Shanghai Express (1932) User Reviews

A Matter of Faith

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 7 October 2015]

In 1931, during the civil war in China, a train leaves Beijing to Shanghai. Among the passengers, the British Captain Donald "Doc" Harvey (Clive Brook) that is traveling to operate the Vice-Governor of Shanghai; the courtesan Hui Fei (Anna May Wong); the Reverend Mr. Carmichael (Lawrence Grant); the boarding house owner Mrs. Haggerty (Louise Closser Hale); the French Major Lenard (Emile Chautard); the dealer Eric Baum (Gustav von Seyffertitz); and the local Mr. Henry Chang (Warner Oland). Out of the blue, Captain Harvey stumbles with the notorious courtesan Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich), who is a "coaster" ("a woman that travels along the China coast with her wealthy clients"), and he recognizes her as her former lover Magdalen. Five years ago, Shanghai Lily tested his faith and love for her and Doc left her, in the beginning of her promiscuous life. Their encounter rekindles the old flame of their love and he shows that he is wearing the watch she gave to him. The train is stopped by Chinese soldiers seeking out a rebel agent and they arrest him. But Chang telegraphs a coded message and the rebels take over the train along the trip. Chang, who is their leader, interviews the passengers to find someone worthwhile to be exchanged by the arrested agent and he chooses Captain Harvey. Chang also tries to force Shanghai Lily to stay with him but Captain Harvey defends her and knocks him down; then he rapes Hui Fei. When the government releases the rebel agent, Chang decides to revenge Harvey blinding him. However, Shanghai Lily offers herself to Chang to release Harvey. What will happen to her?

"Shanghai Express" is a great Pre-Code Film with magnificent performances of the gorgeous Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong. The melodramatic romance about the lack of faith in love and the recounter of two former lovers in the environment of the Chinese Civil War in 1931 is engaging with wonderful black and white cinematography. Marlene Dietrich deserved a better romantic pair since the wooden Clive Brook does not have good performance. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Expresso de Shanghai" ("The Shanghai Express")

A Movie of Shadows

[dane11 · 7/10 · 2 February 2013]

I saw this movie a long time ago and parts of it really stuck with me, but I couldn't even remember the name until I came across it recently. I think, part of the effect of the movie was the sultry Marlene Dietrich, but what I didn't realize is that this movie is so full of atmosphere and rich in texture that it stays with you no matter who is in it. To be honest, most of the acting in this film is pretty wooden. Dietrich rises above all others with her ability to convey her feelings through the camera. More than anything, this film's look and feel are what really make this film work; and to some degree the lighting and directing aid Dietrich's acting. Joseph Von Sternberg directed this film about a group of passengers traveling via train during a Chinese civil war. The passengers all have their own stories, but none is as interesting as the story of Shanghai Lilly (Dietrich) and her romance with the British officer Captain "Doc" Harvey (Clive Brook). Von Sternberg uses light and shadow to highlight different characters and the character's feelings long before anyone else used this technique to such a large degree. There are marvelous images of Dietrich, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland as a rather mysterious and possibly sinister train passenger that really make this movie click. Film students should be required to see this movie for the simplicity of the story and the complexity of the filming. I'd like to say no scene is wasted, but there are a couple scenes that seemed extraneous. Overall though, this is a classic movie that was way ahead of it's time. I wasn't really familiar with Von Sternberg until I went back and watched this movie again. Now I own the DVD and I watch it periodically to remind myself of Dietrich's allure and Von Sternberg's masterful direction.

"It Took More Than One Man To Change My Name To Shanghai Lily"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 11 May 2009]

One of Marlene Dietrich's most popular films from her early period with Joseph Von Sternberg was Shanghai Express. In fact her portrayal of the notorious Shanghai Lily is the main reason for watching this film today.

Set in Kuomintang China, the film concentrates on a group of train passengers making a journey from Peking to Shanghai. These are the white passengers all heading for their extraterritorial enclaves on the China coast and a couple of richer Chinese. One of them is Warner Oland who is a seemingly respectable Chinese merchant, but actually a notorious warlord leader a group that Chiang Kai-Shek has sworn to exterminate. In fact during this period his government was doing just that.

Oland is best known for playing Chinese detective Charlie Chan, but he's not dispensing fortune cookie wisdom here. He's a most menacing figure who when he's revealed holds all the lives of the passengers in his hands. The other Oriental in this group is well to do prostitute Anna May Wong. She and Dietrich find themselves kindred spirits and are shunned by the other passengers.

It's a reunion of sorts for Dietrich, another of the passengers is Clive Brook a British army doctor who is on his way to China to perform a delicate operation on a big shot. He and Dietrich were once involved, but when he dumped her, she took the road that made her the notorious Shanghai Lily.

The main weakness of Shanghai Express in fact is Brook. He's such a cold fish drip of a man, I can't see how Dietrich and he could ever have been involved. The film would work a lot better if the role had been cast with someone of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr's charm. Still Brook proves the old flame hasn't quite died down and in fact it hasn't for Marlene either.

