Benutzerrezensionen

First -and only- time I saw Der Blaue Engel, I was a boy of about 13-14 years old. Even though this was over 35 years ago, I still remember how this movie blew me away. I came out of the theater with a new understanding of the world and the human condition.

The story is in essence about love, and what it can make a person do. It is also about what people will do to each other, a theme this movie takes to it's extreme. The acting is supreme, the atmosphere breathtaking, the music score fabulous. Marlene sings one of the great songs in movie history; German cabaret pur sang.

This is a European film in the best sense of the word. It gives the spectator the feeling of being picked up and dropped somewhere in time and place, to witness a dramatic sequence of events in the lives of a small group of people. It starts out jolly enough, but pretty soon you feel that things are going to go terribly wrong. And sure enough, they do.

The young boy that was I, left this movie with a weird mixture of feelings. On the one hand the fear of ever being trapped in such a romantic cul-de-sac, and of losing all human dignity. On the other, a deep longing to experience those bitter emotions. Isn't this the greatest accolade for a tragedy: that it moves you to tears, but at the same time makes you want to experience the sad events that caused those tears?

... As I was surprised at the way college students behave and the way that they were treated in Weimar Germany as depicted in this film. Professor Immanual Rath (Emil Jennings) behaves tyrannically towards his students, and they try to undermine him at every turn. They mercilessly bully one student just because he wants no part of their nighttime carousing. In short, they act like high school kids, not college students, so I am somewhat wondering if this was a college as I understand the word in the United States. But I digress.

Rath finds postcards with music hall performer Lola (Marlene Dietrich) on them among his students' things, and initially goes to The Blue Angel to catch his students in the act of - I dunno, acting like college students? - again, I'm not sure why there's the need to so tightly control the behavior of adults. But Rath gets caught up in the atmosphere himself. He's been shut inside his ivory tower so long that he's forgotten what the outside world is like, and once he ventures out, it's game over. He's utterly unequipped to see Lola for who she really is - a woman who makes a living by charming men, and who does a good job of it. When he has the opportunity to talk to her and becomes sympathetic, he suddenly sees her as a victim of what we call today human trafficking rather than a corrupter of his students.

The more time he spends with her, the more he falls for her, but by proposing to her, he again puts her into a box in which she doesn't fit, that of a wife who will do the wifely duties he expects of her. Lola, though never explaining herself and that's part of the greatness of the film, seems amused by Rath's naive and simple ways and goes willingly into the marriage. But, again, Roth doesn't realize that marriage probably does not mean to Lola what it means to him.

Although Jannings puts in a powerhouse performance, I understand why Marlene Dietrich stole the show. Rath changes drastically over the course of the film, and he has to sell that, but Dietrich has the more subtle job of selling the changes in how Rath sees Lola without changing who Lola fundamentally is. Director Von Sternberg gives her much less to do than in their subsequent collaborations, but she does the most she can with the material.

There's lots that's never said. For one thing there is, from the first time Rath enters The Blue Angel, the haunting presence of "The Clown". The actor who plays him is not uncredited- his role is billed as "The Clown". Rath sees him with that constant sullen expression, hears him being scolded and chided by the empresario of the troupe, and you never hear him speak. Considering all that happens, I'm wondering if he too is a past husband of Lola's. One that she also cast aside once she got bored and perhaps never bothered to divorce. After all, she can't help it, as she is so fond of saying.

The only bad thing I can say about it is the pacing, which seems to be a problem in many Von Sternberg films. But it is worth sticking with to the end.

Firstly, this version is almost the exact same as the German version, but of course in English. That means it is still wonderful, but with all of the "Unrath" puns removed.

The only reason to just stick with the German is because most of the language in this film is either still German, or hard to understand due to th actors' thick accents, Marlene, surprisingly, is perfectly accent less despite not knowing any English. Since the DVD release does not have subtitles, or even closed captions, it is hard to follow the film without either knowing German, or rewinding to understand what Jannings and everyone else is saying.

