Shanghai Express (1932)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Harry Hervey (story)
Jules Furthman (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 February 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Many passengers on the Shanghai Express are more concerned that the notorious Shanghai Lil is on board...

Plot Keywords:

Hostage | Chinese | Train | China | Doctor

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Marlene Dietrich	...	Shanghai Lily, aka Magdalen
Clive Brook	...	Captain Donald 'Doc' Harvey
Anna May Wong	...	Hui Fei
Warner Oland	...	Mr. Henry Chang
Eugene Pallette	...	Sam Salt
Lawrence Grant	...	Reverend Mr. Carmichael
Louise Closser Hale	...	Mrs. Haggerty
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Eric Baum
Emile Chautard	...	Major Lenard

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Cantonese | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #1390-R, 31 August 1935 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Santa Fe railroad station, San Bernardino, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The Hays Office expressed concern about the unlikable character of the minister, which prompted a revision of the script. Other concerns included the remark by Chang that he was not proud of his white blood, but that line remains in the print.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film is set in northern China (Peking to Shanghai). The government and warlord soldiers are speaking Cantonese, which is a southern Chinese dialect not generally spoken in northern China. The northern dialects of Mandarin Chinese (a Beijing dialect) and/or Shanghainese would be spoken instead.

Quotes:

Captain Donald 'Doc' Harvey: You appear to be nervous. Sleep would do you more good.
Shanghai Lily: What makes you think I'm nervous?
Captain Donald 'Doc' Harvey: For one thing, your hands are trembling.
Shanghai Lily: It’s because you touched me, Doc.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007)

Sternberg and Dietrich make this great despite Clive Brook

As others have mentioned this is one of the great films of the 1930's. All films eventually become dated even the movies our younger reviewers might think are timeless e.g. "Pulp Fiction" or "Lord of the Rings" will someday be seen as old fashioned or of their time . That said great film-making is always worth watching and Josef von Sternberg was one of Hollywood's first directors with artistic vision. It shows in the extraordinary opening sequence and throughout; particularly the night time search for the suspected spy. Dietrich was the sexiest woman in films at that time and she's still sexy. It's interesting to note that many of the top female stars during this time period were European. Dietrich, Garbo, Hedy Lamaar. Present day Hollywood has nothing to compare with them. The same can be said for astonishing Anna May Wong the scenes with her and Marlene are pure erotic fantasy on a grand scale. Shanghai Express would be perfect if it weren't for the god awful Clive Brook, as others have mentioned, he is terrible,wooden,stiff,corpse like. Brook is the films single most reason for appearing dated. 9/10