The Blue Angel

Released Jan 3, 1930

1h 34m

Drama

List

96%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

86%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

Prim educator Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is driven mad with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry his beloved. However, married life with a woman whose job is to make men desire her proves more difficult than Rath imagined.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Buy The Blue Angel on Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

Marlene Dietrich steals more than one show in this backstage tragedy about a lowly professor besotted with a cruel and enigmatic singer.

Read Critics Reviews

SMH Staff

Sydney Morning Herald

Emil Jannings portrays this role superbly... This surely is one of the finest examples of tragic acting yet furnished from the screen.

Aug 6, 2019

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Once the party's over, the money's lost and the humiliation has set in, what leader, what purifying force can rescue everyone from this devastating shame, while supplying something of the same erotic, exalting excitement?

Rated: 5/5

May 30, 2019

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

A remarkable performance from Emil Jannings.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 28, 2008

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The Blue Angel launched a legendary collaboration between Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich in Hollywood.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 14, 2022

Full Review

Martin Dickstein

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

It Is a great role for Emil Jannings -- one of his best... Miss Dietrich Is all that she should be in the role of the cruel enchantress, Lola, although it did seem to us that the vulgar side of the part had been unnecessarily overdone.

Aug 1, 2020

Full Review

Francisco J. Ariza

Cine-Mundial

Its success is guaranteed. [Full Review in Spanish]

Sep 10, 2019

Full Review

Read all reviews

Red T

I saw the English Version. Its Good and defintely a Dietrich Classic. Everything about this is solidly put together overall. Dietrich defintely steals the hsow and anytime the camera is on her its the best part. She is very charming and has great presence. The cinematography and even the acting is shot in the style of silent films. It's very focused the entire way on the Professor and his relationship. It does a great job of making him someone we feel sorry for and leaves an impact. Its sad watching the final 15 minutes. The music is memorable also with most of it being the Cabaret numbers. Outside of that though it can be very dry and a bit slow in the first half but never boring. It does pick up steam in the second half and Dietrich is a big credit as to why. There isn't much dialouge in this especially with the Professor in he ending but its done well where it isn't needed. The only other issues that are minor is sometimes the sound quality can be shotty especially dialouge at certain intervals. The main characters speak english but supporting just stay in german so its a weird mixture of German/English/silent. Can't say I've seen much of that before. Also the picture quality can be shotty sometimes but that is totally forgivable given the material this was made on. Anyone who is a fan of the director, early talkie style films with silent styling, or Dietrich should check this out.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/26/23