Fans of the German version should still just check it out as a historical novelty and to hear Marlene (accent less) and see how similar and/or different the film is.

I think this is more a commentary on the human condition than it is a movie review. von Sternberg presents Professor Rath as pompous, rather inflexible and naive, and then reduces him gradually to a pitiful, self-debasing wretch - much like Tyrone Power's character in "Nightmare Alley". Rath, appears to me, not so much the victim as a drunken jaywalker who wanders out into traffic and is totally shocked when he is hit by a truck. Emil Jannings, without doubt, delivers everything that von Sternberg could have asked for.

I have never been a big Marlene Dietrich fan, but I have to admit that, in this early effort, her utter sexuality and the casual way she dispenses it is hypnotic. Her character is also complex. Between her first encounter with Rath and those final scenes, her attitude toward him changes from amusement and ridicule to concern, pity, and even affection. His return to his home town and his descent into total degradation is painful to watch, yet she chooses this opportunity to humiliate him even further by offering herself to Mazeppa while he watches. I'm baffled.

The corruption and hopelessness of the German cafe circuit is a perfect backdrop for this study of the human condition. When one reaches their absolute nadir - like Rath - there are few choices left. Suicide, violent hostility, or if you are lucky - the determination and will to climb out of the cesspool. Rath was a day late and a reichsmark short. I would like to think that if he had more time he would have made it.

This movie should merit a place in the upper region of the 250 top movies, somewhere in the neighborhood of "Citizen Kane" and "Twelve Angry Men". Apparently it is not very well known in the USA.

In Germany and in countries where the German language is rather familiar, it is rightly considered as one of the classics of cinema.

Amazing, that Sternberg, only a couple of years after the invention of the "talky" could produce a masterpiece that has seldom been surpassed. It was this movie that launched the carreer of Marlene Dietrich, with her famous song "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingestellt".

I had seen the movie many years ago. When I saw it for the second time about a year ago, I realized that Emile Jennings acting, as the rather silly teacher at the local grammar school who sacrifies his career because of a cabaret girl, was not less impressive than that of Marlene Dietrich. A pity that I did never see another film with this great actor.

Joseph von Sternberg 'packaged' his muse, Marlene Dietrich to become a world star with "The Blue Angel". The disturbing story of a revue entertainer (Dietrich) and the middle aged professor(Emil Jannings)who falls madly in love with, and later is destroyed by her, based on the novel "Professor Unrat".

Many unforgettable songs by Friedrich Hollander are featured, most noteworthy of course "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingestellt" ("Falling in Love Again") and "Ich bin die feche Lola" ("They Call Me Naughty Lola").

There is an English language version available (filmed simultaneously for an intended International release), but I recommend the original German with subtitles. Many effects are lost with the former. I can highly recommend this film, a must for fans of either the stars or the director!*****

The Blue Angel is a tough film for me to watch, because I am a very sympathetic viewer. I have a dreadfully hard time dealing with a plot that is almost entirely made up of a man's downfall. This story is focused on a respected professor who gets entangled with a nightclub singer, and watches his life go down the tubes. I felt so sorry for this man, and kept looking back on his decisions earlier in the film that led him down this road. Because of certain cultural differences between the world at that time, and the world of today, it was hard not to question why he even allowed himself into this position in the first place. Emil Jannings helped sell me on the film, though, because he does a great job of portraying the main character and showing his decline as the film progresses.

I think one of the biggest questions I was left with after watching The Blue Angel was whether the professor ever felt any affection at all towards the nightclub singer. It almost seems like the situation caught up with him and he was forced into something he didn't want from the beginning. That made the film even harder for me to watch, because it makes this disaster feel unavoidable. I admire how this movie evoked a strong reaction from me, but it wasn't an enjoyable reaction in any way. At least it doesn't fall into the trap of many other films that torture their likable protagonist and try to sell that as a source of comedy. I always squirm in my chair with movies like The Blue Angel, but at least that's what it seems the film-makers were trying to accomplish this time.