Other characters on the train are Lawrence Grant as a reverend Davidson type missionary, Louise Closser Hale as an old American dowager, Emile Chautard as a disgraced French Army officer, Gustave Von Seyfertitz as a hypocritical opium dealer, and Eugene Palette as a crass American businessman as only Eugene Palette can play them. They provide quite a cross section of the western powers who were nibbling on the Chinese body politic at the time.

Shanghai Express won an Oscar for Cinematography and was in the running for Best Picture that year, losing to Grand Hotel which has a lot of similarities to this film. Dietrich is unforgettable as Shanghai Lily and this is a must for her fans.

A dream of a ghostly train and shades of black

[Lin-4 · 29 August 1999]

Shanghai Express is another von Sternberg masterpiece, probably not appreciated in his day (no academy awards) and lesser known that it should be in this day. Film theory says this film was an attempt to shade degrees of blackness. At one point, Marlene Dietrich's face blooms like a white flower out of the shadows, then closes again.

Beautiful is not a big enough word enough to describe the cinematography in Shanghai Express. The plot is dreamlike and unrealistic (Sternberg hated realism), the costumes are excessive (impossible to contain in Dietrich's supposed luggage), the atmosphere is deliciously layered with decadence, exoticism (good part for Anna Mae Wong) and deterioration (broken walls, slats and fantasies), punctuated by von Sternberg's caprice (chickens wandering in front of the train -- a symbol of Dietrich's husband's profession as a chicken farmer?).

The storyline is basically a broken romance seeking to be healed between Clive Brook and Dietrich or "Shanghai Lily," the naughty lady who has sold her body the past few years to keep herself in glittery costumes and furs.

The real "story" is "Dietrich and von Sternberg visit China" on some movie lot, on their way from or to Russia (The Scarlet Empress), Spain (The Devil is a Woman), North Africa (Morocco), or somewhere in the U.S. (Blonde Venus).

Gorgeous and lots of fun!

Diverting Trainload of Stereotypes in Exotic Adventure.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 3 January 2011]

What a monument to Marlene Dietrich Josef von Sternberg has made. We first see her backlighted and in shadow entering a train compartment. She's in a long black dress adorned with these black feathers. She pulls down the compartment's curtains so we can't see her at all. The viewer is less enchanted than curious, as in, "Who the hell is this supposed to be?" She's supposed to be Shanghai Lilly, notorious hooker of the China coast. Yes, "It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lilly." Von Sternberg lights her carefully so her facial features seem to be aglow in the darkness. Her wardrobe throughout is indescribable, a congeries of white feathers, gaudy robes, draped dresses, a Chinese silk garment with a design that evokes the rocket-filled sky over Fort McHenry when it was bombarded by the British.

And, boy, does she carry around a reputation along with all of her frills. The stiff British army doctor that she once had an affair with treats her with disdain, although she still loves him desperately. And her terpitude shimmers in the veil of her badinage. A haughty old lady informs Dietrich that she runs a respectable boarding house in Shanghai. "Vot kind of a house did you say it vuz?" "A BOARDING house!" replies the snooty old lady. (It's a joke. Dietrich is playing with the expression "bawdy" house.)

The other passengers are all ergonomically sketched in. A dodgy German invalid who claims to be dealing in coal but has a finger or two in an opium pie. (He pays for it.) A blubbery American gambler. A mysterious ur-Chinese woman, probably another hooker, wanted by the cops. A huffy reverend out of Somerset Maugham. A French officer who turns out to be a phony.

The sets are deliciously Hollywood. The train is going from Beijing to Shanghai but is waylaid by "rebels" led by the half-Chinese Warner Oland, actually a Swede who was later to play Charlie Chan in a couple of features. Oland wants to hold the British doctor, Clive Brook, hostage. When Oland's demand is granted, he's going to release the arrogant doc but not before blinding him with a hot poker. Dietrich dissuades the rebel chief by the simple expedient of agreeing to run away with him. Events intervene and a happy ending follows.

Dietrich's acting is measured in pace and deliberately sultry. It comes across as stilted compared to, say, her earlier naturalistic performance in "Der Blaue Engel." But then everyone's performance is overdrawn so hers doesn't stand out as especially artificial.

I loved the sets. It's one of those movies that take place in an exotic setting, kind of like "China Seas", so some of the men wear pith helmets, and the rooms are partitioned by gauze curtains. I kept waiting for the beaded curtains but they never made an appearance. Disappointing. I like train movies too. Everything rocks back and forth like a cradle and the ricketing rumble of the iron wheels on the iron tracks sing a lullaby. Everything is crowded together but stable too. After all, what can go wrong on a train? Unless it's stopped and taken over by rag tag rebels?

Sternberg, Dietrich reach their zenith in opulently photographed romantic intrigue as extraordinary today as it was 70 years ago

[bmacv · 10/10 · 3 January 2003]

When Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express chugs out of Peking, squeezing through a teeming alleyway as it picks up steam, it marks the start of a momentous journey – not only for its motley of passengers but for Hollywood. In this fourth teaming of the Svengali-like director and his Trilby of a star – Marlene Dietrich – they reach the zenith of their legendary collaboration and strike a template for the kind of movies America would do best and like best: voluptuous hybrids of adventure and intrigue, romance and raffish fun.

