100
TV Guide Magazine
The one and only; an unqualified masterpiece and milestone.
The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Germany
- 1930
- · 108m
Director
Josef von Sternberg
Cast
Emil Jannings,
Marlene Dietrich,
Kurt Gerron,
Rosa Valetti,
Hans Albers
Genre
Drama,
Music
After professor Immanuel Rath catches his students looking at racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola, he decides to go see her perform for himself. At The Blue Angel, Rath becomes immediately taken with her and dedicates his life to pursuing a relationship. However, dating an enticing cabaret performer proves more difficult than he thought.
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What are critics saying?
100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This great masterpiece of German film is evocative and inventive from its first shot to its last.
100
TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)
The one and only; an unqualified masterpiece and milestone.
90
Chicago Reader
Reeks with decay and sexuality.
90
Variety
A standout picture.
90
New Times (L.A.) by Andy Klein
This film made Dietrich a star, and it's easy to see why: Slightly more voluptuous than in her later films, Dietrich is the embodiment of the pleasures of the flesh.
90
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
The Blue Angel it's clear to Von Sternberg, and to us, that he's connected with some pure being of cinema, whose power to ignite an audience was unstoppable. She became a great star.
90
Variety by Staff (Not Credited)
A standout picture.
90
Chicago Reader by Don Druker
Reeks with decay and sexuality.
88
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Lumbers a little on its way to a preordained conclusion, but is intriguing for its glimpses of backstage life in shabby German postwar vaudeville, and for Dietrich's performance, which seems to float above the action as if she's stepping fastidiously across gutters.
80
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Dietrich is the movie's primary cannon: Her amused eyes, open face, and relaxed sensuality monopolize our sympathies.
75
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
This is melodrama with broad theatrical flourishes, but Dietrich's sensuality is still a natural wonder, and with a new print, the Film Forum run offers a rare opportunity to see it big-screen-size.
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