I saw this one ages ago and liked it. George Raft is not the first actor one would think of to play a half-Chinese, but once cast, given the bizarre premise, he's not so catastrophic as one might expect. The movie is set in London's famous Limehouse district, which was where all the Chinese in the city used to live. It's a combination crime story-romance-sociological study, and as such fascinating just to look at, for a glimpse of a bygone era. The supporting cast is quite strong. I sense in this film the influence of director Joseph Von Sternberg (who is not listed in the credits, I should add), but who was still under contract to Paramount when this was made, and who was attracted to all things Eastern and exotic. A dark, very watchable movie, for those who like such things.
7 Reviews
A typical vehicle for a Paramount sex star
melvelvit-110 July 2014
Paramount "sex star" George Raft's a half-caste who leaves New York's Chinatown to set up shop in London's Limehouse district (thus explaining his accent) where he runs a smuggling operation out of a waterfront dive. He orchestrates a British rival's murder after finding out the brute beats his pick-pocket step-daughter (shades of BROKEN BLOSSOMS) and once the hit's carried out, Raft takes the girl under his wing. He falls in love, naturally, but she's "not his own kind" as discarded mistress Anna May Wong points out more than once and no good will come of it...
In a typical role for the "dark & dangerous" Paramount star George Raft, he's a bad guy with a good heart who does a complete about face in the last reel and it was more-or-less the same 'ol same 'ol for the exotic Wong as well. She does little more than shoot daggers with her eyes at pretty Jean Parker and when she wasn't doing that, Anna cut a rug with George (kind of an apache dance where he throws her around), sang a snippet, and, when we first see her, does a kind of cooch by striking poses a la Madonna's "Vogue" in a slinky black gown adorned with a glittering dragon.
In its favor, Paramount's fog-bound sets evoke a time and place but there's an implicit racist attitude in the fact that Raft's mother was a Chinese princess, something also present in MGM's NIGHT OF THE QUARTER MOON, another "tasteful" tale of miscegenation that sees Julie London's mom an African princess. Intentional or not, the unspoken message is "Well, if it had to happen, at least it was royalty" but, of course, the film was "of its time", a time when interracial marriage was still against the law and although Raft and Wong came very close to a kiss during that apache dance, their lips didn't touch.
I have to smile, tho, whenever I see Golden Age "yellow face" portrayals labeled politically incorrect at best and racist at worst because it shows an obvious ignorance of Classic Film and America at the time. There were real reasons behind this "unreality": In the 1930s, the majority of Americans were white and the majority of that majority went to the movies to see the stars and if LIMEHOUSE BLUES turned a profit (and I'm sure it did), it was because of heartthrob George Raft's many fans -fans who wouldn't have paid to see an Asian actor in the lead. Studios acquired projects for their stars -not the other way around- and besides, LIMEHOUSE BLUES was romantic escapist fare, plain and simple, with any resemblance to reality being purely co-incidental.
"I always wanted to be Anna May Wong. She seemed so much more exotic and exciting than plain ordinary folk. But no-go. I wasn't fated to be Wong, just white." -Paul Lynde
In a typical role for the "dark & dangerous" Paramount star George Raft, he's a bad guy with a good heart who does a complete about face in the last reel and it was more-or-less the same 'ol same 'ol for the exotic Wong as well. She does little more than shoot daggers with her eyes at pretty Jean Parker and when she wasn't doing that, Anna cut a rug with George (kind of an apache dance where he throws her around), sang a snippet, and, when we first see her, does a kind of cooch by striking poses a la Madonna's "Vogue" in a slinky black gown adorned with a glittering dragon.
In its favor, Paramount's fog-bound sets evoke a time and place but there's an implicit racist attitude in the fact that Raft's mother was a Chinese princess, something also present in MGM's NIGHT OF THE QUARTER MOON, another "tasteful" tale of miscegenation that sees Julie London's mom an African princess. Intentional or not, the unspoken message is "Well, if it had to happen, at least it was royalty" but, of course, the film was "of its time", a time when interracial marriage was still against the law and although Raft and Wong came very close to a kiss during that apache dance, their lips didn't touch.
