Blue Angel
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
or
Get up to a $5.75 Amazon gift card

Blue Angel (1931)

Emil Jannings (Actor), Marlene Dietrich (Actor), Josef von Sternberg (Director) | Rated: NR | Format: DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews) |

Available from these sellers.


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Product Details

  • Actors: Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti, Hans Albers
  • Directors: Josef von Sternberg
  • Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Passport
  • DVD Release Date: July 8, 2003
  • Run Time: 120 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00009W0W6
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,310 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

  • Learn more about "Blue Angel" on IMDb

Special Features

  • Includes:
  • The Blue Angel (English language version)
  • Marlene Dietrich at the Movies (20 min.)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

For director Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich it all began with The Blue Angel, one of the masterpieces of Germany's Weimar cinema. This landmark film thrust the sultry and unrestrained Dietrich on an unsuspecting international film audience. She plays the prototypical role of Lola, the singer who tempts repressed professor Emil Jannings (the king of expressionist actors) into complete submission night after night at the Blue Angel nightclub. The film perfectly captures the masochism and degradation of the Weimar Republic, just before the rise of Adolf Hitler. And yet the moral confusion exhibited by Jannings is really due to his own torment. Dietrich is merely an instrument of his innermost desires, standing on stage in top hat, stockings, and bare thighs singing "Falling in Love Again." --Bill Desowitz

Product Description

Show 1
This film’s direction from Joseph Von Sternberg is brilliant, visionary and haunting. The star turn by Marlene Dietrich in "The Blue Angel" made her a screen icon. But perhaps Emil Jannings is the real treasure. His tough professor turned pathetic loser is absolutely devastating by the end of the film, with an unforgettable breakdown sequence and final scene. His performance is uncanny and is as much responsible for the longevity of this timeless film as is Dietrich's famous performance as Lola Lola. Approx. 100 Min.

Show 2
Marlene Dietrich At The Movies
Marlene Dietrich as a ruthless, seductive, throaty-voiced siren straddled a chair and crooned "Falling in Love Again" in top hat, stockings and bare thighs in "The Blue Angel." But her intensity and magic was captured on screen in an array of roles from the spell-binding gypsy in "Golden Earrings" who bewitched Ray Milland to the wife enthralled by Tyrone Power in "Witness for the Prosecution." Approx. 20 Min.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Kino's 2-disc DVD version December 12, 2001
Format:DVD
Relative newcomer Marlene Dietrich's electrifying performance in the 1930 sound film THE BLUE ANGEL overshadows the perhaps even greater performance by Emil Jannings as a sexually-repressed professor. Her screen presence also more than overcomes Josef von Sternberg's rather static direction that was typical of early sound films, elevating this romantic melodrama into its classic status.

Kino's region-free DVD contains both the German and the English versions of the film, each on a separate disc. Both versions look very clean for a 71-year-old film, although just a tad less sharp than I would have liked. The English version looks a bit cleaner still. The supplements include a side-by-side comparison of the two versions (with the German version shown on the left), and the English version indeed looks better. The German version is supported by optional, white-on-black-bar English subtitles. The black bars, of course, cover up part of the picture. I would suggest Kino use white, black-bordered lettering for subtitles in the future instead.

The German version runs 102 minutes, and has a few scenes that are not shown in the English version due to censorship (such as the moment when Lola rotates her body to reveal her bare back side to her nightclub audience). The English version runs 100 minutes. Although it was supposedly made for English audiences, only Dietrich's role is all English-speaking, while the other actors speak a combination of both languages -- English for important dialogs, German for less important ones.

The included audio commentary on the German disc is a mild disappointment. Although historian Werner Sedendorf's analytical comments are excellent, he just does not speak often enough. Long stretches of silence are frequent. Kino should have thought of filling the vacancies with additional comments (either by Sedendorf or someone else), especially when a lot of relevant topics are not adequately covered, such as the legendary collaborations between Dietrich and von Sternberg, the details about the censorship practiced on the English version, the period of German Expressionism that inspired directors like von Sternberg, etc.

The DVD does include a generous amount of extra material. There is a wonderful biography section that includes photos and credits of about 30 cast and crew members. There are about 150 photos, some of which are then-and-now comparisons of some of the props and costumes in the movie. There are text screens of the film's production history. The best extras, unquestionnably, are the 4 film clips of Dietrich's screen test and concert performances. There is a memorable clip of the 1930 screen test of Dietrich singing "You are the Cream in my Coffee." There are 2 clips of televised concerts from the 60s and 70s showing Dietrich performing two of the songs in the movie (English renditions of "Falling in Love Again" and "Lola Lola"). There is another TV footage of her singing "You are the Cream in my Coffee" after reminiscing about her 1930 screen test.