Leaving for Shanghai to operate on the stricken British Consul-General, army physician Clive Brook climbs aboard only to find the woman he loved but lost five years ago (Dietrich). Now, however, she goes by another appellation; as she explains, in the script's most emblematic line, `It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily.' Her presence on the train, and that of one of her sisters-in-sin (Anna May Wong) is cause for scandal and indignation among the other passengers: prim boarding-house proprietress Louise Closser Hale (with her pooch Waffles smuggled on board); sputtering man of the cloth Lawrence Grant; sardonic gambling man Eugene Pallette; a Frenchman; a German; and the inscrutable, pre-Charlie Chan Warner Oland.

Soon, China being embroiled in a civil war, they have more to worry about than Dietrich's morals. Rebel troops halt the journey lead the passengers, one by one, to be interrogated by their warlord, who turns out to be Oland. The various eccentricities, secrets and agendas of the passengers get brought into the open, affording Oland opportunity to avenge any number of racial and personal slights. But finally he finds what he's been looking for – a valuable hostage to serve as a bargaining chip – in Brook. And from then on Shanghai Express becomes a drama of reckoning, with all the characters scheming to save their own (and occasionally one anothers') skins.

None of the players can be faulted, except for Brook, who gives a dead-earnest impersonation of the stick that stirs the fire; that Dietrich should have fallen for him is like believing several impossible things before breakfast. (Cary Grant was around in 1932; too bad Sternberg didn't catch up with him until his next movie, Blonde Venus.) But in his handling of Dietrich, Sternberg all but patents what came to be called star treatment. Stunningly lighted, her feline face is caught in a breathtaking range of moods and attitudes. But she's more than a passive vessel for the director's intentions – her blend of worldly savvy and steely spine is hers and hers alone.

She isn't the only beneficiary of Sternberg's eye. He shoots the movie in a haunting, intense chiaroscuro (few movies from this early in the 1930s were so richly and handsomely photographed). He cuts from scene to scene teasingly, layering new shots on fading images, adding a little rubato to relate incidents of the story to one another. Shanghai Express may be the first masterpiece of the sound era, one that's still no less extraordinary today than it was 70 years ago.

von Sternberg's expressionistic idiom still demands our colletive gaze today

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 15 July 2018]

Fourth out of seven Dietrich-von Sternberg's collaborations, SHANGHAI EXPRESS confirms with Hollywood's habitually insensitive appropriation of exotic stories, this time, the victim is a civil war-ridden China, the entire film sets during the treacherous journey of the titular express, chugging from Beijing to Shanghai, but apparently, von Sternberg cannot lay his hands on finding enough Mandarin-speaking extras, so all the Chinese bit players are sporting Cantonese with a weird accent that even confounds this reviewer's Chinese ears, and some of them are occasionally being manhandled unceremoniously, notably in an earlier scene by a miffed Charlie Chan, no, actually it is Henry Chang (Oland), an Eurasian warlord of Chinese rebellions with a costly price tag on his head.

Essentially, the movie is Ms. Dietrich's star vehicle, kit up with astounding sartorial creations from Travis Banton, and looks gorgeously photogenic under von Sternberg's meticulous coordination, she plays a courtesan named Shanghai Lily, of all people, she chances upon her ex-lover, British Captain Donald "Doc" Harvey (a stiff upper-lipped Brook) on the express, while the pair's romance duly begins to rekindle, Chang and his rebellious rabble hijacks the train and detains Doc as a valuable hostage, soon, it falls to two women's hands to take the situation out of jeopardy, one is Shanghai Lily, who acquiesces to Chang's commander for the sake of Doc's safety, another is her companion, a Chinese working girl Hui Fei (a piercing-looking Wong, the first Chinese-American star in Hollywood), who successfully lands on her feet after a vengeful assassination.

Sardonically, the rest western passengers are more or less one-note laughing-stocks, casual scorn is cast upon an opium merchant and self-professed "invalid" Eric Baum (von Seyffertitz), a priggish Reverend Carmichael (Grant) and a congenital bettor Sam Salt (Pallette), whereas Henry Chang is accountable for all the contempt, conversely it is the gamble of love and faith that transpires after its torpid escape hubbub, and it is Shanghai Lily's clandestine repentance finally softens the film's cynical temperament and veers into the usual trajectory of a cheesy romance, but what an extravaganza is on show, von Sternberg's expressionistic idiom would totally normalize the standards we view movies even today, whether it concerns narrative cohesion, the marshaling of a huge set, or spectacular montage arrangements, no wonder audience at that time could rapturously fall under his spell, SHANGHAI EXPRESS is the highest grossing movie of 1932, even today, it demands our collective gaze.

The China that Von Sternberg Gave Us

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 11 May 2007]

Despite a difficult, artistic personality, Joseph Von Sternberg was a deep romantic. While Marlene Dietrich showed in a long career that she had vast reservoirs of talent, Von Sternberg gave her career a lift in that series of films they made together from THE BLUE ANGEL to THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN. Remarkably, given the limitations of black and white film, Von Sternberg left some beautiful images (to this day) of the actress who may have been the most beautiful one in motion picture history.