Full Review

Matthew D

Marlene Dietrich steals the show as enticing cabaret chanteuse Lola Lola! Austrian auteur Josef von Sternberg's musical comedy-drama The Blue Angel (1930) is a delightful satire. I obviously adored Marlene Dietrich's star-making supporting performance as Lola Lola, but Emil Jannings' oafish professor head over heels in love with her is also entertaining. I suppose I'd fall hopelessly in love with Marlene Dietrich too. Sternberg's direction is remarkably stylish with film noir darkness, comedic frivolity, and dreary drama. I very much enjoyed The Blue Angel as it's one of Josef von Sternberg's finest films like Dishonored, Shanghai Express, or The Scarlet Empress. The Blue Angel is surprisingly hilarious with both silly slapstick and witty jokes satirizing the German elite's moral hypocrisy. Any man can yearn with lust for a beautiful young woman. It is natural and fine and not to be chastised by pompous men like Emil Jannings' protagonist Professor Rath. Writers Josef von Sternberg, Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller, Robert Liebmann, and Carl Winston adapted author Heinrich Mann's novel with a zeal for naughty imagery and clever satire. The Blue Angel highlights the hypocrisy of the ultra moral police of stuffy German men. Having the lead be an upstanding German professor, who is a prude, also falls for Marlene Dietrich's feminine wiles as one alluring femme fatale named Lola Lola. Sternberg takes on cruel and harsh Fascists with a critique of Jannings' ridiculous professor being undone with his devotion to his dancing lady. Seeing a man of knowledge stoop so low down to a miserable clown is hilarious and reminded me of Nightmare Alley, He Who Gets Slapped, or The Last Laugh's sad clown. Editors Walter Klee and Sam Winston use these smooth dissolves between scenes that are mesmerizing. I love the passages in time visually shown with cuts to the old clock with moving figures. 108 minutes passes by quickly with plenty of humor and songs besides the dramatic flair. The passing of years with the curling iron burning away the calendar is cleverly cut too. Emil Jannings is excellent as the absurd Professor Immanuel Rath. His stern scolding turning into foolish romantic gestures, and ultimately turning into a ridiculous clown is highly entertaining. It's gradually shocking how far he falls as a prideful man to a pathetic loser. His final yelps of agony and madness as the sad clown August are amazing and terrifying. Marlene Dietrich is vivacious, funny, sexy, smart, cunning, and lovable as femme fatale Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. I can easily see why she became a mega starlet after The Blue Angel. She can be devastatingly harsh in her shrewd taunts or perceptive about what drives men mad. Marlene was a really modern heroine in her own right. She was only ever amused by the professor and ends up using him for money and fame as she ridicules him until he's literally a clown. Marlene flirting with every man in each scene is engaging is a blast in itself. With every lustful glance or wry smile, Marlene charms with Lola Lola having all the power and insight in the relationship. Her playful verbal teasing is as enchanting as her physical swaying and come hither looks of love. I adored her cabaret singing with a variety of nightclub jazz styles. How can you not enjoy songs like "Beware of Blondes"? Her bright and clear vocals are impressive and alluring in The Blue Angel. I just love watching Marlene Dietrich chewing the scenery. She's definitely one of my all time favorite Old Hollywood actresses. Kurt Gerron is great as the demanding nightclub manager Kiepert the magician. His wicked manipulations turn the professor into a sideshow clown act. His magic act is fabulous! Rosa Valetti is fun as the magician's massive wife Guste. Hans Albers is a sleazy charmer as the seducing strongman Mazeppa. Reinhold Bernt is hysterical as the sorrowful clown suddenly appearing everywhere with a mournful deadpan expression on his painted face. Eduard von Winterstein is apt as the disapproving director of the college. Ilse Fürstenberg's attentive maid for Professor Rath is nice. Die Weintraub Syncopators are exciting as the skilled orchestra and the real composer Friedrich Hollaender cameos as the pianist. Cinematographer Günther Rittau crafts stunning black and white frames with striking blocking and still shots. I like how Rittau finds the most breathtaking angles and shots of Marlene and just holds onto them instead of panning around everywhere. Art director Otto Hunte uses dark shadows to cascade over the grim German city. Visually, The Blue Angel appears like other German expressionist pictures of this artful era of German cinema. The huge sloping buildings, large steps, and desolate cityscape lets you imagine seeing The Blue Angel as a paradise containing Marlene Dietrich away from an unsightly world. Costume designer Tihamer Varady's risque cabaret dresses are very revealing and sultry on the gorgeous Marlene Dietrich's voluptuous figure. It's easy to see how audiences the globe over were entranced by Marlene's charming personality of teasing and irresistible sex appeal. Makeup artists Waldemar Jabs and Oscar Schmidt give Marlene cute blonde curls alongside pretty lipstick and blush. Her dark eyeliner is very becoming on Marlene. It's fun seeing a real bear or a little black cat walk by during The Blue Angel. The magician's bunny is adorable. The little singing bird in Marlene's room is quite cute like the pretty white doves from under the top hat. Stuntman Harry Froboess has people ducking around the club in chases and all assortment of acts. Composer Friedrich Hollaender creates a boisterous film score with tons of big band jazz songs. Sound designer Fritz Thiery brings voices in Germany's first talkie. The patter of footsteps, noisy instruments, loud yelling, chaotic applause, and Marlene Dietrich's lovely singing are put on sonic display for our entertainment. Hearing Marlene's signature song "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" is a real treat. There's a sadness and purity to her vocals I appreciate. In all, The Blue Angel is a sheer pleasure to bask in the glory of Marlene Dietrich's charming performance and singing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/30/23

Full Review

Alexander B

It's a little hadmrd to understand some of the jokes if you don't speak German and the story moves at a Slow pace by today's standards. However it's still a very clever and enjoyable film for its time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/17/23

Full Review

brad h

WAY OVERRATED!!! A very slow and boring film. There were much better films from Germany in 1930. One of them is Robert Siodmak‘s "Abschied" (AKA "Farewell") the other is Georg Wilhelm Pabst‘s "Westfront 1918"

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Classic and sad sad story.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A great film starring a great actress in her prime.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Josef von Sternberg

Director

Emil Jannings

Prof. Immanuel Rath

Marlene Dietrich

Lola Lola

Hans Albers

Mazeppa

Kurt Gerron

Kiepert

Rosa Valetti

Guste

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

93%

86%

Pandora's Box

100%

88%

Diary of a Lost Girl

83%

81%

Svengali

100%

100%

Broken Lullaby

43%

62%

Phantom

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Prim educator Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is driven mad with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry his beloved. However, married life with a woman whose job is to make men desire her proves more difficult than Rath imagined.

Director: Josef von Sternberg
Producer: Erich Pommer
Screenwriter: Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller, Robert Liebmann
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Universum Film A.G.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 3, 1930, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jul 13, 2001
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2017
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Academy (1.33:1)

Most Popular at Home Now