Was this review helpful to you?
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
A classic of world cinema September 21, 2003
Format:DVD
A German cinema classic from the late Weimar-era, and the film debut of super-sexy Marlene Dietrich, who is stunning in her role as a flirtatious, heartless cabaret singer whose carnal wiles bring an infatuated school teacher to ruin. But then, what is *really* responsible for his downfall? Dietrich as the temptress, his own repressed sexuality and concurrent fetishization of her beauty, or the close-mindedness of the society around them? As with much of the art of this era (in Germany and without), this film depicts the clash of the old world and the new -- the modern, open, crass, liberating and chaotic world of the individual against the older, stable, stifling, communal and "moral" world of the village and church. At any rate, the transformation of actor Emil Jannings from a fusty old humbug into a degraded shell of a man is a dramatic triumph, and the direction, by Josef von Sternberg, is flawless -- filled with darkness, closeness and brooding claustrophia. The new DVD version features both the German and English-language versions (the English version isn't dubbed, it was actually *acted* in English by the same German actors, and has a few interesting differences of moral tone...) and also includes, as an added bonus Marlene Dietrich's first screen test, which is hilarious, and a must-see for her fans.
Was this review helpful to you?
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
A True Classic February 29, 2000
By Rebecca
Format:VHS Tape
The film that turned the head of Adolf Hitler and sky-rocketed Marlena Dietrich to international stardom is as fresh and orginal today as it was when it first hit theaters in Germany 70 years ago.

With the aid of english subtitles, we are introduced to Dr. Immanuel Rath, an esteemed professor of an upper-class German prep school. A stern and authoritative man, his feathers are ruffled severely when he learns some of his students have been neglecting their studies in favor of visiting a night club, the Blue Angel, on the more sordid side of town to hear a beautiful singer named Lola Lola.

When Rath confronts Lola, he becomes smitten with her. An infatuation which will eventually lead to his own professional and personal downfall.

Emil Jannings (the first person ever to win a Best Actor Oscar) is marvelous as the stuffy and destructive Rath, and his ham-handed pirouette into complete emotional and physical breakdown is mesmerizing. Dietrich is equally fundamental in her role as Lola, slowly seducing, not just her fellow characters, but the audience too, with her entralling presence.

Is it any wonder this film lives on?

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
THE BLUE ANGEL
Great value. It was definitely worth getting the 2 DVD edition that has both the English and German versions rather than the single disc hybrid version of the two.
Published 15 days ago by Jodi Dorries
This film is a work of art.
Memorable acting, haunting story, beautiful Marlene. This is certainly one of my favorite films of all time. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Hugo_doll0309
An interesting historical film
This two disc set contains the original 1930 German version of this classic and its English version. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Israel Drazin
A wonderful collaboration between Dietrich and von Sternberg! A...
For director Josef von Sternberg, he would be known for silent films such as "Underworld", "The Last Command" and "The Docks of New York", but for this Austrian-American film... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Dennis A. Amith (kndy)
The best DVD edition of the German Classic
This 2 disk CD of "The Blue Angel" is the one to get. As well as both the German and English versions of the film in reasonable prints, the set contains many extras which will help... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Douglas M
you get what you paid for
This is a five star movie. It is a classic and worth every star BUT i should have purchased a restored version because this copy is hardly viewable. My own fault. Read more
Published 14 months ago by fredinsted
International Classic
"The Blue Angel" is a 1930 classic from Weimar Germany's flowering era. Directors such as Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Paul Wegener, Friedrich Murnau, William Dieterle, Carl... Read more
Published on April 29, 2010 by Dr. James Gardner
Death disguised as love
I have owned and watched several versions of this film. I even have the film script. I would say that the Kino two DVD versions is the best presentation so far. Read more
Published on September 20, 2008 by bernie
WOW
The film like Citizen Kane, way ahead of its time.
To get an idea of Dietrich's performance, think
Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, but it's 1930!! Read more
Published on April 12, 2008 by R. Alvarez
One of the great German films
The Blue Angel is one of the most complex movies I have ever seen... It plays very well as an intellectual story line as well as hitting you as a fine visual treat.. Read more
Published on February 10, 2008 by Stalwart Kreinblaster
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(5)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?
See all 9 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   


Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Movies & TV by subject:






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...