SHANGHAI EXPRESS is set in the China of the Warlord period (as was THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN). A group of travelers are leaving a Chinese city to reach Shanghai, before the railway link is cut by the troops of the warlord. They include Dietrich, Anna May Wong (her best recalled talkie performance, as the bride to be Hui Fei), Clive Brook, Lawrence Grant, Eugene Palette, Warner Oland, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav Von Seyfertitz, and Emil Chautaud. Each has a distinct personality, which sometimes clashes with the others. Dietrich was formerly the fiancé of Brook, an English officer and gentleman, but he dumped her and she has become a high class prostitute. Grant is a holy roller minister, who is disgusted at the acceptance of that prostitute by some of the passengers. Palette (my favorite character in the film - his role is like a comic afterthought) is an even tempered gambler who is returning to Shanghai to look after some properties he has there. He has no problems accepting Dietrich at all. Also, he sees no problem with the use of racist comments (for that locale) as, "I wouldn't give him a Chinaman's chance!", which fits his gambler's instinct. Hale is the owner of a boarding house in Shanghai, who is friendly at first until she realizes what Dietrich does for a living (devilish Dietrich then asks Hale, in pretended shock, "What kind of a house do you run?", much to Hale's annoyance). Seyfertitz is a silent, really abrasive type, who wants to be left alone (it's interesting in the comments about racism towards Chinese in this film, few comment about Seyfertitz and his role and how it dovetails with residual anger towards Germans in the wake of World War I). Brook is going to another post, and is shocked at how Dietrich has ended as she has - but he can't help feeling some of the romantic feelings of five years before. Chautaud is headed to meeting his sister, whom he has not seen in years, and who expects him to be a great military hero. And Oland is a half Chinese half White passenger, who is not the quiet businessman he seems.

The train is stopped by the forces of the local warlord, whom everyone meets. Each is handled differently, as their secrets are wormed out of them. The best confrontation is the warlord and Seyfertitz, who learns a serious lesson in manners. But events soon turn about, due to an unexpected party, and move on to the satisfactory climax. I won't mention the details because this is a film that I think should be seen by everyone, for it's evocation of a China that is now somewhat lost (with it's teaming throngs of people pushing their ways to their destinations). China still has a really large population, but I don't think the disorder that Von Sternberg captures in his railroad stations scenes still exists. As a picture of the lost China of 1930, as a fascinating character study of over six characters, and as another romantic view of La Marlene, SHANGHAI EXPRESS remains a great film.

Style over substance...but good style!

[1930s_Time_Machine · 7/10 · 12 September 2023]

To Josef von Sternberg, Marlene Dietrich was unquestionably the most beautiful woman in creation. Assisted by one of Hollywood's greatest cinematographers Lee Garmes, he made this hymn to her to prove his truth to the rest of the world.

It would have been absolutely impossible to have made this without Marlene Dietrich. The whole raison d'etre of this film was simply to proudly and lovingly display the beauty and sensuality of his muse. Set against the background of the Chinese civil war, the story is quite action packed but in this picture the plot plays second fiddle to the overall atmosphere. It is a good example of style over substance which in this instance is not used in a derogatory way: the style is exquisite! The substance, the actual telling of the story blends perfectly into this mood music. The forward movement of the train itself seems to push the story forward at a very lively pace so your brain has no time to wander (or indeed to realise that this is actually quite a silly story!) The action, the growing sense of fear and threat and the considerable violence is all built up very cleverly. All of this however is engineered to seem so much less important than the surreal obsession Marlene Dietrich has for the dullest man in China, Clive Brook who is as animated as Boris Karloff in THE MUMMY.

It doesn't matter that the story doesn't really develop or that Marlene Dietrich's acting is so shallow that it doesn't tell us anything about her character or how she got like that. That's not what this picture is for - it's all about style and mood. In 1932 Frank Capra made THE BITTER TEA IF GENERAL YEN. That was also set during this very same Chinese civil war and boasted a marvellous performance from Barbara Stanwyck. Whereas in that Barbara Stanwyck was acting, in this Marlene Dietrich was being Marlene Dietrich - somehow that's enough. Whereas in Capra's film Barbara Stanwyck showed us what was driving her, what had shaped her and what was running through her mind in this film von Stenberg keeps all that secret, he wants us to fill in the gaps by using our own imagination. Even, if you're like me and don't share his rose-tinted opinion of his lover's sex appeal, you can't help but be blown away by the utter sensuality and visual champagne that is created.

It's actually a lot more entertaining to watch than you might think and although you'll forget what the story was about the next day, you will always remember how it looked.

Hollywood Magic, Way Back in 1932

[frankwiener · 9/10 · 20 May 2018]

I have a soft spot in my heart for movies about trains and about other modes of transportation as well, but there's something very special about a train when it is properly handled for the cinema. I could go through a very long list of films featuring trains that I love and that were produced over a long span of time, but I won't, and you'll thank me for that. I've added this gem to the top of that list, or at least near the top.

