The Blue Angel 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 introduced her signature song,
Marlene Dietrich 29 September 1975, when she fell off the stage and broke her thigh during a performance in Sydney, Australia. The following year, her husband, Rudolf Sieber, died of cancer on 24 June 1976. Dietrich's final on-camera film appearance was a cameo role in "Just a Gigolo" (1979), starring David Bowie and directed by David Hemmings, in which she sang the title song. An alcoholic dependent on painkillers, Dietrich withdrew to her apartment at 12 in Paris. She spent the final 11 years of her life mostly bedridden, allowing only a select few—including family and employees—to enter the apartment. During this