Shanghai Surprise (1986)

Shanghai, 1938: A missionary woman hires a fortune hunter to help her find 1100 lbs. opium lost, as wounded need the morphine. Adventure and romance follows.

Director:

Jim Goddard

Writers:

John Kohn (screenplay), Robert Bentley (screenplay)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Madonna, Paul Freeman

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Penn	...	Glendon Wasey
Madonna	...	Gloria Tatlock
Paul Freeman	...	Walter Faraday
Richard Griffiths	...	Willie Tuttle
Philip Sayer	...	Justin Kronk
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Joe Go
Kay Tong Lim	...	Mei Gan
Sonserai Lee	...	China Doll
Victor Wong	...	Ho Chong
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Yamagani San
Michael Aldridge	...	Mr. Burns
Sarah Lam	...	China Doll's Maid
George She	...	Wu Ch'En She
Won Gam Bor	...	Rickshaw King
To Chee Kan	...	China Doll's Boatman

Storyline

Glendon Wasey is a fortune hunter looking for a fast track out of China. Gloria Tatlock is a missionary nurse seeking the curing powers of opium for her patients. Fate sets them on a hectic, exotic, and even romantic quest for stolen drugs. But they are up against every thug and smuggler in Shangai.

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Plot Keywords:

china | year 1937 | american abroad | con artist | cameo appearance | 

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Taglines:

A romantic adventure for the dangerous at heart.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of writer-producer John Kohn.

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Goofs

During the bathhouse scene Justin tells Glendon that the Chinese use tomato juice to remove the stench of skunks. Of course there are no skunks in China. Skunks live only in North America.

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Quotes

"Mr. Burns": Mr, eh?
Glendon Wasey: Wasey. Glendon Wasey.

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Connections

Referenced in Cinemadonna: Bloodhounds of Broadway (2014)

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Soundtracks

Shanghai Surprise
Music & Lyrics by George Harrison
Performed by George Harrison with Vicki Brown
Courtesy of Dark Horse Records & Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Dreary, dreadful romantic comedy

"Shanghai Surprise" is an idiotic, out-of-date, poorly-acted, campy action film that wants to be a romantic comedy. Madonna, in her second starring role, had about enough acting talent at this point as a doll. Unfortunately, the doll in this movie comes off looking better than she does.

Madonna, playing a missionary (!) nurse (!!) for a Shanghai mission, is in search of opium (!!!) for medicinal purposes (!!?!!) approaches Sean Penn, an American soldier-of-fortune type who happens to speak Chinese. Penn and Madonna, who were married at the time this film were made, are obviously uncomfortable with the material and do little to justify the film's existence. Penn mugs his way through and attempts to crach a few weak jokes, while Madonna stamps her foot and places her hands on her hips as she squeaks (yes, she squeaks, and you must hear it to believe it) in frustration.

The plot is absolutely ridiculous -- Madonna and Sean Penn chasing after a mysterious cargo of opium known as "Faraday's Flowers" (incidentally, the name of the book this movie is based on) must run from a Chinese gangster with porcelain hands, have a romantic interlude with an Imperial concubine, teach baseball skills to another Chinese gangster, and (boy, aren't we surprised) sleep together to seal a deal.

This movie, like "Mommie Dearest" or "Plan Nine From Outer Space" has immense camp value because it's so deliciously awful. Utterly predictable, insipid, and full of instantly forgettable lines, this movie is the equivalent of the yellow stuff they stick on your nachos at the movie theatres -- it's not really good enough to be real cheese, but it's much cheaper and tastes pretty much the same anyway. This movie isn't even cheesy enough to be cheesy.

Avoid "Shanghai Surprise" unless, like me, you like Madonna WAY too much or if you're just a fan of bad movies.

Details

Official Sites:

Handmade Films Website

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Shanghai Surprise

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$729,885, 1 September 1986

Gross USA:

$2,315,683

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,315,683

Company Credits

Production Co:

HandMade Films, The Vista Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1