Directed by:
Josef von SternbergScreenplay:
Jules FurthmanComposer:
W. Franke HarlingCast:
Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Willie Fung (more)Plots(1)
An intoxicating mix of adventure, romance, and pre-Code salaciousness, Shanghai Express marks the commercial peak of an iconic collaboration. Marlene Dietrich is at her wicked best as Shanghai Lily, a courtesan whose reputation brings a hint of scandal to a three-day train ride through war-torn China. On board, she is surrounded by a motley crew of foreigners and lowlifes, including a fellow fallen woman (Anna May Wong), an old flame (Clive Brook), and a rebel leader wanted by the authorities (Warner Oland). As tensions come to a boil, director Josef von Sternberg delivers one breathtaking image after another, enveloping his star in a decadent profusion of feathers, furs, and cigarette smoke. The result is a triumph of studio filmmaking and a testament to the mythic power of Hollywood glamour. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
Marlene Dietrich
German Empire
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
The Blue Angel (1930)
Clive Brook
UK
Best movies:
Underworld (1927)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Shanghai Express (1932)
Anna May Wong
USA
Best movies:
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Piccadilly (1929)
Outside the Law (1920)
Warner Oland
Sweden
Best movies:
Dishonored (1931)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Werewolf of London (1935)
Eugene Pallette
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916)
Lawrence Grant
UK
Best movies:
Ninotchka (1939)
Lost Horizon (1937)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Louise Closser Hale
USA
Best movies:
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
Movie Crazy (1932)
Gustav von Seyffertitz
Best movies:
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Front Page (1931)
Willie Fung
China
Best movies:
Lost Horizon (1937)
China Seas (1935)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
Emile Chautard
France
Best movies:
Design for Living (1933)
Blonde Venus (1932)
Seventh Heaven (1927)
Forrester Harvey
Ireland
Best movies:
The Invisible Man (1933)
Rebecca (1940)
Captain Blood (1935)
Victor Wong
USA
Best movies:
King Kong (1933)
Lost Horizon (1937)
Shanghai Express (1932)
Claude King
UK
Best movies:
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
If I Were King (1938)
Chung Wong
USA
Best movies:
The Call of the Wild (1935)
Barbary Coast (1935)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Miki Morita
Japan
Best movies:
The Good Earth (1937)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Lady for a Day (1933)
Leonard Carey
UK
Best movies:
Gaslight (1944)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Rebecca (1940)
Herbert Evans
UK
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Jack Deery
Australia
Best movies:
Limelight (1952)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
All About Eve (1950)