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

I found many interesting points in Der Blaue Engel. Which means I had time to think it over while the film was running (well not so fast indeed). The problem is I felt nothing: no sympathy for Emil Jannings' character and no enthusiasm for Marlene's Lola Lola either.

It is well written, the settings are accurate and the story is simple but not compelling. That Blue Angel is far too mundane a den of vice and it results too linear a tragedy compared with all that I was expecting. Still it's perhaps the first step towards noir film.

So I might say good job but I won't shortlist it among the greatest movies ever.

We watch, quietly sitting in our sofa, the slow forfeiture of a man, ready to loose everything for a women.

Let's say it: the film hasn't an astonishing realization. "der letzte Mann" tells a similar story but looks much more modern and dynamic, six years before "das Blaue Engel". Murnau's silent movie (also starring

Emil Jannings) stays sober and deep, but J. von Sternberg just annoys a little bit the viewer, at least during the first part. Besides, the acting of M.Dietrich is simply common.

Besides those negative considerations, I really enjoyed the global atmosphere of the film (mostly confined spaces).

**SPOILER**

At the opposite, the big final, can be considered as an almost total success. The mix of despair, shame, broken heart feeling and humiliation that Prof.Rath undergoes is thrown at the viewer during ten breathtaking minutes. The contrast Between a boring beginning and this astonishing end increases the impact.

**SPOILER**

Overall, it is a film that is interesting to see, but not necessarily twice.

This film is a myth but I really can not understand why. The story itself is relatively absurd but that alone would not have made it impossible to make a good movie out of it. But the actions of Professor UnRath and Lola are never really motivated. He changes from being infuriated to being fallen in love from one moment to the other, she becomes a vamp without really showing the reason for it. Moreover to my opinion the acting is not too good: the characters move around relatively uncoordinated.

Nevertheless the film was deeply influential. Even in the Nazi periods films like "Zu neuen Ufern" by the later emigre Detlef Sierck/ Douglas Sirk or "Feuerzangenbowle" took some elements from it, although it was forbidden. Fassbinder's outstanding "Lola" draws heavily on it.

The film itself is inspired by master works of German expressionism, especially "Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari" but it does not succeed in creating a dense atmosphere.

Therefore: interesting as a document of film and general history. (4/10)

Proper and respectable Emil Jannings, a teacher at a boys high school takes quite an interest in their moral well being. Seems there's this naughty establishment called The Blue Angel in his town where women have been known to entertain in various states of undress. Some of his boys have some postcards of one of the dancers and Jannings catches them with it. After confiscating the material, Jannings decides to go down to the Blue Angel and tell them not to be catering to minors.

Of course he takes one look at the subject of those naughty postcards and since it turns out to be Marlene Dietrich, he realizes his own education has been sadly neglected.

He's spotted the kids in the establishment, but they've spotted him as well. From an authoritarian figure, Jannings is now a figure of derision and has no authority in or out of the classroom. He marries Marlene and tours with her company as a clown. A return to his hometown proves to be more than he can bear.

Though Marlene Dietrich became an international sex symbol from this film and got a Hollywood contract as a result, the film is really the story of Jannings, his downfall, his humiliation, his degradation. Their respective career paths were really meeting halfway in this film. She was going to America on the strength of this film, Jannings was returning to Germany where he became a very big star and leader of Adolph Hitler's amen corner in German cinema

In the supporting cast is also Kurt Gerron who is a magician and manager of the troupe of entertainers Marlene and Jannings are part of. His life had the worst tragedy of all, as a Jew he met death in Auschwitz, but not after undergoing a lot of humiliation before. Not unlike what Jannings had in the film, but this was real life.

The Blue Angel is a milestone film for many people and in an indirect way for Adolph Hitler as well since he got his biggest film star from the cast. Still though it's a stunning bit of cinema with performances that still hold up very well today.

Like THE GODFATHER, CITIZEN KANE, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and a few others,

THE BLUE ANGEL is one of the great films of all time, simply because

everything works.

Marlene Dietrich is amazing, probably never as good again, as her Lola

is the quintessential woman mixed with Circe, Delilah and all things

different and apart. As she leads men to their doom she sings honestly

that she "just can't help it," yet men follow her willingly. Emil

Jannings as Professor Rath gives what, in my estimation, is the greatest

performance by an actor on film, first as a martinet, then a man finding

first love, then a devoted married man, then a cuckold, a clown and,

finally a broken, destroyed man. (The moment where he wakes in Lola's

bed and finds delight in Lola's doll is one of the great miniatures in

any film.) To see Kurt Gerron's powerful, nuanced performance as the

leader of the rag tag cabaret troop is heartbreaking when you know that

the perished ina gas chamber only a few years later.) Director Josef Von

Sternberg leads the proceedings through staid classrooms, down twisting

expressionist streets, to the tawdry inside of "The Blue Angel", and

finally, through the labyrinth of Rath's life leading inexorably to his

downfall. Symbolism, from a dead canary to the noose like collars

clowns wear, abound. And oh the songs by Freidrich Hollander! (Kander

and Ebb must have watched this film many times before writing CABARET as

so many parts of that production...including the gift of a

pineapple..are seen here.)

I have seen this film again and again and every time it is fresh as it

was the first time, and, I would suppose, as it was in 1929. What a

great, great film!!!

Today, most people know this film as featuring Marlene Dietrich's signature tune "Falling in Love Again." But it was the first sound film to be made in Germany; and is the first great sound film to be made anywhere. Although it exists also in an English version that was made at the same time, both Dietrich and Jannings give better performances in their native language; and, as the sound is rather poor, it is easier to follow in German with the English sub-titles. Jannings was the first actor to win an Academy Award (though not for this film) and his performance as the professor who is lead to ruin by a femme fatale remains one of the memorable film performances. Fans of Dietrich should not miss this film which brought her international success. This is one of those films that only grows with continued viewing. If you were fond of Cabaret, then this is the real Germany between the World Wars. Highly recommended.

A stuffy, lonely German college professor, laughed at by his immature pupils, ventures out to a cabaret in the village to berate his students for ogling the female entertainment; instead, he becomes infatuated with the star of the show, chanteuse Lola Lola, and apparently she to him. After marrying the flashy girl, the teacher leaves his profession to travel with the theatrical troupe, but life on the road immediately wears him down. An ugly little story, adapted from Heinrich Mann's novel "Professor Unrath", has a winking-nudging overlay of sexual byplay and was released to great acclaim in both German and English-language versions (this review pertains to the German version with subtitles). Director Josef von Sternberg was already a 15-year veteran of Hollywood movie-making by the time "The Blue Angel" arrived, and yet several sequences (most notably in the first reel and the last) are sloppily constructed and uncertainly paced. Emil Jannings is wonderful as the unloved professor who initially blossoms in the company of streetwise Marlene Dietrich, but his emotional unraveling is awfully quick in coming. Josef von Sternberg is far too sluggish in the beginning, but by the midway point he rushes the narrative...and the audience isn't allowed to get their bearings. As a result, the plot feels like a sadistic series of screw-turns, with no hope (or heart) in sight. **1/2 from ****

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.

An elderly professor (Emil Jannings)'s ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer (Marlene Dietrich).

How do you beat the combination of Emil Jannings, one of the greatest actors of German cinema, and Marlene Dietrich, who is something of a legend? I mean, is any other German-American actress of her generation even close to being as famous? (I could say Lil Dagover, but many would say "who?") The film was released in both German and English versions. I only watched the English one (so far), so the difference is unclear. One thing can be said: Dietrich was much more natural in English than Jannings, who seems out of place. When she tells him to speak "in her language", it is quite believable that English is her native tongue.

