We have started a Patreon page with the hopes that some of our followers would be willing to donate a small amount to keep DVDBeaver alive. We are a tiny niche, so your generosity is vital to our existence.

We are talking about a minimum of $0.10 - $0.15 a day, perhaps a quarter (or more) to those who won't miss it from their budget. It equates to buying DVDBeaver a coffee once, twice or a few times a month. You can then participate in our monthly Silent auctions, and have exclusive access to many 'bonus' High Resolution screen captures (in lossless PNG Format) - both 4K UHD and Blu-ray (see HERE).

To those that are unfamiliar, Patreon is a secure/verified third-party service where users can agree to a monthly donation via credit card or PayPal by clicking the button below.


 

Search DVDBeaver

 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
USA 1937

 

From Ernst Lubitsch, the legendary director of The Love Parade, The Merry Widow, Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife, The Shop Around the Corner, To Be or Not to Be and Heaven Can Wait, comes this romantic comedy starring the great Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel, Desire) as the unfaithful wife of a foreign diplomat. Lady Maria Barker (Dietrich) has a perfect life: a famous husband (Herbert Marshall, The Good Fairy), a stately English manor and endless trips abroad. Unfortunately, the one thing that is missing is her husband’s attention, leading to a short-lived affair with a dashing British stranger (Melvyn Douglas, Ninotchka) in Paris who knows her only by the name “Angel.” Though she tried to put her infidelity behind her, the whirlwind romance comes back to haunt Lady Barker when the Englishman turns out to be her husband’s old military chum. Torn between her husband and her lover, she is forced to make an agonizing decision that may change her life forever.

***

Re-hired as a director and promising to repeat the success of Desire, Lubitsch and Dietrich (the latter still under contract for one more picture) began Angel, a suave, sly morality play encompassing infidelity, Parisian bordellos, fabulous clothing and servants who could gauge their employers' sex lives by the leftovers on their dinner plates. With Herbert Marshall and Melvyn Douglas signed as co-stars, the premise certainly seemed prime for the "Lubitsch touch," but almost from the beginning there were signs of trouble.

Almost immediately there were daily intrusions from the Production Code causing expensive re-takes, re-edits and even re-writing (the aforementioned Parisian bordello being transformed into the Russian Embassy!). Paramount executives, already dubious as to whether this kind of story would play with a public now infatuated with the feel-good movies of Bing Crosby and Frank Capra, had double jitters when The Garden of Allah bellied up, followed by the quick death of another highly touted Dietrich picture, A Knight Without Armour (1937).

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 13th, 1937

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:31:05.042        
Video

1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 30,398,854,781 bytes

Feature: 28,544,139,264 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino

 

1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 30,398,854,781 bytes

Feature: 28,544,139,264 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride, author of How Did Lubitsch Do It?


 Blu-ray Release Date: April 7th, 2020
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (March 2020): Kino have transferred Ernst Lubitsch's Angel starring Marlene Dietrich to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 4K Master!" The image is gorgeous - rich, film-like and textured the 1080P presentation has a few speckles and light scratches but the source density was in excellent shape and the resulting image quality is beautiful.

NOTE: We have added all 31 large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language (with some French). It sounds very clean with clear and audible dialogue. The score is by Friedrich Hollaender (Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, The Great McGinty, Christmas in Connecticut, Caught, Berlin Express, Background to Danger, The Verdict, A Foreign Affair) and (uncredited) Werner R. Heymann. I recall that the train whistle had surprising depth and, overall, the film's audio is authentically flat without major flaws. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Joseph McBride (author of How Did Lubitsch Do It?) and he describes Angel as an atypical Lubitsch film, perhaps the reason it has been out of the conversation and lesser-seen/neglected... describing it as a 'light drama with witty overtones' - very different from his comedies like the excellent Trouble in Paradise. How the fact that many lauded directors were fans of Lubitsch and his oblique subtle manner of telling a story plus his mature way of dealing with sexuality, and how he was so clever in getting around censors. He tells of the 'dryness' of Angel. How we are left with the uncut version... that Melchior Lengyel's plays were responsible for the stories of five Lubitsch film... and much more. It is very much worth indulging. There are also some trailers although none for the film.

Angel is a different type of Ernst Lubitsch film dealing with marriage boredom and discrete liaisons. Dietrich plays her usual hypnotically beautiful persona with mystery in her eyes. It's a kind of honest romance and a well-above average film. The 4K-restored Kino Blu-ray is gorgeous and has the McBride commentary. Who can get enough of Lubitsch or Dietrich? Strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

All full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 

 
Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

  

Bonus Captures:
Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

Search DVDBeaver

 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

 CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!