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The Shanghai Gesture

  • 19411941
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Gene Tierney, Victor Mature, Phyllis Brooks, Walter Huston, and Ona Munson in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Film-Noir
In Shanghai, dragon-lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out-of-busine... Read allIn Shanghai, dragon-lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out-of-business.In Shanghai, dragon-lady 'Mother' Gin Sling operates a gambling house for wealthy patrons but she clashes with influential land developer Sir Guy Charteris who wants to put her out-of-business.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Josef von Sternberg
  • Writers
    • Josef von Sternberg(adaptation)
    • Geza Herczeg(collaborator for adaptation)
    • Jules Furthman(collaborator for adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Gene Tierney
    • Walter Huston
    • Victor Mature
Top credits
  • Director
    • Josef von Sternberg
  • Writers
    • Josef von Sternberg(adaptation)
    • Geza Herczeg(collaborator for adaptation)
    • Jules Furthman(collaborator for adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Gene Tierney
    • Walter Huston
    • Victor Mature
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 67User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos74

    "Shanghai Gesture" Gene Tierney, Victor Mature 1941 United Artists
    1/2 sheet, 28 x 22 in
    Gene Tierney in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Walter Huston in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Gene Tierney and John Abbott in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Gene Tierney and Victor Mature in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Albert Bassermann and Walter Huston in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Victor Mature and Clyde Fillmore in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Victor Mature and Phyllis Brooks in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Victor Mature in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Phyllis Brooks and Ona Munson in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
    Victor Mature in The Shanghai Gesture (1941)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gene Tierney
    Gene Tierney
    • Poppyas Poppy
    Walter Huston
    Walter Huston
    • Sir Guy Charterisas Sir Guy Charteris
    Victor Mature
    Victor Mature
    • Doctor Omaras Doctor Omar
    Ona Munson
    Ona Munson
    • 'Mother' Gin Slingas 'Mother' Gin Sling
    Phyllis Brooks
    Phyllis Brooks
    • The Chorus Girlas The Chorus Girl
    Albert Bassermann
    Albert Bassermann
    • The Commissioneras The Commissioner
    Maria Ouspenskaya
    Maria Ouspenskaya
    • The Amahas The Amah
    Eric Blore
    Eric Blore
    • The Bookkeeperas The Bookkeeper
    Ivan Lebedeff
    Ivan Lebedeff
    • The Gambleras The Gambler
    Mike Mazurki
    Mike Mazurki
    • The Coolieas The Coolie
    Clyde Fillmore
    Clyde Fillmore
    • The Compradoras The Comprador
    Grayce Hampton
    Grayce Hampton
    • The Social Leaderas The Social Leader
    Rex Evans
    • The Counseloras The Counselor
    Mikhail Rasumny
    Mikhail Rasumny
    • The Appraiseras The Appraiser
    • (as Mikhail Rasumni)
    Michael Dalmatoff
    Michael Dalmatoff
    • The Bartenderas The Bartender
    • (as Michael Delmatoff)
    Marcel Dalio
    Marcel Dalio
    • The Master of the Spinning Wheelas The Master of the Spinning Wheel
    John Abbott
    John Abbott
    • Poppy's Escortas Poppy's Escort
    • (uncredited)
    Enrique Acosta
    • Casino Patronas Casino Patron
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Josef von Sternberg
    • Writers
      • Josef von Sternberg(adaptation)
      • Geza Herczeg(collaborator for adaptation)
      • Jules Furthman(collaborator for adaptation)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Doug Sederberg <vornoff@sonic.net>
    • bald man
    • city name in title
    • gambling
    • secret
    • casino
    • 43 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • "POPPY"...the Victim of Vengeance! Her love of life and laughter led her to a most amazing doom!
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • Film-Noir
      • Mystery
      • Romance
    • Certificate
      • Approved
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the play the setting was a brothel run by "Mother Goddam", who was once sold into prostitution, and it dealt with drug addiction and nymphomania as well. Many initial adaptations of the original play were rejected by the Hays office, and it discouraged studios from making the film. The Chinese consulate also voiced objections to the portrayal of Chinese in the play.
    • Quotes

      'Mother' Gin Sling: [of an ordinance that would outlaw her establishment] I've lived by my own ordinances for a long time now, and I intend to disregard all others.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits: "Years ago a speck was torn away from the mystery of China and became Shanghai. A distorted mirror of problems that beset the world today, it grew into a refuge for people who wished to live between the lines of laws and customs - - a modern Tower of Babel. Neither Chinese, European, British nor American it maintained itself for years in the ever increasing whirlpool of war. Its destiny, at present, is in the lap of the Gods - - as is the destiny of all cities. Our story has nothing to do with the present."
    • Connections
      Featured in The Society of the Spectacle (1974)
    • Soundtracks
      I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
      (1918) (uncredited)

      Music by Harry Carroll

      Lyrics by Joseph McCarthy

      Played on piano by Rex Evans at Gin Sling's dinner party

    User reviews67

    Review
    Top review
    Dreamy von Sternberg Morality Tale...
    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!
    helpful•61
    4
    • cariart
    • Mar 30, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 15, 1942 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Chinese
      • Russian
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Sangajski gest
    • Filming locations
      • Chinatown, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Arnold Pressburger Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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