US 84m Dir: Josef von Sternberg Key Cast: Marlene Dietrich and Clive Brook
I'm a big fan of the genre of films where a group of people come together on a train journey and face a drama together. Here that group include British Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook) who bumps into his former lover Madeline who now goes by the name Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) and we can infer that she is a prostitute. Other passengers include a Christian missionary, a gambler, an opium dealer and a old lady Mrs. Haggerty who runs a boarding house and is traveling with her small dog.
The characterisation is really strong in this film, even among some of the lesser characters. Mrs Haggerty is essentially the comic relief aided by the gambler constantly considering possible bets on every event. It's really interesting to see how the missionary reacts to having prostitutes on board and it's interesting to see how all the characters opinion of them evolves as the events unfold.
The drama the characters get into occurs when a Chinese warlord takes the train hostage and seeks out someone important enough to trade with the Chinese government for his aid- he selects Harvey. This was based on a real event that happened in 1923 known as the "Lincheng Outrage" when a warlord took 25 westerners and 300 Chinese hostage, all of which were successfully ransomed.
Though there's lots of elements to the plot here the biggest is the relationship between Harvey and Shanghai Lily. The pair are still in love and Lily even agrees to give herself to the warlord in order to guarantee Harvey's safety but when the warlord is killed she keeps her reasons for doing this from Harvey. The final moments of the film see the pair finally admit their feelings for each other at Shanghai station. It feels like an ending to both the literal journey across China as well as the emotional journey the pair are facing.
This has a bit of everything really from some comedy to some genuine tension and a touching love story. Marlene Dietrich is very much the star of the show and is fantastic as Lily, exuding a confidence on the exterior despite clearly being deeply broken inside.
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