MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 398 this week

The Shanghai Gesture (1941)

6.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.7/10 from 1,463 users  
Reviews: 53 user | 24 critic

A young woman, Poppy, out for excitement in Shanghai, enters a gambling house owned by "Mother" Gin Sling, a dragon-lady who worked herself up from poverty to buy the casino. Sir Guy ... See full summary »

Writers:

(adaptation), (collaborator for adaptation), 3 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 3857 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 1044 titles created 8 months ago
 
a list of 24 titles created 20 Mar 2011
 
a list of 21 titles created 31 Jan 2012
 
a list of 250 titles created 1 month ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Shanghai Gesture (1941)

The Shanghai Gesture (1941) on IMDb 6.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Shanghai Gesture.
Nominated for 2 Oscars. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Victoria Charteris
...
Sir Guy Charteris
...
Doctor Omar
Ona Munson ...
'Mother' Gin Sling
Phyllis Brooks ...
Dixie Pomeroy
Albert Bassermann ...
Van Elst
Maria Ouspenskaya ...
The Amah
Eric Blore ...
Caesar Hawkins
Ivan Lebedeff ...
Boris
...
The Coolie
Clyde Fillmore ...
Percival Montgomery Hower
Grayce Hampton ...
Lady Blessington
Rex Evans ...
Mr. Jackson
Mikhail Rasumny ...
Mischa Vaginisky (as Mikhail Rasumni)
Michael Dalmatoff ...
The Bartender (as Michael Delmatoff)
Edit

Storyline

A young woman, Poppy, out for excitement in Shanghai, enters a gambling house owned by "Mother" Gin Sling, a dragon-lady who worked herself up from poverty to buy the casino. Sir Guy Charteris, wealthy entrepreneur, has purchased a large area of Shanghai, forcing Gin Sling to vacate by the coming Chinese New Year. Under orders from Gin Sling, who has found out Poppy is Charteris' daughter, the smarmy Doctor Omar leads Poppy deeper and deeper into an addiction to gambling and alcohol. Gin Sling, realizing that Charteris was her long-ago husband who she thinks abandoned her, plans her revenge by inviting Charteris to a Chinese New Year dinner party to expose his past indiscretions. Charteris, however, has a suprise of his own to spring on Gin Sling. Written by Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

"POPPY"...the Victim of Vengeance! Her love of life and laughter led her to a most amazing doom! See more »

Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

| |

Release Date:

15 January 1942 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Shangai, ville de folies  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (copyright length) | (1981) (restored)

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, on 1 February 1926 and had 206 performances. The opening night cast included C. Henry Gordon, Mary Duncan and William Worthington, with Florence Reed in the role of "Mother Goddam." A 1928 revival included J. Carrol Naish, who was also tested for a part in the movie. See more »

Quotes

Poppy: The other places are like kindergardens compared with this. It smells so incredibly evil! I didn't think such a place existed except in my own imagination. It has a ghastly familiarity like a half-remembered dream. *Anything* could happen here... any moment...
See more »

Crazy Credits

[after the cast credits] ... and a large cast of HOLLYWOOD EXTRAS who without expecting credit or mention stand ready day and night to do their best - and who at their best are more than good enough to deserve mention. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Gangs of New York (2002) See more »

Soundtracks

"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"
(1918)
Music by Harry Carroll
Lyrics by Joseph McCarthy
Played on piano by Rex Evans at Gin Sling's dinner party
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

Dreamy von Sternberg Morality Tale...
30 March 2004 | by (Las Vegas, Nevada) – See all my reviews

THE SHANGHAI GESTURE displays what was best and worst in Josef von Sternberg's 'German Expressionist' approach to film making, first seen by American audiences in his classic Marlene Dietrich productions of the 1930s. Each setting is decadent and mysterious, shot in soft focus, and wreathed in smoke; a sense of the absurd manifests itself in make-up, hairstyles, and costume; each character postures, incessantly, striking poses before delivering dialog; and there is always an undercurrent of sexual bondage, here manifested in the casual suggestions made by lazy, yet smoldering 'Dr. Omar' (Victor Mature), to the stranded showgirl, 'Dixie' (Phyllis Brooks), and the initially haughty, if naive 'Poppy/Victoria' (Gene Tierney), both of whom he easily 'bends' to his desires. In von Sternberg's world, there are seldom heroes, only survivors and predators.

Set in a fantasy version of the infamous Chinese port, GESTURE gathers a disparate group of international 'types', and sets them down in the multileveled center of inequity, a gambling parlor run by the legendary Chinese 'Mother' Gin Sling (Ona Munson). Ensnared by their debts, the mysterious woman 'owns' them, possessing an extraordinary degree of power.

Then the equally mysterious and powerful Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston) arrives in Shanghai, strong enough to control the local government, and with a goal of evicting 'Mother' Gin Sling, and tearing down her property. There is a shared 'skeleton' in both their closets, however, which she will reveal in the film's climactic 'Chinese New Year' dinner party...

While Munson could never 'pass' as Chinese, she does appear exotic and inscrutable, and is actually quite good, as is Huston, displaying a sensitivity masked in arrogant smugness. The true joy of the film, however, is watching the film's younger stars, early in their careers. Victor Mature, at 26, a year after his 'breakthrough' role in ONE MILLION B.C., poses more than acts in his role of an Arab gigolo, but clearly displays the sexuality that would make him a major heartthrob in the 40s; and Gene Tierney, not yet 21, occasionally overplays the 'fall' of her character, yet possesses the luminous beauty that would become her trademark.

Josef von Sternberg would only direct a handful of films after THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (receiving 'on screen' credit in even fewer), and this would be the last film he would have any kind of creative control over.

Faults and all, that alone would make THE SHANGHAI GESTURE worth viewing!


41 of 44 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Irresistible ! Noirfan55
What was the deal with the silent old Chinese amah? the sphynx
Available On DVD ReganRebecca
Title - - what gesture ?? doroberts-1
florence reed in the shanghai gesture dbanks8816
versions Will-35
Discuss The Shanghai Gesture (1941) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?