The Shanghai Gesture
A gambling queen employs blackmail to thwart a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
Director(s)
Josef von Sternberg
John London
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
CinemaSerf
"Sir Guy Charteris" (Walter Huston) is an entrepreneurial British developer who has his eyes on the gin-palace of "Mother Gin Sling" (Ona Munson). The latter woman is running her successful den of iniquity and has no intention of acquiescing to the venal aspirations of her new nemesis. Determined to fight back, she enlists the help of the rather unscrupulous "Dr. Omar" (a rather mis-cast Victor Mature) to ensure that "Poppy" (Gene Tierney) - the daughter of "Charteris" - is introduced to the delightful effects of opium! The story becomes further complicated when it transpires that there is a personal history between the millionaire and the casino owner - and soon a plan is afoot to bring down retribution on his head. This has the look of an older "Charlie Chan" film to it, one without the charisma of Warner Oland or Sydney Toler. The scenarios are all very predictable and there is far too much dialogue as the tale meanders along for an over-long ninety minutes before a rather underwhelming, melodramatic, conclusion. Despite her relatively lowly billing, the films belongs to Munson when she appears, otherwise it's all pretty procedural daytime fayre.
The Shanghai Gesture FAQs
The directors of The Shanghai Gesture are Josef von Sternberg and John London.
The cast of The Shanghai Gesture includes Mikhail Rasumny as The Appraiser, Eric Blore as Caesar Hawkins, Ivan Lebedeff as Boris, Mike Mazurki as The Coolie, John Abbott as Poppy's Escort, Victor Mature as Doctor Omar, Maria Ouspenskaya as The Amah, Rex Evans as The Counselor, Clyde Fillmore as Percival Montgomery Howe, Walter Huston as Sir Guy Charteris, Marcel Dalio as The Master of the Spinning Wheel, Gene Tierney as Victoria Charteris (aka "Poppy Smith"), and more.
The duration of The Shanghai Gesture is 1h 39 mins.
The Shanghai Gesture was released on 25 Dec 1941.
The Shanghai Gesture is listed under Drama on Fanbiz.
The Shanghai Gesture has 1 review on Fanziz, with an average rating of 6.0/10. One reviewer wrote: ""Sir Guy Charteris" (Walter Huston) is an entrepreneurial British developer who has his eyes on the gin-palace of "Mother Gin Sling" (Ona Munson). The latter woman is running he..."
