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Berlin & Beyond - Blue Angel + Hollywood speaks German (Combo)

Castro Theatre
San Francisco, CA

THE BLUE ANGEL is considered to be the first major German sound film, and just as Hollywood was speaking
German (see HOLLYWOOD SPEAKS GERMAN, p.8), UFA, its German counterpart, was speaking English.
Tonights feature is a rare screening of the English version of Josef von Sternbergs classic that
put Marlene Dietrich on the world stage. She sings, charms, and seduces while Emil Jannings struggles
with English. She reminds him: Speak to me in my language, and he tries, which not only adds to the
humor but also to the tragic moments of the film.
Jannings plays Dr. Immanuel Rath, a provincial boarding school teacher who becomes obsessed with
cabaret singer Lola Lola (Dietrich), who ultimately drives him into madness and ruin. Visionary, haunting,
and emotionally unrelenting, THE BLUE ANGEL stands as Sternbergs crowning achievement.

HOLLYWOOD SPEAKS GERMAN

By 1929, new technologies made talkies possible, but dubbing films into another language proved
to be a still insurmountable technological challenge. To make films available to a wider audience,
the only feasible option was to reshoot different language versions. From 1930 through 1932, all major
Hollywood studios shot films in German. Famous German actors such as Heinrich George, Paul Morgan,
and Camilla Horn came to shoot on location in Hollywood, and many German-speaking actors already
in Hollywood were often chosen, such as Greta Garbo, Edward G. Robinson, and Marion Lessing. A
number of famous American actors, such as Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and Buster Keaton were required to
learn German phonetics. Parallel to this development, many German actors were filmed speaking English,
as evidenced by this years Berlin & Beyonds classic feature THE BLUE ANGEL.
Stefan Droessler describes the situation in the different studios and shows excerpts of a dozen movies
which have been neglected by film studies.

Kid Friendly: No

Dog Friendly: No

Non-Smoking: No

Wheelchair Accessible: No

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