This will basically be reinforcing what was said in my review for the German-language version, being the same film but this time in English.

Despite Marlene Dietrich actually appearing in several silent films in her native Germany, it was 'The Blue Angel' that made her a star and rose her to international fame. It was also the film that started the famous and iconic 7-film collaboration of Dietrich and director Josef Von Sternberg. 'The Blue Angel' may not be the best film of theirs, but is still very good and a knockout first collaboration for them.

It is agreed that the German-language version is superior. The English-language version is still very good and retains all the things that makes 'The Blue Angel' in German as good as it is. The English "dubbing" doesn't always sound natural and felt rushed at times, with the actors not being at ease with the language entirely.

As a film, 'The Blue Angel's' only real drawback is to do with pacing, taking a little too long to get going and then later on parts feel rushed, abruptly introduced and not quite developed enough.

Most memorable about 'The Blue Angel' is Dietrich on cruel and seductive form while singing her songs with sincerity, standing out especially being her iconic rendition of "Falling in Love Again" with her in a top hat and black stockings perched on the bar stool. Her character may not be likable but it's a complex one and Dietrich succeeds in making her real.

It is easy to overlook Emil Jannings, in his first talking picture, however, the story of 'The Blue Angel' really being his, detailing of an enamoured man led to his downfall. It is a performance however underserving of overlooking, for it is a great performance full of wonderful moments (like his facial expression in the mirror and at the end), succeeding in making a real character in a way that's eccentric and poignant.

Kurt Gerrer, who met a tragic end just over a decade later, is also good.

Sternberg directs as sumptuously as to be expected and with adroit atmosphere. 'The Blue Angel' looks good, aside from occasional choppy editing, especially in the clever and luminous use of light and shadow lighting and cinematography that's atmospheric and classy. The music fits beautifully and enhances the mood, "Falling in Love Again" being a signature song of Dietrich's for very good reason.

Further good things are a script that has a good balance of the comedic and the tragic, done amusingly and movingly, and a story that's disturbing and emotional, especially the heart-wrenching ending.

Overall, very good film and more than just historical interest. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Amongst movie audiences are those who have decided to become avid movie fans. Others press on, becoming studious and seek to know what the formula of a genuine Classic is. Indeed, a few dedicate their lives to discover a truly Classic film and realize one when they see it. Here is one you should have in your own collection of movies. A real classic shows you something rare or at least missing in so many which do not possess the power and magic. The film is called " The Blue Angel " a 1930 film which ranks among the greatest. Emil Jannings plays Prof. Immanuel Rath a collegial educator and die hard professor who teaches Fine Arts. He is a strict disciplinarian who commands respect in the college where he teaches. Marlene Dietrich is Lola Lola a nightclub singer, showgirl and entertainer who works with a traveling troop. Never having had a love life, Rath becomes easy prey for Lola who takes him for the ride of his life. What he won't do for love becomes only too obvious, yet he will pay and that makes for tragedy. Look closely, if you seek the secret formula and you'll find the obvious trademark of a true Classic. Highly recommended. ****

Although this is done in English, there were many German actors in this early Marlene Dietrich "talkie." The first third of this film is so boring, I wonder how many first-time viewers would stick around to watch the whole thing? It's not easy. Don't expect a lot of dialog, either, because there are a lot of scenes of long silent pauses.

Dietrich ("Lola") looked heavy to me, not the sexy Marlene I know from subsequent '30s films, especially "Blonde Venus" which was done just two years later.

Emil Jennings plays a stuffy teacher who becomes enamored with this cabaret singer (Dietrich loved those roles!) and gets his heart broken (she liked to do that to men, too!).

All in all, too depressing a story to recommend, except to those sadistic viewers - and there are number of them out there - who enjoy seeing a person (particularly a man) mentally tortured. For them, this movie is worth checking out.