Despite the fact that the entire film is produced in either a Hollywood lot or a train depot in San Bernardino, I feel that I am in China during very turbulent and dangerous times. Thanks to the special skills of director Josef von Sternberg, the prevailing sense of impending peril is very strong. Warner Oland, although not even half Chinese, is very convincing as the menacing rebel leader. The rest of the cast is excellent as well. Both Dietrich and Brook project an outward appearance of stiffness and toughness to the dangerous world around them, but we learn along the hazardous and uncertain journey that their exterior façade is nothing but a thin disguise, and there lies a very vulnerable humanity deep within both of them. Dietrich gives another one of her many fascinating performances, full of psychological complexity. I love her.

I don't understand all of the harsh criticism of Clive Brook among the user reviews here that he is too wooden and mechanical. That is exactly the way he was supposed to play the role of a military doctor living in a world full of danger and of extreme hostility that is specifically aimed at him and his uniform. If we watch him closely, we will observe the decent, compassionate man behind the uniform. I thought that Dietrich and Brook make a smashing couple, especially when their outward and superficial veneer crumbles before our very eyes. This is good stuff!

The beautiful and mysterious Ana May Wong also provides complexity and depth to her deceiving, outward impression as Lily's courtesan companion, Hui Fei. Again, we must not judge Hui Fei based on her exterior demeanor alone because deep within her lies a very brave and determined dedication to her country and to her society. Her exchanges with Mrs. Hegarty (Louise Closser Hale), the prim and proper boarding house owner, are most entertaining. I'm usually not focused on hairdos, but check these out, especially Hegarty's. Holy mackerel.

As you will see, none of the characters are what they seem to be at first glance. That is only part of what intrigues me about this movie. Please don't miss this extraordinary train, which only leaves the station on rare occasions. If you don't appreciate the ride as much as I do, you can always get off when the next cow decides to wander into its path but, considering the danger lurking in every direction, you will probably be safer on it than off it. Be forewarned and sit tight until the end. You won't be disappointed.

Hot Dietrich

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 18 March 2011]

Marlene Dietrich is Shanghai Lily on the "Shanghai Express" in this 1932 film directed by Josef von Sternberg. Lily and another woman of dubious reputation, Hui Fei (Anna May Wong) are on the train during a civil war, which might hold them up. On the train, Shanghai Lily runs into an old love, a British Army doctor, Dr. Donald Harvey (Clive Brook), who still loves her and she him. Seeing her now and knowing her reputation, can he ever believe she can become a one-man woman? When Chinese guerrillas stop the train, Dr. Harvey is taken as a hostage. Lily then has a choice to make.

This film is really a tribute to the fabulous beauty and glamor of Dietrich and the direction of von Sternberg because frankly, I'd have left Dr. Harvey with the guerrillas. Clive Brook was an actor of the stiff upper lip school, and he was unbelievably wooden.

Nevertheless, with Warner Oland as Henry Chang, one of the evil Chinese and Eugene Palette as a passenger on the train, this is a very good, highly atmospheric film. But it's Dietrich's show all the way with her incomparable acting, looks, and voice. One of our great screen personalities. A must see for Dietrich fans.

An "Oh my God!" movie from the early 30's

[fanaticusanonymous · 10/10 · 15 May 2018]

Every frame, with Marlene Dietrich in it, is a masterpiece of lights and shadows. The artistic marriage of Dietrich and his director Josef Von Sternberg is all consuming and therefore we're trapped, happily so. Look at what the camera does with Dietrich's face when she delivers the iconic line: "It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lilly" I had to rewind immediately and see the moment again, one, two, three times. Dietrich is dressed, lit and photographed like a goddess, the human kind. I wonder if we're ever going to see the likes of her, the likes of them, ever again.

"You're in China now, sir, where time and life have no value."

[joelgodinho · 7/10 · 10 June 2020]

Shanghai Express is a 1932 film directed by Josef von Sternberg starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook and Anna May Wong. This is actually the 2nd oldest feature length film I've ever seen, only behind Battleship Potemkin (yes I have yet to see many classic silent films). I think it's good film, the acting is mostly really good, espeacily Marlene Dietrich who is absolutely phenomenal in this film. The story was interesting enough but I didn't find it very memourable. The cinematography is good and there are some really great uses of shadows and light in my opinion however I think that some of the scene transitions were way to slow and long. Still, worth the watch. 8/10

An example of what went wrong with Dietrich's career under Sternberg

[richard-1787 · 5/10 · 4 August 2010]

The black and white cinematography in this movie is often beautiful. Other than that, this is a largely forgettable venture, and a good example of how Dietrich's Hollywood career was sabotaged, unintentionally, by her regular director, Joseph Sternberg.

The premise of this movie, while not original - a group of people on a long-distance train ride - could have led to something much better. But

1. other than Dietrich and Eugene Palette, Sternberg gave most of the other roles to uninteresting actors and actresses, who didn't do much with their parts.

2. the script is very weak. Other than Dietrich's part, the other characters are never developed as interesting people.

3. the directing, while fine for atmosphere, does nothing to develop the other characters or create any sense of suspense.