I have to smile, tho, whenever I see Golden Age "yellow face" portrayals labeled politically incorrect at best and racist at worst because it shows an obvious ignorance of Classic Film and America at the time. There were real reasons behind this "unreality": In the 1930s, the majority of Americans were white and the majority of that majority went to the movies to see the stars and if LIMEHOUSE BLUES turned a profit (and I'm sure it did), it was because of heartthrob George Raft's many fans -fans who wouldn't have paid to see an Asian actor in the lead. Studios acquired projects for their stars -not the other way around- and besides, LIMEHOUSE BLUES was romantic escapist fare, plain and simple, with any resemblance to reality being purely co-incidental.
"I always wanted to be Anna May Wong. She seemed so much more exotic and exciting than plain ordinary folk. But no-go. I wasn't fated to be Wong, just white." -Paul Lynde
What a name!
Octopus-24 January 2000
By the looks of it, no one will ever see these comments. But hey, this movie has a great name! What a poignant flavor "limehouse" has! The juxtaposition of "lime" and "blues" gives a great image! I recommend this movie on that basis alone. I think you'll find if you watch this movie, that the name has great significance. I'm not going to shower you with plot details (this being a crime movie, almost anything I say would spoil some surprises) but go ahead and check this one out if you can find it. Four stars for LIMEHOUSE BLUES!
Melancholy among the chop suey.
mark.waltz22 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This is a B entry in Paramount's exotic film fare coming out in the era of Dietrich and Mae West. George Raft does not pass as a mixed Asian man with a white father and Chinese mother, reminded by the dour Anna May Wong of his heritage and warned against pursuing his white employee (Jean Parker) while worrying about his obvious illegal activities which he has transferred to London from New York.
Don't let the exotic settings sucker you in; this is a rather boring and moody film with characters of little personality who think of romance as something judged by unhappiness. Parker, of course, doesn't cross the racial barrier, falling for handsome (and very Caucasian) Kent Taylor, creating a conflict with Raft. He's about as realistic a "half breed" as Richard Barthelmess was in the horrid "Son of the Gods". While this isn't as bad as that 1931 stinker, it just ranks as bland, with not one character really worth caring about.
Poor Anna May Wong never got the type of role to rise her to A status, even turned down to play genuine Asian characters later played by the very white Luise Rainer and Gale Sondergaard. I would also have to rate this as one of the few movies I see where absolutely nobody smiles, which ranks this as a total downer.
Don't let the exotic settings sucker you in; this is a rather boring and moody film with characters of little personality who think of romance as something judged by unhappiness. Parker, of course, doesn't cross the racial barrier, falling for handsome (and very Caucasian) Kent Taylor, creating a conflict with Raft. He's about as realistic a "half breed" as Richard Barthelmess was in the horrid "Son of the Gods". While this isn't as bad as that 1931 stinker, it just ranks as bland, with not one character really worth caring about.
Poor Anna May Wong never got the type of role to rise her to A status, even turned down to play genuine Asian characters later played by the very white Luise Rainer and Gale Sondergaard. I would also have to rate this as one of the few movies I see where absolutely nobody smiles, which ranks this as a total downer.
Paramount got it half right
bkoganbing21 October 2013
Casting George Raft as a Chinese gangster was a 50% success for Paramount Pictures. They got the gangster half, right in Limehouse Blues.
The famous English blues ballad Limehouse Blues permeates the score and serves as a background for the story. Raft plays Harry Young a person of mixed race origins who comes from New York to London to oversee his import, read that as smuggling business. He's also quite ruthless in disposing of rivals like Montagu Love who's a brutish thug who ran things on the waterfront until Raft got there.
Love also has a daughter played by Jean Parker whom he beats on a regular basis and Raft kind of likes her which displeases his Oriental mistress Anna May Wong the only genuine Oriental person in the cast. She's not about to be cast aside no matter what.
