The German film, THE BLUE ANGEL, introduced Marlene Dietrich to filmgoers around the world and initiated her reign as an international superstar. The film was also the first of many collaborations between Dietrich and director Josef von Sternberg.
This film, like many stars’ first films, was an exercise in shaping Dietrich’s star persona. In THE BLUE ANGEL, Dietrich looks different than in her later films. She has a strong body, more akin to the rounder shapes of burlesque dancers of the time than the lithe, glamorous European aristocrats she embodies in the height of her career. Her face does not even look like “Marlene Dietrich” — it’s fuller, missing her trademark high cheekbones. But even that cannot cover Dietrich’s star power. Her eyes flash with passion, and the performances in the film show a glimpse of the full-fledged androgynous sensuality she uses to her advantage in the rest of her work.
THE BLUE ANGEL centers on a middle-aged professor who becomes obsessed with a cabaret girl named Lola Lola and throws his life away in the process. The relationship between director Josef von Sternberg and Dietrich could be characterized along the same lines. He spotted her in a play. She had only one line, but that was enough for him to decide he wanted to make her over into a star, and much of his career was dedicated to that goal. But Dietrich, instead of leading to von Sternberg’s downfall, led him to the height of his career, acting as his muse and partner in seven films.
By the time Dietrich moved on to her first Hollywood project, MOROCCO, her brand and look had been honed. She was thinner and angular, slipping easily into sensual nightgowns and menswear-inspired pantsuits. Dietrich heightened Lola’s personality and became more world-weary, aloof and alluring ,promising that audiences would be obsessed with her for years to follow.
— Diana Martinez, Film Streams Education Director
