The Blue Angel

Original title: Der blaue Engel

1930
Passed
1h 44m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

17K

YOUR RATING

Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel (1930)

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99+ Photos

Psychological Drama Tragedy Drama Music Romance

An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.An elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

17K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Der Schuldirektor
(as Eduard V. Winterstein)

Hans Roth

Der Pedell

Rolf Müller

Angst

Roland Varno

Lohmann
(as Rolant Varno)

Carl Balhaus

Ertzum
(as Karl Balhaus)

Robert Klein-Lörk

Goldstaub

Károly Huszár

Der Wirt
(as Karl Huszar-Puffy)

Wilhelm Diegelmann

Der Kapitän

Gerhard Bienert

Der Polizist

Ilse Fürstenberg

Raths Wirtschafterin

Die Weintraub Syncopators

Group Cast Performers
(as The Weintraub Syncopators)

Friedrich Hollaender

Pianist
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
There are various accounts of why Marlene Dietrich was cast as Lola Lola, but the one given by director Josef von Sternberg in his autobiography is that Dietrich came to test for the film with a bored, world-weary attitude because she was convinced she wasn't going to get the role and was merely going through the motions - and Sternberg hired her because that world-weary attitude was precisely what he wanted for the character.

Goofs
When the professor returns to the night club and sees Lola again, he gets covered in her makeup and moves to the mirror to clean himself up, which he does not completely manage. Yet, when confronting the captain, his clothes are completely clean. After he has thrown him out of doors, the stains reappear.

Quotes
[singing]
Lola Lola: Falling in love again, never wanted to. What's a girl to do? I can't help it. What choice do I have? That's the way I'm made. Love is all I know, I can't help it. Men swarm around me like moths 'round a flame. And if their wings are singed, surely I can't be blamed.

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
Edited into The Double-Headed Eagle: Hitler's Rise to Power 1918-1933 (1973)

Soundtracks
Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt
(uncredited)
Written by Friedrich Hollaender
Performed by Marlene Dietrich

User reviews128

Review

Featured review

10/10

Indelible images

I just got through watching The Blue Angel (1930) for the second time in a month. When I was watching the beginning this time, I thought: oh, this isn't as powerful as I remembered. I even thought Jannings was overdoing it a little -- he couldn't be as good as I remembered. And then it absolutely knocked me for a loop all over again.

Bear in mind that I have a tape that cost $3.98. The film looked old and scratchy, the tape quality was bad, and the sound was poor. This is one of the very earliest sound movies and the sound technique was sometimes distracting. After the first 20 minutes, I couldn't have cared less about the technology. The images of this film are burned into my brain. The business at the very beginning with the dead bird and the sugar cube, the caricatures on the blackboards, Lola's reaction to the marriage proposal, the wedding party and, most of all, the entire last half hour of this film -- none of that left me in the three weeks since my first viewing and it lost none of its impact the second time around.

Emil Jannings was just absolutely wonderful. His face in the mirror toward the end is heartbreaking. He doesn't have to say a word. This was Dietrich's debut, and she is great too, but it is Jannings' picture.

Highly recommended. 10/10