L'angelo azzurro

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.

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.

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!*****

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

... 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.