30 years later the film would have been cast with someone like James Shigeta or Toshiro Mifune in the lead. Even now it could be done with someone like Lou Diamond Phillips or Russell Wong in the lead. Try as he might George Raft just does not come over as Oriental. And on that the film barely hits average.
I hope I gave someone producer some casting ideas.
The famous English blues ballad Limehouse Blues permeates the score and serves as a background for the story. Raft plays Harry Young a person of mixed race origins who comes from New York to London to oversee his import, read that as smuggling business. He's also quite ruthless in disposing of rivals like Montagu Love who's a brutish thug who ran things on the waterfront until Raft got there.
Love also has a daughter played by Jean Parker whom he beats on a regular basis and Raft kind of likes her which displeases his Oriental mistress Anna May Wong the only genuine Oriental person in the cast. She's not about to be cast aside no matter what.
30 years later the film would have been cast with someone like James Shigeta or Toshiro Mifune in the lead. Even now it could be done with someone like Lou Diamond Phillips or Russell Wong in the lead. Try as he might George Raft just does not come over as Oriental. And on that the film barely hits average.
I hope I gave someone producer some casting ideas.
Moody blues
ROCKY-1930 May 2007
Drawing its title from the 1922 jazz standard, "Limehouse Blues" is a fast-paced, moody mix of crime and infatuation in a seedy London district. Director Alexander Hall and cinematographer Harry Fischbeck maintain a consistent aura throughout, making this film as brief and surprisingly good as a potsticker. George Raft plays Harry Young, an upstart crime boss of mixed heritage (one character calls him a "half-and-half"), who has infiltrated Limehouse from New York. Oddly, Raft needed little makeup to believably play half-Chinese. Whether Harry Young's wardrobe is of English or Chinese make, it is impeccable in every scene and seems to be part of the storytelling. Harry owns and even performs in a Limehouse nightclub with Tu Tuan (sultry Anna May Wong). He is closely in tune with his Asian culture, but that is shaken when white chippy Toni (Jean Parker) with xenophobic tendencies comes into his life. Parker is not for an instant plausibly British, becoming the biggest hurdle in suspending disbelief. Toni's stepfather Pug (malicious Montagu Love) is Harry's chief rival on the docks. Inspector Sheridan (Robert Loraine) has them both under a watchful eye. When Harry falls for Toni, and Toni starts seeing another young fellow (the hint is that he is a thoroughbred unlike Harry), and Tu Tuan's jealousy leads her to revenge, and someone ends up dead, well there you have a plot. Along the way we get slimy John Rogers, always just right Billy Bevans and even an uncredited Eric Blore creating his staple character. In heritage alone, Harry Young would seem a bit out of type for Raft, but his clear comfort in the part makes one think he drew on his New York memories of those he knew to put this one across. "Limehouse Blues" is a tasty trip through the Chinese sector, touching on race relations and self-value.
A Film of Films: Burke's "Limehouse Nights" Brought to Brilliant Life
JohnHowardReid11 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
For really vintage talkie Anna May Wong noir, we must go back to 1934's powerfully atmospheric Limehouse Blues. Taking its cue from the legendary 1922 song composed by Philip Braham, with lyrics by Douglas Furber (performed by George Raft and Anna May Wong in the movie), Limehouse Blues was obviously inspired by Thomas Burke's Limehouse Nights (1916), particularly the story, "The Father of Yoto" in which Burke's heroine, Marigold, is a dead ringer for the film's Toni: "Marigold lived under the tremendous glooms of the East and West India docks; and what she didn't know about the more universal aspects of human life, though she was yet short of twenty, was hardly to be known
She was a malcontent; and one can hardly blame her, for she was a girl of girls
She was a moon-blossom. Her face had not pure and perfect beauty
She was small, but ripe-breasted, and moved like a cat. The very lines of her limbs were an ecstasy
Now it happened one night, when her head was tangled in a net of dreams, that she sought escape in the Causeway." If the screenplay's Toni is based on Burke's Marigold (which I hope I have now proved I could quote lots more), then Jean Parker represents absolutely perfect casting. Notice how Fischbeck emphasizes the very elements of her face and figure that Burke describes. "She was lovely and brave and bright."