In short, you get the feeling that Sternberg felt he could get by for 90 minutes with just presenting a beautiful and intriguing woman, Dietrich, in often outlandish costumes and striking lighting. While I very much like Dietrich, that is not enough to make for an interesting movie. Perhaps an interesting silent film, where effective visual images counted for more - at least to some audiences. But it doesn't work as a good sound picture.

A shame. Dietrich deserved better, and could have done more with better.

Also: Another example of a Dietrich-Sternberg movie with a weak leading man. After Gary Cooper in Morocco, which is a much more interesting movie, Sternberg paired Dietrich with a series of uninteresting, weak men. As a result, there is no chemistry between them, and certainly no sparks. This, too, deprives the movie of a chance of holding its audience. When, at the end of this series of movies directed by Sternberg, Dietrich goes back to appearing opposite strong leading men, such as James Stewart in Destry Rides Again, she will go back to giving much more interesting performances in much better movies, leading to what is probably her finest movie role, opposite Charles Laughton, in Witness for the Prosecution, a performance that leaves us realizing what she could have been doing for all those largely wasted years between Morocco and Destry.

A very good movie.

[chris-459 · 24 October 1999]

Many consider "The Shanghai Express" the best von Sternberg/ Dietrich film. Perhaps. I certainly agree that it is a very good movie. The story is a bit trivial: two lovers meet again after five years. They were separated due to the lack of faith he had in her. This film is a journey. In fact, two kinds of journeys: a physical one, since the set is a moving train, and a psychological one, since during this journey Captain Harvey (Clive Brook) gains fate, essential to a love relationship. The train movements seem to indicate the attraction Captain Harvey and Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) feel for each other. This movie gives us one of the most beautiful images in movie history: Dietrich in the dark, smoking a cigarette, with the famous light that gave her that famous "butterfly shadow".

Romance, Drama, Thrill, Fun and Pre-code Humour with cool dialogues. A perfect popcorn flick.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 7/10 · 27 June 2021]

Shanghai Express (1932) : Brief Review -

Romance, Drama, Thrill, Fun and Pre-code Humour with cool dialogues. A perfect popcorn flick. Shanghai Express came at the right to be precise, it would have ended up as underscorer later. In early 30s Hollywood started off talkies with different different kind of films because every genre needed a pioneer and influence. I am not sure how influential Shanghai Express was for other pre-code romantic dramas because i have seen mamy better flicks than this which are classics and this one fells short. Talking about the same year, there was Oscar Winner 'Grand Hotel' which was almost in the same genre and much better but let's not compare that Classic with this fun-loving ride. Like I said, the timing was right and that's one of the major reason to love this film. A notorious and infamous woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved once. The same old theory of parted lovers appears here but with little different situations. That revolution factor is a major invention for such genre in my opinion cause i don't remember any other Romantic Drama set in such situations. After the timing of the film there are two more reasons to love the film and Marlene Dietrich is one of them. She looks glamorous as hell and portrays a notorious woman with some attitude to look out for. Clive Brook as her lover is nice too, a man with principles but i would have loved him more if he was more intelligent. The supporting cast is fantastic. You'll love every single character even if each one has small screen space. It is wrapped in just 82 minutes so, it's highly engaging film but it's the dialogues which makes it more enjoyable. I won't spoil thoss one-liners here, but this is the third main reason why you should watch Shanghai Express. Josef von Sternberg's direction is very accurate as far as the limits of writing are concerned and this Pre-code genre was just born baby then, so Yes, it's recommendable.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

When I needed your faith, you withheld it; and now, when I don't need it, and don't deserve it, you give it to me.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 4 May 2012]

Shanghai Express is directed by Josef von Sternberg and written by Jules Furthman (adaptation) & Harry Hervey (story). It stars Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brooks, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Palette and Lawrence Grant. Music is by W. Franke Harling & Rudoplh G. Kopp and cinematography by Lee Garmes.

Plot finds Shanghai Lily (Dietrich) meeting up with old flame Donald Harvey (Brooks) aboard the Shanghai Express during the Chinese Civil War in 1931. However, this train has many passengers with secrets to hide, so when some rebels ambush the train, such things as loyalties, friendships, hidden motives and the birthing of legends come to the fore.

Stylishly crafted by Sternberg and brisker than the other collaborations with Dietrich, Shanghai Express thrives on atmospheric visuals, strong scripting and a sultry turn from the leading lady. The cramped confines of the train allow Sternberg to dally with trademark shadows, smoke and shafts of light for maximum effect, garnering Garmes an Oscar in the process, while there is deft deadpannery amongst the myriad of intriguing characters.

Quality film making on both sides of the camera and also off of the writers desk. 8/10

Great train adventure marred by Clive Brook

[dcavallo · 7/10 · 15 June 2001]

Really smashing far eastern train romance-adventure whose romantic half is clobbered and left for dead by the awful, tedious, entirely sour character portrayed by Clive Brook.

Sadly, the entire story hinges upon the tumultuous affair between he and Dietrich's "Shanghai Lily." The artifice of their relationship sinks what should have been a classic film, as it is impossible to believe that the high living 'coaster' Shanghai Lily would ever love the pompous stuffed shirt Captain Donald Harvey. (Even if she was once a more proper lady named Madeline!)

