Summary

Director Josef Von Sternberg and film critic Stanley Kauffmann discuss Von Sternberg's career during Hollywood's "golden years." Clips from Von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich are shown. Von Sternberg discusses discovering Dietrich, the directors who influenced him, the struggle for film to become a respected art form, and other topics. 1965. Director Josef Von Sternberg and film critic Stanley Kauffmann discuss Von Sternberg's career during Hollywood's "golden years." Two film clips from Von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich are shown. 00:41 INTRO: MacAndrew introduces the program. 04:36 DISCUSSION: Kauffmann and Von Sternberg discuss Von Sternberg's new book, his autobiography "Fun in a Chinese Laundry." Von Sternberg talks about how film is struggling to be an art form. Kauffmann critically introduces a clip from "The Blue Angel." 03:13 FILM CLIP: "The Blue Angel." A scene with Prof. Un Rath having breakfast is shown. 12:23 DISCUSSION: Von Sternberg comments on his style, his background as an editor, cameraman and director, on his choice and composition of shots, the process of work, his relationship with Charlie Chaplin, other actors he has worked with, and discovering Marlene Dietrich. Kauffmann provides another commentary on the next clip from "The Blue Angel." 04:00 FILM CLIP: "The Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich as Lola, the cabaret singer: Professor Un Rath goes to see Lola perform and falls in love with her. (This was Dietrich's first successful film and how she was first seen by American film audiences.) 03:52 DISCUSSION: Von Sternberg comments on the film's effect on social evolution and on the directors who have influenced him (Buñuel, de Sica, Kurosawa, among others). Josef Von Sternberg, director Stanley Kauffmann, film critic