Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel by Joseph von Sternberg (1929) Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) was the biggest film star Universum-Film AG (UFA) ever produced. The Blue Angel directed by Josef von Sternberg, was the film that established Dietrich as a star. Based on Heinrich Mann’s novel Professor Unrat, it was one of the first sound films made in Germany and became an international success. Dietrich followed von Sternberg to Hollywood, where she worked with such famed directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Orson Welles.