And it's a shame, because the movie is loaded with great photography, wonderfully detailed shots of the train chugging through "China," an excellent (if entirely stereotyped) cast, and a crisp story and direction.

Dietrich and Anna May Wong (as Hui Fei) steal one wonderful shot after another, Dietrich with her fetching, clipped English wafting through billowing cigarette smoke and the plumage of her ornate hats; Wong with her cool humored temperament and truly striking exotic beauty.

The dialogue is a occasionally dated (and be forewarned, as racist/sexist as you might expect for the period) but in the hands of Dietrich and Anna May Wong, it's difficult to find much fault with the somewhat trite lines they speak.

So mind your way through the dense fields of hokum, and see the film for the ravishing Dietrich and Wong..and oh, yes..the rest of the scenery!

An Excellent Marlene Dietrich Romance Film

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 26 February 2000]

Nine first-class passengers board a train to travel the 3-day trip from Peiping, China, to Shanghai. Nine souls with widely varying backgrounds & uncertain futures. For they are traveling into countryside racked by civil war and one of their number may not be all he seems. What dangers await & who will survive the journey on the SHANGHAI EXPRESS?

Marlene Dietrich is mysteriously beautiful as Shanghai Lilly, a `coaster' (a woman living by her wits on the coast of China) whom all men - and most viewers- find fascinating. Clive Brook, a silent film star little remembered now, is very effective as the British Army doctor who was once Lilly's lover. Anna May Wong plays an exotic Chinese prostitute who is used to taking care of herself.

The supporting cast is equally good: Warner Oland as a sly Eurasian; Eugene Pallette as a jovial American gambler; Lawrence Grant as a grumpy old English missionary; Gustav von Seyffertitz as an invalid German with a dangerous secret; Emile Chautard as an elderly French Major with a hidden past; and wonderful old Louise Closser Hale as a feisty American widow who runs `the best boarding house in Shanghai.'

Paramount put a lot of money into this pre-Production Code adventure drama, which has an exciting plot, good acting & plenty of romance. The Peiping scenes, with the crowded tenements squeezing right down to the very railroad tracks, are especially well done.

Vintage B & W Talkie

[B24 · 6/10 · 21 May 2003]

No film created in 1932 can be separated from its historical relevance, no matter how classic the cinematic values. Talking pictures had only just been invented, and color was years away. Everything in cinema at that time was either experimental (innovations in lighting, multiple cameras, location shooting) or an extension of traditional stage drama.

To talk, therefore, about things like stock characterization or racial stereotyping is to create anachronistic straw men in an attempt to change history. It would make more sense instead to try to place what happened either on the set or in the world at large together in one bag. One cannot understand or appreciate the contributions of larger-than-life figures like von Sternberg or Dietrich without contrasting this film with their "Der Blaue Engel" of only two years previous (yet light years away from this production in terms of contemporaneous world events).

In the same vein, anyone unacquainted with or uninterested in such ancient historical facts as why these Germans had recently moved to Hollywood would do well to sample disparate films made either just before or just after this one like "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Rain," or "Flying Down to Rio" in order to get the feel of what appealed to audiences then as well as how fictional characters were created. For example, compare Dietrich's Lil to Joan Crawford's role in "Rain."

I am reminded when reading some of these comments of something said to me by my nephew's rather ditzy wife some years ago when I was admiring a finely restored Model A at a car show, "But why did people in 1932 want to drive such an OLD car?"

Pretty exciting stuff--and among Marlene Dietrich's best

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 7 June 2008]

SHANGHAI EXPRESS is an excellent film from 1932 that stars Marlene Dietrich but also benefits from a strong ensemble cast. In other words, while Dietrich is an important part of the film, she isn't THE film and supporting actors also help to make this a good film. I like this because too often in her early films all the weight of the movie rested on how sexy and alluring Dietrich's characters were supposed to be--and to me, this got very old after a while. It helped here, though, that Dietrich's usual angular and severe looks are a bit less pronounced (as was the case in her very early Hollywood films). Here, she plays "a woman of ill-repute" (a prostitute) but there are many others that give the film life as well--making this film a bit like GRAND HOTEL on the rails! This film has the distinct honor of being one of the only films in which Warner Oland plays an Asian yet this isn't necessarily insulting to real Asian actors. That's because Oland was Swedish-born and often played Asians (such as Charlie Chan)--while qualified Asians were relegated to supporting roles! However, in this film, his character is supposed to be half-Chinese and half-Western--so the casting wasn't a bad idea at all.

Apart from Oland and Dietrich, Anna May Wong, Clive Brook, Lawrence Grant and Eugene Palette, among others, are on hand to provide some color. Ms. Wong, in particular, had some excellent scenes playing a Chinese prostitute and defender of the Chinese Republic (a strange combination, I know).

