If what is meant by the Shanghai Gesture is giving the middle finger to the audience, then this Von Sternberg film hits the target. This is a pathetic piece of celluloid that at times threatens to disintegrate into a complete laugh riot. Get this – Poppy (Gene Tierney) is out for a night's fun in Shanghai when she stumbles into the sin emporium of Mother Gin Sling (Originally Mother Godamm in the play). Mother, played so over the top by Ona Munson (yet another Asian with blue eyes) is taking a role Von Sternberg would have given to Anna May Wong in the 30s (she would ave done far better), with a variation of Poppy being played by Marlene Dietrich. The casino, with its Art Deco decor, is more suited to Los Angeles than Shanghai. Best of all is the awaited entrance of Mother Gin Sling. Though Von Sternberg clearly wants it to be show stopping, all it does is remind us of when the curtain went up on King Kong in New York. And with a hairdo and dress that looks like her stylist was Cher. Meanwhile,Poppy has fallen under the spell of Doctor Omar (Victor Mature). If you want a real belly laugh, check out Mature in this role. Peter Lorre as Doctor Omar, okay, but Victor Mature? At any rate, Omar leads Poppy into an ever-spiraling addiction to gambling and drugs. And he works fast, considering that the movie is only 98 minutes long. Now enter Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston), in a role clearly evoking Sydney Greenstreet. Seems Sir Guy has bought a large slice of Shanghai, including the ground on which Mother has her den of inequity, so Mother has to vamoose from the premises by the coming Chinese New Year. (Von Sternberg's great for this sort of plotting.) Not so fast, however, for Mother Gin Sling suddenly remembers that she was once married to Sir Guy and that he abandoned her while taking her family's fortune. Amazingly, Sir Guy does not recognize her; guess all Chinese look the same to him. Mother plans her revenge by inviting Sir Guy to a Chinese New Year's party he'll never forget. At the party, Sir Guy turns the tables by revealing to Mother that, indeed, she is a mother: Poppy is their daughter! How Gin Sling couldn't accurately remember giving birth is just one of those things the audience has to overlook. Well, Mother's just not the mothering type, if you know what I mean, so we can all guess what happens to dear Poppy. By the way, also check out the hat Mother wears throughout the film. She looks like something out of a broken down carnival.
Review of The Shanghai Gesture
