The Blue Angel

Josef von Sternberg, UFA, 1930, after Heinrich Mann's Professor Unrat. Emil Jannings is Immanuel Rath, a Gymnasium teacher who follows his pupils to a cabaret and meets Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich). Shot in German and English versions on the same sets. Friedrich Hollaender's songs, including "Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt," were recorded live with the image; Dietrich's screen test is what UFA kept. The English version is shorter and blunter; the German one is the film Sternberg signed. Rath's decline is the plot, and the last reel is the point.