Shanghai Express
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Written by Jules Furthman based on a story by Harry Hervey
1932/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb Page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Shanghai Lily: Well, Doc, I’ve changed my name.
Captain Donald ‘Doc’ Harvey: Married?
Shanghai Lily: No. It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily.
Von Sternberg avoids the excesses of some of his later films and puts together an exciting fast-paced thriller. But the highlight as always is the way von Sternberg’s camera makes love to Dietrich’s face. Anna May Wong is also iconic in this one.
In a rather “Stagecoach”-like plot, several strangers board the train from Peking to Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War. These include the notorious Shanghai Lily (Dietrich); shady Chinese Lady Hui Fei (Wong); Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook), embittered former lover of Lily; Sam Salt (Eugene Pallette) a gambler; Mr. Carmichael a disapproving preacher; and Henry Chang (Warner Oland) a duplicitous Eurasian.
Lily and Donald encounter each other early on and spar and argue throughout the film. Mid-trip Chang reveals himself to be a rebel leader and wants to find a passenger influential enough to trade for a comrade captured by the other side. The women are as pawns but in the end it is they that vanquish the bad guys.
I’m prepared to be corrected but I think this may possibly be the most beautiful and glamorous Dietrich ever looked on film. Sternberg seems to be in a frenzy of sado-masocistic delight as he films her in and through every conceivable sheer fabric.
The one weak point in the film was Clive Brook. He comes off as stiff, stodgy, haughty and the last man on earth someone like Dietrich would take up with. I enjoy this one whenever I see it and highly recommend it.
The Criterion Channel is featuring a collection of pre-Code films produced by Paramount this month, several of which I have never seen. I’ll be dipping into that here and there.
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