Shanghai Express (1932) :
Brief Review -
Romance, Drama, Thrill, Fun and Pre-code Humour with cool dialogues. A perfect popcorn flick. Shanghai Express came at the right to be precise, it would have ended up as underscorer later. In early 30s Hollywood started off talkies with different different kind of films because every genre needed a pioneer and influence. I am not sure how influential Shanghai Express was for other pre-code romantic dramas because i have seen mamy better flicks than this which are classics and this one fells short. Talking about the same year, there was Oscar Winner 'Grand Hotel' which was almost in the same genre and much better but let's not compare that Classic with this fun-loving ride. Like I said, the timing was right and that's one of the major reason to love this film. A notorious and infamous woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved once. The same old theory of parted lovers appears here but with little different situations. That revolution factor is a major invention for such genre in my opinion cause i don't remember any other Romantic Drama set in such situations. After the timing of the film there are two more reasons to love the film and Marlene Dietrich is one of them. She looks glamorous as hell and portrays a notorious woman with some attitude to look out for. Clive Brook as her lover is nice too, a man with principles but i would have loved him more if he was more intelligent. The supporting cast is fantastic. You'll love every single character even if each one has small screen space. It is wrapped in just 82 minutes so, it's highly engaging film but it's the dialogues which makes it more enjoyable. I won't spoil thoss one-liners here, but this is the third main reason why you should watch Shanghai Express. Josef von Sternberg's direction is very accurate as far as the limits of writing are concerned and this Pre-code genre was just born baby then, so Yes, it's recommendable.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Romance, Drama, Thrill, Fun and Pre-code Humour with cool dialogues. A perfect popcorn flick. Shanghai Express came at the right to be precise, it would have ended up as underscorer later. In early 30s Hollywood started off talkies with different different kind of films because every genre needed a pioneer and influence. I am not sure how influential Shanghai Express was for other pre-code romantic dramas because i have seen mamy better flicks than this which are classics and this one fells short. Talking about the same year, there was Oscar Winner 'Grand Hotel' which was almost in the same genre and much better but let's not compare that Classic with this fun-loving ride. Like I said, the timing was right and that's one of the major reason to love this film. A notorious and infamous woman rides a train through a dangerous situation with a British captain she loved once. The same old theory of parted lovers appears here but with little different situations. That revolution factor is a major invention for such genre in my opinion cause i don't remember any other Romantic Drama set in such situations. After the timing of the film there are two more reasons to love the film and Marlene Dietrich is one of them. She looks glamorous as hell and portrays a notorious woman with some attitude to look out for. Clive Brook as her lover is nice too, a man with principles but i would have loved him more if he was more intelligent. The supporting cast is fantastic. You'll love every single character even if each one has small screen space. It is wrapped in just 82 minutes so, it's highly engaging film but it's the dialogues which makes it more enjoyable. I won't spoil thoss one-liners here, but this is the third main reason why you should watch Shanghai Express. Josef von Sternberg's direction is very accurate as far as the limits of writing are concerned and this Pre-code genre was just born baby then, so Yes, it's recommendable.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.