The Blue Angel (1930)

The German cinema enters the world of the talking film with a production based on a novel about how a dignified man is brought down by the lust and seduction of a burlesque performer. Austrian-American director Josef von Sternberg produces what is widely considered the first major German film complete with sound in this classic movie. Being the first sound production in Germany was not groundbreaking but it did mare von Sternberg as being the first to walk through the doors of the sound production in that particular country. Starring the acclaimed German actor Emil Jannings, winner of the very first Academy Award for best acting for his works in America during 1927/28, it would be his co-star Marlene Dietrich that would steal the show garnering her international star status. The film The Blue Angel was a rather simple film that was produced well and is very entertaining today as it was when it was first released.

The film follows Prof. Immanuel Rath (Jannings), highly respected professor at a local college in Germany, when one night he plans to catch his students frolicking at a local burlesque house after dicovering racey photos of a performer named Lola Lola (Dietrich) amongest his students. Once at the burlesque house he happens to meet Lola herself and becomes enamored with her seduction leading to a night of passion. The decision to purpose to her starts him on a downward spiral as he loses his job and his respect from his hometown forcing himself to go on the road with Lola as part of the traveling act. The climax of the film is when Rath becomes enraged with how his life has made him literally a clown and even his wife doesn't respect him, seeing her in the arms of passion with another man. He destroys part of the backstage area until he is left wondering the streets searching for what he once had, breaking into his former classroom, collapsing while clutching the desk of the room he once ruled over.

The film appears to be a story one might have seen other times in other movies, where a respectable man chases after lust confusing it with happiness leading to his ultimate demise. This picture does a wonderful job producing this story with some of the best acting of its time. Jannings, the respectable, honored thespian, makes you believe that a hard nosed educator (you know the kind) trying to catch his students doing something wrong not during class ending up getting himself into his own mess. Dietrich plays a woman that is not openly flirtatious, but is seductive and has a charm that can draw men towards her. When the highly regarded man enters the life of this seductrice the two think they found what they needed in life, only to have the educator lose his status, leading to her losing interest and going back to her old ways of inviting other men to get close to her. It is a tragic tale of the misconception of happiness and how it can destroy one's life, leaving one chasing the ghosts of their past.

Despite the top billing going to Emil Jannings, as well it should for he is the main character and was the well known star at that time, Marlene Dietrich would be the one most remembered from the film. Her look and her acting made her an instant hit with audiences. Dietrich would have no clue of the explosion of interest in her at first for she was on her way to the States by way of ship to do more work when the film was released making her a huge star. She would sign a contract with Paramount Pictures and would continue to produce films several with von Sternberg. With her deep voice and accent she would be Paramount's answer to what MGM had in Greta Garbo. The film would attach her with the song "Falling In Love Again (Can't Help It.)" which she would perform numerous times in her life. The Blue Angel would be just the beginning for her as she work in Hollywood as an actress and recording star all the way into the 1980s.

The film was actually produced simultaneously in both German and English, a common practice at the time in order to make more money internationally. In this case both of the actors and the director could speak both languages, therefore it was the matter of shooting the same shots twice with the same set up. The film was a success on both sides of the ocean, but the original film was produced for German audiences and the English copy would go missing in time, thought to be lost forever until discovered in an archive in Germany in 2009. The film is well produced and is entertaining to watch today even after all these years. It goes to show how good productions can stand the test of time.