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Emil Jannings was very good in “The Blue Angel” but Dietrich stole the show. From the sultriness and dominance of Lola to the intensity with which she is played, Dietrich captivated the audience. How much of this was Sternberg, his sense of the mechanics of a temptress and his skillfulness in surrounding such a creature with a steamy atmosphere, and how much of it was Dietrich has been debated. Certainly it was the fantasies of a man, in this case Sternberg, who created the scenes where a dominant female could flourish. He created the scenes where Dietrich did obscene things (for a 1930 audience) such as the casual changing and tossing of her panties, having her grossly spitting into her mascara box, having her drop cigarettes under her dressing table and making Jannings get down and pick them up so that he will be within inches of her bare legs and her neighboring erogenous zone. It was Sternberg who gave Dietrich the cruel lines, "You've come back; they always do", when the proud college professor returns to her dressing room. And it was he who directed Lola's sudden and viciously switch from seductress to dominatrix女支配者 — a dominant woman on their wedding night.