THE BLUE ANGEL

A high school teacher, Professor Rath, learns that his students attend a shady club, The Blue Angel, where a company of artists performs, including the disturbing and cynical dancer Lola-Lola. One night, Professor Rath goes to the club, determined to surprise his students. He ends up in Lola’s dressing room, falls in love with her and marries her. The young artist will cause his ruin. He loses his job and his dignity for her, agreeing to play the clown to stay by her side, eventually dying of shame without having managed to receive anything but indifference from her. This film revealed Dietrich and gave rise to the myth of the sinful diva-singer, capable of embodying the ‘turbulent advent of the new times’ that marked the end of bourgeois propriety. The merit of von Sternberg, who based his work on a novel by Heinrich Mann, lies in his ability to treat the actress’s face, figure and long legs ‘like a landscape’, as in the unforgettable scene of the song ‘Ich bin die Frische Lola’, sung by Dietrich astride a chair. There is also a contemporary English version of this film and a Hollywood remake by Edward Dmytryk in 1959.