The Blue Angel one alternative: death. Notes The Blue Angel The Blue Angel () is a 1930 German tragicomedic film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Emil Jannings, Marlene Dietrich and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller and Robert Liebmann – with uncredited contributions by Sternberg – it is based on Heinrich Mann's 1905 novel "Professor Unrat" ("Professor Garbage") and set in Weimar Germany. "The Blue Angel" presents the tragic transformation of a respectable professor to a cabaret clown and his descent into madness. The film is the first feature-length German full-talkie and brought Dietrich international fame. In addition, it
Marlene Dietrich filmography films directed by Sternberg, including "Dishonored" (1931), "Blonde Venus" (1932), and "Shanghai Express" (1932). Dietrich and Sternberg's last two film collaborations, "The Scarlet Empress" (1934) and "The Devil Is a Woman" (1935)—the most styled of their collaborations—were their least successful at the box office. Her first sound film without Sternberg was 1933's "The Song of Songs", directed by Rouben Mamoulian, although she and Sternberg would later work together another two times. But without Sternberg, Dietrich—along with Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Mae West, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Dolores del Río and others—was labeled "box office poison" after the movie "Knight Without