It is 1925. Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings), the strict, pudgy, old-fashioned English teacher of the local gymanisum (boarding school) lives alone, with a caged bird by his side and a maid who begrudingly works for him. Although an upstanding citizen in his small German port town, the old professor is seldomly listened to in his classroom. Boys will be boys, and every morning they are rowdy as ever. When confiscating a postcard passed around by his students of a cabaret singer named “Lola Lola,” he discovers that the boys have been frequenting the nightclub called “The Blue Angel” to see this dancer perform.

That evening, Professor Rath decides to visit the club to scold the performer for debasing the morals of his boys, but his visit is actually less for his widely announced moral disgust than his own desire and romantic curiosity. Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) is the star of The Blue Angel. Not only is she the most beautiful, but also the most wry and flirtatious of all the performers. Every man in the club is smitten by her presence. Knowing her prowess, Lola Lola croons, “Every man’s in love with me.” As Professor Rath enters the club and catches a glimpse of Lola donned in stockings and garters, the saucy starlet prophetically sings, “Guys, tonight I’m going to pick someone/I’m fed up with the young ones.” Tiptoeing around, Rath ends up in in her dressing room. After the brief whimper “You are corrupting my students,” he surrenders to Lola’s power and falls for her charms...