Purists of course may object that Parker's accent is all wrong for Limehouse, but I thought it suited the movie perfectly. It's different and therefore sets her apart from the Cockney crowd. In any event, despite its vibrantly realistic setting, what we have here, as Burke himself relates, "is a fairy tale, because so human."
Burke describes the Limehouse area of this tale as "a place of savagely masculine character By daytime a cold nauseous light hangs about it; at night a devilish darkness settles upon it."
Burke's description has been brilliantly translated by art directors Hans Dreier and Robert Usher who picture the Limehouse we see in the movie in similar fashion. The noirish lighting effects by photographer Harry Fischbeck add immeasurably to the devilishly picturesque darkness as director Alexander Hall sweeps the camera through the narrow, cobbled streets and dingy courtyards.
Aside from its hauntingly moody ambiance, the big surprise of the movie of course is George Raft. Am I correct in stating this was the only occasion in which Raft essayed a character role? I know he often played hoods and heroes with Italian names, but here he is not only convincingly made up to look half-Chinese, but his speech pattern and accent (doubtless under the tutelage of director Hall) have the right flavor too.
The support cast, led by the charismatic but now forgotten Robert Loraine (this was his second last movie. He played Inspector Valentine in Father Brown, Detective and then moved back to London where he died in 1935) is likewise solidly in character. Montagu Love makes quite an impression as the brutal Pug, and it's good to see Billy Bevan in a major role (such an unusual event, the title writer was unable to spell his name correctly), but it's John Rogers, of course, who walks away with the non-principal acting honors. I've said before that any movie with John Rogers is a good movie, but in this one, Rogers himself is really exceptional.
I've left the most important person in the cast until last. Anna May Wong does not have a very large role, but she does have two production numbers and plays them with such presence and precision that you find yourself looking at them again and again.
Purists of course may object that Parker's accent is all wrong for Limehouse, but I thought it suited the movie perfectly. It's different and therefore sets her apart from the Cockney crowd. In any event, despite its vibrantly realistic setting, what we have here, as Burke himself relates, "is a fairy tale, because so human."
Burke describes the Limehouse area of this tale as "a place of savagely masculine character By daytime a cold nauseous light hangs about it; at night a devilish darkness settles upon it."
Burke's description has been brilliantly translated by art directors Hans Dreier and Robert Usher who picture the Limehouse we see in the movie in similar fashion. The noirish lighting effects by photographer Harry Fischbeck add immeasurably to the devilishly picturesque darkness as director Alexander Hall sweeps the camera through the narrow, cobbled streets and dingy courtyards.
Aside from its hauntingly moody ambiance, the big surprise of the movie of course is George Raft. Am I correct in stating this was the only occasion in which Raft essayed a character role? I know he often played hoods and heroes with Italian names, but here he is not only convincingly made up to look half-Chinese, but his speech pattern and accent (doubtless under the tutelage of director Hall) have the right flavor too.
The support cast, led by the charismatic but now forgotten Robert Loraine (this was his second last movie. He played Inspector Valentine in Father Brown, Detective and then moved back to London where he died in 1935) is likewise solidly in character. Montagu Love makes quite an impression as the brutal Pug, and it's good to see Billy Bevan in a major role (such an unusual event, the title writer was unable to spell his name correctly), but it's John Rogers, of course, who walks away with the non-principal acting honors. I've said before that any movie with John Rogers is a good movie, but in this one, Rogers himself is really exceptional.
I've left the most important person in the cast until last. Anna May Wong does not have a very large role, but she does have two production numbers and plays them with such presence and precision that you find yourself looking at them again and again.
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