Amazon.com essential video: Josef von Sternberg gets really exotic here with Marlene Dietrich and the story of her adventures on a train en route to Shanghai, where she is reunited with a lover who jilted her (Clive Brook). When the train is overtaken by Chinese rebels, Brook is held hostage and the rebel leader (Warner Oland of Charlie Chan fame) takes a liking to Dietrich. The notorious adventurer fiendishly strikes a bargain to save Brook, whom she's never stopped loving. This is one of the most intriguing von Sternberg-Dietrich films not only because of its exotic style and setting but because of its passionate love story. --Bill Desowitz
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - "Grand Hotel" on wheels...
Marlene Dietrich and her longtime director Josef von Sternberg really hit the jackpot with SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932), arguably the best of their collaborations. Dietrich plays another woman with a shady ... Read More
Rating: - FIne Sternberg fantasia
NOTE: VON STERNBERG WAS AMERICAN...
Sternberg's films make no sense to most movie fans, who skim a film for its story or for its stars or its "realism". Sternberg's stories are usually slow, ... Read More
Rating: - Love and Adventure on a Romantic Train Ride
Paramount's SHANGHAI EXPRESS is an adventure story and above all a love story about Shanghai Lily (Marlene Dietrich) and Captain Harvey (Clive Brook) who used to be her lover. Most of the action takes place ... Read More
Rating: - Exotic Marlene in her most breathtaking role
"Shanghai Express", is one of those films that very aptly fits into the category of "they sure dont make them like this anymore". Boasting hauntingly beautiful camera work and photography, the film being very ... Read More
Rating: - A film lover's film, a visual masterpiece
SHANGHAI EXPRESS is, like much of Josef von Sternberg's early Hollywood work, technically stunning, and this is definitely one of his very best films. This is not a film to watch so much as one to be savored, ... Read More
- "Grand Hotel" on wheels...
- FIne Sternberg fantasia