As far as Grant goes, his was a truly unusual character. His Reverend Mr. Carmichael was odd because initially he came off as such a prudish and self-righteous jerk--so much so that the studio was forced to re-write his character and soften him up some as to avoid offending religious sensibilities of the audiences. However, by changing a few scenes, they made him one of the most unusual and three-dimensional minsters portrayed in film during the era. How he came to actually like and respect Dietrich (the prostitute) may seem a bit silly to some, but I actually liked the way they re-wrote the film. As a result, of all the passengers, Grant's came off as perhaps the most interesting.

As far as the film goes, in addition to good performances, the writing, direction and cinematography were all exceptional. A top-notch film that sure will keep your interest as you follow this train through rebel territory in China.

About the only negative about the film might be that it promotes the old film cliché of "the prostitute with a heart of gold"--in fact, it has this times two! Just once, I'd like to see a film where the prostitute isn't so glamorous (perhaps with a few herpes scabs) and isn't a nice person after all!! Imagine if PRETTY WOMAN had followed THAT formula!!

Marlene Dietrich is beautiful, film just so-so

[mitchmcc · 6/10 · 10 April 2000]

This movie is beautifully photographed, and Von Sternberg's care in highlighting Marlene Dietrich (as the infamous Shanghai Lily) is evident in almost every frame. I would recommend that any film buff watch this movie at least once, but with the caveat that it is NOT a very good movie apart from the cinematography.

Clive Brook's Captain Harvey makes you want to strangle him!

Some movie fans might appreciate seeing Charlie Chan star Warner Oland.

Unforgettable journey

[Spondonman · 9/10 · 6 October 2007]

Over the decades I've managed to see nearly all of the films Sternberg directed and I've always considered that this one was his best work. It was pre Hays Code Paramount for starters, with a marvellous cast and an unusual and simple story full of romance and action gripping to the end. It was also lovingly photographed from beginning to end, everyone and everything gleaming in a by turns savage and erotic dreamlike world.

During the Chinese Civil War and travelling on the Peiping-Shanghai Express ("where time and life have no meaning") are a disparate band of Westerners plus a couple of enigmatic natives – all sadly lacking in moral fibre except Clive Brooks who has too much of it. This makes him less of a human being, along with the rest of them. He's still in love with Marlene Dietrich whom he ditched 5 years and 4 weeks before thus unwittingly turning her into Shanghai Lily the notorious coaster - a woman living on the coast of China by her "wits" – which is a bit of a serious problem to the upright Britisher even though she still loves him. Warner Oland plays a fundamentalist Chinaman with secrets and ashamed to have white blood in his veins while Eugene Palette is a gambling mad American capitalist. Inscrutable and sullen Anna May Wong is Dietrich's companion in vice, and 4 other international eccentrics make up the passenger list we're interested in. Favourite bits: Wong's dramatic announcement of her consummated revenge; the iconic image of Dietrich smoking in the dark; the all-too believable chaotic scenes of civil warfare. The interplay between the main characters is occasionally laboured but always fascinating and always thought provoking - there's plenty going on so attention is recommended! The only thing that gets in the way of this being an absolute masterpiece is Brooks' lousy stilted acting style – entertaining in its own way to study the forgotten technique, but it's often jarring in its unconvincingness.

An early talkie classic, mesmerising even after all these years.

Foreign Intrigue

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 8 January 2019]

"Shanghai Express" was one of a string of exotic foreign intrigue films starring Marlene Dietrich in the early 1930s. This one has her starring as Shanghai Lily, a notorious "worldly" woman whose mysterious exterior hides a heart of gold, and who's willing to sacrifice herself to save the man she loves (unbeknownst to him).

The previous year's "Morocco," also directed by Josef von Sternberg, brought Dietrich her only Oscar nomination, but "Shanghai Express" was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and it won the Oscar for Lee Garmes' cinematography. It never worked up much heat for me, and if I'm being honest, I have to admit that Dietrich wasn't much of an actress. She had screen presence to spare, certainly, and I can see why her brand of European exoticism enraptured audiences at the time, but this whole film is a bit dull and she's part of the reason for it.

Grade: B-

One famous close-up

[HotToastyRag · 3/10 · 3 June 2021]

Although it's a classic, Shanghai Express is one of the reasons why I never liked Marlene Dietrich. It's a very dated story with lots of overacting, a slow pace, and all she does is stand around primping her hair and licking her bottom lip, assuming men will fall at her feet. And then they do. I like her much better in comedies when she's not so conceited and doesn't play an irresistible femme fatale.

This film takes place on the titular train and features Marlene's character "Shanghai Lily" as being a greater danger to the passengers than the Chinese rebels who have taken over and threaten violence. I'm not kidding; a loose woman is more dangerous than men with guns. Clive Brook is on board, as is Anna May Wong playing Marlene's faithful servant. Clive is Marlene's one true love, but they ended on a bad note five years ago and he can't forgive her for taking many men after him. When the Chinese rebels start capturing and torturing people, Marlene finds her unique negotiation skills coming in handy.

That's it; that's the movie. I really can't recommend it, unless you're a huge Josef von Sternberg or Marlene Dietrich fan. This movie features the famous close-up of Marlene as she trembles in an empty train corridor with a key light on her upturned face. It's very famous, but those twenty seconds didn't make me glad I sat through the rest of the eighty minutes.