The film that kicked off Marlene Dietrich's star journey couldn't be more fitting with a scene where a woman cleans a window behind which is a poster of her role as Laura Laura. In the director's mind, dull, monotonous streets are more fitting than false ideals—which establish the cold, logical tone of "Blue Angel."
Director Steinberg and Dedeley have worked well together in Hollywood, but the difference between the English and German versions of "Blue Angel" shows that the director is still not out of the box of German expressionism. The director designed a dark, heavy style to highlight the two's excellent performances. Professor Rush is played by Jannings, a staid professor who falls under Lola's pomegranate skirt while investigating his student's addiction to the "Blue Angels" bar.
The story is derived from Henshely's novel. Bergstein emphasizes the vertical space of the film: Professor Rush is always looking down at Laura's image. Laura is a typical femme fatale in the novel. He seduced men, and when he got tired of it, he enslaved those whom she conquered, and continued to seduce other men. The film made the heroine Dietrich an instant hit and became an international superstar. Her coquettish and charming slut image was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and became the "founder of the mountain" for this type of screen role. Perhaps considering the audience, the film's performance of the show is much more amiable than the novel, but Laura still showed a gentle and loyal side to the professor. We almost forgave her as she chanted "Falling in Love Again" over and over and could feel her helplessness over her erratic fate.
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