The Blue Angel (1930)

Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Starring Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Hans Albers, Rosa Valetti, Eduard von Winterstein, Reinhold Berny, Hans Roth.

Germany’s first feature-length talkie made an international star out of Dietrich. Story concerns a Weimar Republic professor (Jannings), the constant victim of pranks and abuse by his unruly students, who descends into madness after floundering into a hopeless marriage with cabaret dancer Lola Lola (Dietrich). Von Sternberg’s images trump his storytelling here, which suffers from the inevitability of its tragedy being telegraphed so plainly; even by the standards of German Expressionism, the symbolism clangs (a man bereft of dignity becoming a stage clown is awfully on-the-nose). Dietrich sings her signature tune (“Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt”) and leaves an indelible world-weary impression; Jannings is on the hammy side, but it’s hard to forget him either. Liberally based off a novel by Heinrich Mann (“Professor Unrat”). German title: Der Blaue Engel.

71/100