SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Blue Angel, The

Synopsis

Feature film. An elderly professor is infatuated by an attractive young music-hall singer, and abandons his teaching career to go away with her and her troupe. In one scene Professor Rath uses the line ‘to be, or not to be’ to teach his students correct English pronunciation. In the German version of the film he does the same but also punishes the inattentive class by making them write the answer to the question ‘what would have happened to Caesar if Mark Antony had not delivered his funeral oration?'.

Language

English

Country

Germany

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Sound

Year of release

1930

Duration

107 mins

Credits

Director

Josef von Sternberg

Producer

Erich Pommer

Cinematographer

Günther Rittau; Hans Schneeberger

Screenplay

Carl Zuckmayer; Karl Vollmuller

Music

Friedrich Hollaender

Art Direction

Hans Hasler; Otto Hunte

Cast

Emil Jannings	Professor Immanuel Roth
Marlene Dietrich	Lola Frohlich ‘Lola Lola’

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Hamlet; Julius Caesar

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

The two-DVD set, released in 2001, includes both English and German versions. DVD extras include Dietrich’s screen test for the film and scene comparisons between the German and English versions.

General

Based on Heinrich Mann’s novel ‘Professor Unrath’

Production Company

Name

UFA

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets