Cast:
Marlene Dietrich (Maria, Lady Barker / "Angel"), Herbert Marshall (Sir Frederick Barker), Melvyn Douglas (Anthony 'Tony' Halton), Edward Everett Horton (Graham), Ernest Cossart (Chris Wilton), Laura Hope Crews (the Grand Duchess Anna Dmitrievna), Herbert Mundin (Mr. Greenwood), and Dennie Moore (Emma MacGillicuddy Wilton) Produced and Directed by Ernst Lubitsch (#1026 - The Shop Around the Corner, #1358 - To Be or Not to Be, #1881 - The Love Parade)
Review:
Ernst Lubitsch actually once was a production manager for Paramount Pictures, you know. Yes, when it comes to mainstream prominent names of directors running a studio, there really is just one name to consider, and Lubitsch didn't even last that long in the position. In fact, he did not last long after at Paramount after 1936, with this being his penultimate film there. Since 1928, he had made most (not all) of his features there, which went from The Patriot to Bluebeard's Eighth Wife. But not all directors can stay in one place, even if they do provide a touch of interest. Angel is also important in the discussion of Dietrich, because it was her last film with Paramount under contract, with her next feature not being until Destry Rides Again in 1939. The film was based on a play called Angyal by Melchoir Lengyel. Guy Bolton and Russell Medcraft wrote the film while Samson Raphaelson and Frederick Lonsdale wrote the screenplay. It was the only time she starred in a Lubitsch film, and she was paired with Marshall, who had starred in Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise (1932), one of a handful of films he would do as a leading man (which included a good deal of romances).
The touch that Lubitsch provides to making a quality light drama is to keep one's interest firmly upon these sophisticated people and the mishaps that makes romance one to amuse with rather than be afraid of it. It runs at a careful pace of 91 minutes that shows the dynamic that comes together in a love triangle that is seemingly more than two people and one's workload. It is the movie that shows just how much sense one is not going to make when it comes to the nature of men and women, with the latter being particularly apparent. Dietrich plays things with the solemn dignity required in a role that has her cherished in different ways when paired with Marshall or Douglas, which makes sense when you see the dynamics of marriage being contrasted with a night of odd adventure. She is vulnerable even in her grace that seems different her time spent with Josef von Sternberg when it comes to cherishment. Marshall (who appears last among the triangle, intentionally presented as such when it comes to a man presented as a "League of Nations" man) does pretty well as the middleman of romance, a gentleman that clearly has affection for his wife, but it is evident to see how much of his affection for his wife runs in tandem with his affection of his work, which works to the levels needed when it comes to the inevitable climax. Douglas fills the key piece of the triangle as the obsessive man struck between his connection with an old friend and the connection that he believes he has with someone that seems apt to be called "Angel". Simply put, it is charming to see one have a helpless obsession when it comes to what we know is coming with the inevitable confrontation over just what is going to happen with the choice of a woman. There is some comic relief when it comes to Horton and Crews, since one cannot have romance without onlookers present to see from afar that are just living in their element, which is probably best stated in a scene where a few butlers are taking back plates of food meant to be ate for a meal between the love triangle only to find that two of them did not eat a bite. By the time one has gotten to the end of the film in its lovely presentation of the inevitable of irrational decisions made in the name of passions, you have found that your time has been spent quite well, one where the director and the cast are working hand-in-hand in making sophisticated entertainment. It should make a good time for those who are interested in Lubitsch or Dietrich, that much is clear.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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