Trivia / The Blue Angel

• Hostility on the Set: Emil Jannings grew resentful of the special attention Josef von Sternberg showed to Marlene Dietrich. He would purportedly throw tantrums on set and once threatened to choke the leading lady.
• Missing Episode: The English-language version was considered a lost film for many years, until a print was discovered in a German film archive. This version has been restored and shown as part of the Berlin and Beyond film festival at the Castro Theater in San Francisco on 19 January 2009.
• Referenced by...: In Ride the Cyclone, The Blue Angel is Noel's favorite movie, him having watched it over and over. Noel's daydream alter ego, a tragic, cynical sex worker in post-war France, is directly inspired by Lola.
• Romance on the Set: Josef von Sternberg's and Marlene Dietrich's love affair, which began during production of this film, caused quite a tabloid scandal and ultimately led to the dissolution of von Sternberg's marriage. On March 31, 1930, the night of the film's triumphant premiere in Berlin, the couple absconded to New York in order to begin a film career together in the United States. Von Sternberg's wife, Riza Royce, discovered the plans and arrived in the United States before her husband and Dietrich. She and her lawyer met the couple at the dock as they disembarked from their cruise liner. Royce served Dietrich with papers notifying her that she was being sued for libel and alienation of affection, and she filed for divorce from von Sternberg one month later.
• Star-Making Role: For Marlene Dietrich.
• What Could Have Been: Many actresses from the stage and screen were considered for the role of Lola Lola. Early contenders were Louise Brooks, Lotte Lenya and Gloria Swanson. Leni Riefenstahl later claimed to have been considered for the role, but her claim is dubious.

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