Shanghai Express.

Review #1337: Shanghai Express.

Cast: 
Clive Brook (Captain Donald "Doc" Harvey), Marlene Dietrich (Shanghai Lily / Madeline), Anna May Wong (Hui Fei), Warner Oland (Henry Chang), Lawrence Grant (Reverend Carmichael), Eugene Pallette (Sam Salt), Gustav von Seyffertitz (Eric Baum), Louise Closser Hale (Mrs. Haggerty), and Emile Chautard (Major Lenard) Directed by Josef von Sternberg (#1325 - Underworld)

Review: 
One needs a little adventure in their life. Of course they also might need a good partner to go along with it to make it really come alive. Naturally, one could think of Marlene Dietrich when asking for a description of someone glamorous and exotic enough for said adventure. Born in Berlin, she had studied the violin and briefly worked in a pit orchestra for a cinema and their silent films before becoming a chorus girl and eventually finding small parts for film and theater, with her first appearance on film being The Little Napoleon (1923). However, it was in 1930 that she received her breakthrough opportunity with the UFA production of The Blue Angel (1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg. He is a director who admitted that he regarded actors as "marionettes, as pieces of color in my canvas...I watch a motion picture as a surgeon watches an operation." That film proved to be a success, and the two would go on to work together at Paramount Pictures for six films in the following five years, with this being the fourth overall collaboration between the two. One can only appreciate the magic occurring on and off camera, with this being a journey with many stops worth checking out in terms of style and charisma, where even the dialogue seems like it is being spoken like a train. As one would expect, there is a vibrant group of characters to view with this adventure, where no one is exactly who they seem at first, much like how one can find themselves revealing things about themselves to strangers if on a trip long enough, and this film fits the bill of satisfaction at 80 minutes. Brook and Dietrich provide a one-two punch of workable chemistry, where one is absorbed in their passion, which works itself quite well with Dietrich when it comes to the camera and focusing on her absorbing qualities, captured neatly by cinematographer Lee Garmes alongside guidance from von Sternberg, who clearly knows what he wants in capturing a star in the midst of shining. Wong proves as resilient in her time on screen, as one could expect from a veteran star that had found success in both Hollywood and Europe despite the prevailing typecasting of the time. Oland, a Swedish born actor whose famous/infamous portrayal of the Chinese-American Charlie Chan remains a topic of discussion decades after his death, does a fine job in making for a compelling adversary, a scoundrel that we at first see with empathy before taking control. Grant provides some sort of moral edge alongside the motley crew of Palllette and the rest to make for an engaging sit-through, where one is entranced to see what goes on like a dream. Simply put, it is a charmer when it needs to be. Onscreen credits refer to this film being adapted from a Harry Hervey work referred to as both "Sky Over China" and "China Pass", although it apparently was never published. In any case, the script from Jules Furthman and Hervey served as the basis for two remakes in Night Plane from Chungking (1942) and Peking Express (1951). It shouldn't prove surprising that this was the hit of its year, even exceeding the star-studded Grand Hotel, which this film was compared to "on wheels". In any case, this is a fair charmer of entertainment, filled with romance and adventure with a wonderful Dietrich performance in a ride from von Sternberg that you never really want to see end.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.