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.

"The Blue Angel" from 1930 made a star out of Marlene Dietrich and has a great performance by Emil Jannings. It's a very dark tale of obsession leading to degradation.

The film is based on a novel by Heinrich Mann directed by Josef von Sternberg. It concerns a professor (Jannings) who goes to a club, The Blue Angel, where he learns his students go, and meets the hypnotic Lola (Dietrich). He falls in love with her, marries her, and starts down a road that leads to hell.

This is a movie about images -- a dead bird, the magnificent Lola, Jannings as a clown, his descent into madness, his image in a mirror, and the final shot of him, utterly destroyed, at his old professor desk.

This is German filmmaking at its best. Von Sternberg and Dietrich would head for America; Jannings, a Nazi collaborator, would stay put. Later Dietrich called him a "ham." He does give a big performance, but somehow, it isn't over the top.

On a side note - Jannings was the winner of the first Academy Award, but in reality, he placed second. The winner? Rin Tin Tin. The Academy believed it wouldn't put them in a good light to give the award to a dog, so they denied Rin his award and gave it to Jannings instead. It's said he used to carry it with him.

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