The Blue Angel

Synopsis

Professor Immanuel Rath, a strict teacher, visits a cabaret to catch his students but falls for the seductive singer Lola Lola. Blinded by passion, he marries her and resigns, descending into a life of degradation as a clown in her troupe. When they return to his hometown, he is forced to crow like a rooster on stage. Humiliated and broken, the mad professor flees to his old classroom to die alone, clutching his desk in a final moment of tragic despair.

Critique

Josef von Sternberg’s tragic masterpiece chronicles the brutal degradation of a respectable professor who falls for the cabaret singer Lola Lola. It launched Marlene Dietrich to international stardom, establishing her iconic persona of cool, detached sexuality. As Germany’s first major sound film, it masterfully uses diegetic music to drive the narrative. The harrowing image of the fallen intellectual forced to crow like a rooster is a timeless symbol of lost dignity. It remains a cynical, visually stunning study of obsession and ruin.

Technical sheet

Director

Josef von Sternberg

Original title

Der blaue Engel

Year

1930

Country

Germany

Running time

108 min

Genre

Drama

Written by

Carl Winston, Heinrich Mann, Robert Liebmann, Karl Vollmöller

Cinematography

Hans Schneeberger, Günther Rittau

Cast

Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti, Hans Albers, Reinhold Bernt

Production

UFA

Music

Newly composed original score

Licensing