypnotic: von Sternberg lights her face and exposed flesh--shoulders and thighs--in a way that clearly indicates the erotic charge she generates among the men in the Blue Angel night club, and in Jennings in particular. Before our eyes his repressed, puritanical self-will disintegrates and his fate is sealed. The pivotal moment is, of course, when Dietrich teases her audience with "Falling in Love Again", her stockinged and suspendered legs astride a beer barrel, a top hat rakishly on her head. It would become the signature tune of her cabaret act in later years but here she delivers it with a far less studied, throwaway cheeriness; how, indeed, can it be her fault if men cluster around her like moths around a flame? This is the raw material on which an icon was built, but there is much else to fascinate in the film itself: you can still smell the pungent grim reality of a trouper's life on the road; and the professor's pathetic efforts to control his class of unruly boys still resonates today... this is an essential piece of film history.

On the DVD: The Blue Angel is presented in its German and English-language versions, both restored and digitally remastered. As far as the sound quality is concerned this is of limited benefit since there is a great deal of distortion on both versions. But thanks to the picture restoration we can see how von Sternberg treats Dietrich: her face becomes a radiant, mocking pool of light always in contrast with the dark, grainy characters around her. The English version (in truth, only the Dietrich/Jannings scenes were shot in each language) is slightly pruned, missing a key scene in which the professor's repressed sensitivity is established at the very beginning. So despite some erratic sub-titling, the German version remains definitive. And it also reveals the worldliness of the original lyrics to Friedrich Hollander's classic songs: "I Was Made for Love from Head to Toe" suggests a rather more robust attitude than the vague whimsy of "Falling in Love Again." A final thought: releasing films of this importance on DVD surely creates an opportunity to put them in context by including documentary and factual resources, but this release has no extras of any kind. At the very least it cries out for an authoritative commentary. --Piers Ford

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Customer reviews

review by: xyzzy date: 2008-09-21 rating:
Death disguised as love
I have owned and watched several versions of this film. I even have the film script. I would say that the Kino two DVD versions is the best presentation so far. I watched both the English and German versions I find the story depressing but the telling of it and the acting fascinating.

A real added plus is the commentary by German Film Historian Werner Sedendorf. He brought up information directly relating to the film at the time it was relevant. Then he left some berating room so you could absorb and experience the information. To many commentaries turn into soap-box discussions or rill in slow times with useful information that however is irrelevant to the film at the time. The film has so much hidden death and lost culture that after the commentary you will have to watch it again.

The English version is not really entirely English. Enough English is presented that the German in-between is clear enough to follow the story. However the German version is spoken clear without mumbling and lacks any slang that would force the casual follower to rush for a dictionary.

The basic story is as Federico Garcia Lorca describes in his play, "The butterfly's Evil Spell", death in disguise of love. Prof. Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings), a person afraid of life, starts out to save his students, who want to embrace life, from a fate worse than death. In the process he meats an entertainer, Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich). She inadvertently is the instrument of the Professors downfall from grace.

The magic of the film is more in the telling of the story through acting, sound, and symbolism than the story its self.

The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company 1918-1945

Blue Angel, The (Class. Film Scripts S)

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review by: Avengers-fan date: 2008-02-21 rating:
Marlene, the accidental star
What is amazing about this film is that it made an accidental star of Marlene Dietrich and resulted in a later, complete reversal of fortunes for the film's originally-intentioned 'real' star, Emile Jannings. Dietrich was 29 when she made this, and it rocketed her to global mega-stardom, making her the first-ever, truely, German Hollywood star.

The Blue Angel showcases the glory of Germany's pre-Nazi, wonderful, Expressionist cinema, laying bare the reality of decadence with glimpses of the lingering poverty, dirt, social inertia, shabbiness, a post World War One legacy. The film strips the life of cabaret performers bare: it was often little more than giving a cursary veneer of acceptable artistry for the all-present seedy, sexual side, which Germany's rich had a voracious appetite for.

The film is a powerful reminder of how the high can fall and ruination can have a beautiful, sweet but deadly allure. The film truly shocked and provoked, was way ahead of its time, and songs like 'Ich bin die fesche Lola' and 'Nimm dich in acht vor blonden Frauen', encapsulate a breathy and naughty sensuality, which is far more shattering than anything we could ever dream of attempting now.

A seminal work and proof that Germany was THE powerhouse of Expressionist masterpieces before the tragic arrival of Nazism. If anything, Dietrich was one of the few who went on to vindicate the reality of the 'good' German.

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review by: date: 2006-03-23 rating:
One of the least-seen classics on a great special edition DV
For all the mythmaking about Dietrich, the film actually rests on Emil Jannings expressive shoulders, offering yet another of his great men laid low, in this case by the love of a bad woman. It’s good but somewhat overfamiliar, and it’s surprisingly overlong – not fatally so, but enough for your attention to be stretched at points. Jannings has a field day, although it’s strange to note what an influence his performance seems to have had on British TV comedians: his cockcrowing nervous breakdown at the end conjures up images of Little Britain while his mooning reaction to 'Falling in Love Again' seems a virtual template for Benny Hill.

Both versions of the film are included on the 2-disc DVD and both are well worth a look. The far from negligible, slightly shorter English-language version has better dialogue and Dietrich seems a lot more confident with English than German, especially in the musical numbers, although Hans Albers accent is quite horrible and the scene where the Prof loses his job seems less convincing stripped of almost all of its dialog. But the German version has the edge for allowing just a little bit more room for the camera to catch the odd subtleties.

An impressive collection of extras (including some painful live performamces from an elderly Dietrich as well as her original scren test for the film) are included.

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review by: date: 2006-02-07 rating:
Sternberg’s 1929 classic, precursor to “Cabaret”
This film is fascinating for many reasons but certain adjustments are necessary, first it was one of the first “talkies” and that accounts for the constricted sound quality, the limited but acceptable quality of the film, and directing style in transition from silent to talkie.

Blue Angel was filmed twice concurrently, once in English and once in German, this review applies to the German (considered the best version) with sub titles.

However with minimal adjustment for social morals of the late twenties and the film is thoroughly engrossing. Emil Jannings as the tentative Professor Rath teaching at a boy’s prep school, pathetically guarding his authority as a teacher is a beautifully acted portrait of a man descending into degradation and despair.

Lola as acted by Marlene Dietrich in her first and most unforgettable talking role is to my mind a wilful and thoughtless young woman. There is more of Sally Bowles (Cabaret) than manipulative dominatrix.

Marlene Dietrich’s screen test is fascinating as she sings “You are the cream in my coffee” sounding very like the adorable Annette Hanshawe who was at the height of her fame in 1929 (check out the CDs).

Also the songs filmed in 1972 show the astonishing beauty of the actress at the age of 71, almost more striking than her more plump appearance in 1929.

Don‘t be put off by the 1929 date, this film is timeless.


review by: michelle_obrien date: 2004-12-18 rating:
Weimar Germany in its own eyes
This was the first film I bought from pre-National Socialist Germany, and it was a treat. It seems surprisingly contemporary, and you can see what this thing about Dietrich was. Today she would be set as a dominatrix, no doubt - but here you can see what inspired the characterisations to come in Cabaret. It is a film with a moral - which we don't often get in today's post-Joseph Campbell pulp churned out by Hollywood.

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Similar categories

Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Classics . Drama
Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Drama
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . PG
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Collector's & Special Edition
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Region(feature_browse-bin) . Region 2
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 1939 and earlier
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Language (theme_browse-bin) . English

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