The Shanghai Gesture
The Shanghai Gesture

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- 66/100 based on 2,888 votes

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 ... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in The Shanghai Gesture:

Victor Mature
Ona Munson
Gene Tierney
Walter Huston
Phyllis Brooks
Albert Bassermann

Full Plot Details

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.

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Movie Reviews

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) - 8/10 by Ken HankeCompromised Sternberg, but visually and thematically compelling.
Ozus' World Movie Reviews - 6/10 by Dennis SchwartzA delirious masterpiece of decadence and sexual depravity.
User Review - 10/10 by Gal SReally weird and interesting - definitely ahead of its time.
User Review - 10/10 by Alastair Hpoppy, you little whore! i'm still looking for the play this was based on. amazing. the surrealists used to play writing games based on this film. brilliant stuff.
User Review - 10/10 by Greg Wawesome another one of those movies think black narcississ or "the letter" that takes u to an exotic location even though all shot on hollywood studio backlot!
User Review - 8/10 by Anne FExcellent aux trois quarts! Tout se met doucement en place.. et puis bardaf, cata totale :-/
User Review - 6/10 by Jo YA bit on the campy side, but that makes it a fun film. Gene Tierney does a fine job. What a beautiful woman she is. Good sets, nice score.
User Review - 6/10 by Stephen LAvant de regarder " The Shangai Gesture", je n'avais vu qu'un seul film de Joseph von Sternberg, en l'occurence "l'Ange Bleu". Déja, j'avais été très impressionné par la manière dont le réalisateur arrivait à mettre en forme l'installation de la décheance physique et morale chez ces personnages. Seulement, ici, cette decadence est amplifiée, grossie à l'échelle d'un casino etouffant de Shangai, vaste vivarium de tous les rebus du monde occidental et oriental. C'est ainsi que le réalisateur prend à parti cette gigantesque faune pour en faire une étude effrayante de la nature humaine; en effet, von Sternberg decrit un monde qui s'est emballé par la libre circulation des désirs. L'homme s'en trouve fortement perverti et dans un univers ou le luxe cotoie le vice ( tout y est beau et clinquant, mais conformément au souhait du réalisateur, l'ensemble ne charme pas, bien au contraire) il n'a plus comme autre destinée que de se laisser vivre sans que personne ne l'en empeche ( la scene du suicide raté est à ce titre evocatrice; Ging Sling affirme par la suite qu'elle ne voit pas l'interet d'empecher quelqu'un de se suicider.) Ainsi, Sternberg va bien plus loin que dans l'ange bleu et depasse le simple cadre de la "femme fatale" qui fait souffrir les hommes, seulement, cela rend l'oeuvre on ne peut difficile à suivre et l'intrigue à nos yeux de plus en plus lointaine. En effet, à l'image d'un Victor Mature trouble et complétement opaque, il s'avère très difficile de s'identifier à des personnages que l'on ne comprend pas. Ce qu'ils ressentent on ne sait pas, de même pour ce qu'ils sont, on prend juste conscience qu'ils incarnent tous ce qui y a de plus friable chez l'humain. Objet fascinant par son analyse troublante, le film s'empetre néanmoins dans son propre piège. Bientot, les scènes de Gene Tierney ( au personnage ô combien pitoyable) s'avère presque insupportables. Finalement perdu dans la jungle d'un nouvel an chinois qui mèle feux d'artifices et vrais coups de feu, le spectateur n'en ressort que plus désorienté à la fin du film.
User Review - 6/10 by Millo TExotic and decadent. Sometimes lack or rhythm and narrative pulse, but full of variety of characters and settings: at the end it becomes more interesting (between 2.5 and 3 stars).
User Review - 6/10 by Paul DSubtle performances dominate an odd film for its time as it centres around an decadent establishment and it as well as the proprietors future in the far-east. The action rarely leaves its four walls yet doesn't feel at all confined as a feature.

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