Rent The Blue Angel (1930)

3.7 of 5 from 128 ratings
1h 46min
Rent The Blue Angel (aka Der Blaue Engel) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Emil Jennings, the quintessential German expressionist actor, stars as Professor Immanuel Rath, the sexually-repressed instructor of a boys prep school. After learning of the pupils' infatuation with French postcards depicting a local nightclub songstress, he decides to personally investigate the source of such indecency. But as soon as he enters the shadowy Blue Angel nightclub and steals one glimpse of the smoldering Lola-Lola (Marlene Dietrich), commanding the stage in a top hot, stockings and bare thighs, Rath's self-righteous piety is crushed. He finds himself fatefully seduced by the throaty voice of the vulgar siren, singing, "Falling in Love Again".
Consumed by desire and tormented by his rigid propriety, Professor Rath allows himself to be dragged down a path of personal degradation. Lola's unrestrained sexuality was a revelation to turn-of-the-decade moviegoers, thrusting Dietrich to the forefront of the sultry international leading ladies, such as Greta Garbo, who were challenging the limits of screen sexuality.
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , Robert Klein-Lörk, , , , , Die Weintraub Syncopators, ,
Directors:
Producers:
Erich Pommer
Writers:
Heinrich Mann, Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmoller, Robert Liebmann, Josef Von Sternberg
Aka:
Der Blaue Engel
Studio:
Eureka
Genres:
Classics, Drama, Music & Musicals, Romance
Collections:
100 Years of German Expressionism, Award Winners, Film History, Films & TV by topic, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Marlene Dietrich, Memory Lane: Films Set in 1920s, Remembering Gena Rowlands, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, The Cinema Paradiso Kissing Montage, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Billy Wilder, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Last Laugh: The Film That Changed Cinema, Top 10 Best Last Films: World Cinema, Top 10 Czech Films, Top 10 European Remakes, Top Films
Countries:
Germany
BBFC:
Release Date:
23/09/2002
Run Time:
106 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 2.0, German Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:
English
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Audio commentary (German version only)
  • Marlene Dietrich's screen test
  • Dietrech interview footage
  • Original trailer
  • Dietrich concert footage
  • Photo gallery
  • Filmmaker and cast biographies
  • Production history
Disc 1:
This disc includes German Version
Disc 2:
This disc includes English Version
BBFC:
Release Date:
28/01/2013
Run Time:
108 minutes
Languages:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles:
English, English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.19:1
Colour:
B & W
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • New and exclusive video essay on the film by critic and scholar Tag Gallagher
  • New and exclusive feature-length audio commentary by critic and scholar Tony Rayns on the German-language version
  • Original 1929 screen test with Marlene Dietrich
  • Archival 1971 interview clip with Dietrich
  • Three clips of Dietrich in performance from 1963 and 1972 concerts
  • Theatrical and re-release trailers

More like The Blue Angel

Reviews (3) of The Blue Angel

"I was made that way...... can't help it” - The Blue Angel review by CK

Spoiler Alert
19/11/2018

A movie with a simple plot but populated by characters who are given rich complexity via the spectacularly talented cast.

The scenes in which Professor Rath journeys to and from the Blue Angel club, weaving through the distorted angles of the sharply twisted and confining expressionist urban landscape, are delicious. The sets, lighting and cinematography, combine in magnificent accord – and are astonishingly well rendered by this 2013 bluray restoration.

The movie culminates in an extraordinarily bleak conclusion - one which would likely not be permitted in this age of ‘test screenings‘ and lowest common denominator audience approval.

A masterpiece to be savoured by anyone with even the faintest interest in the aspirations of the creative arts and/or the mysteries of the human condition.

“Love's always been my game

Play it how I may

I was made that way......

Can't help it”

3 out of 4 members found this review helpful.

Warning: This is a classic. - The Blue Angel review by JG

Spoiler Alert
16/10/2019

This movie has a reputation as being a great movie and also as the one that made Marlene Deitrich famous. Being a movie fan I was eager to see this, but was disappointed. I didn't finish the movie.

My disappointment was because it was not what I was expecting. Marlene Deitrich is not the main character and does not play the central role. I got exasperated with the classroom scenes at the beginning and was impatient for the film to get going.

The film was made a long while ago, not long after the silent era, and should not be judged by today's production standards. It is also a foreign film and not a Hollywood product. If you want a film that thrills and looks polished then go elsewhere. If you are prepared to judge the film according to the standards of the time and follow the story it tells rather than the historical reputation it has acquired then you will get more from it. Particularly if you acknowledge that this is a continental film and not a mid Atlantic one. The review by AC gives a fair assessment from someone who understood the film. I do not understand why someone down rated it, perhaps they thought they were down rating the film, they had already done that by awarding 1 star.

The two disks have the same film but are different versions. Disk 1 is the original language version with subtitles. If you can manage subtitles this is the one to watch, particularly if you have a little German. The second disk is a separate re-shooting of the same film with English dialogue spoken by the original actors. The translation is not as good as the subtitles, some dialogue is omitted and the sound quality is poor. If you really can't get on with subtitles then it may be worth trying but I recommend avoiding it and watching the first disk.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

Not for me. - The Blue Angel review by BE

Spoiler Alert
23/06/2019

Watched the first disc for half an hour.  Totally unable to engage with this movie which was first made nearly 90 years ago. Won't bother with disc number two. 

0 out of 2 members found this review helpful.

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