Rating: 
Summary: A New DVD Transfer, Please!!!
Review: "The Shanghai Gesture" is one of the finest films of all time. The incredible and surreal acting, production design, dialogue and photography are a must-see. Unfortunately, the previous laserdisc release was a far superior transfer than the DVD currently available (which is watchable, but not nearly adequate for Josef von Sternberg's best film). Hopefully, the source material used for that laserdisc will be used to create a new DVD transfer.
Rating:
Summary: Von Sternberg's last great Hollywood film.
Review: After the critical and box-office disaster of the beautiful and sardonic "The Devil is a Woman", Josef Von Sternberg had his artistic freedom taken away by the studio and was forced to direct works that were unsuitable to his tastes.He eventually could not even get work in Hollywood and he remains another sad example of genius wasted.He did however manage to work on one project that was worthy of his talent:"The Shanghai Gesture"."The Shanghai Gesture"was an anomaly when it was released in the 1940's.Directed in Von Sternberg's exquisite baroque style,it depicted the decadent goings-ons of characters engaged in vice,drugs and revenge set in a gambling den.At that time pre-war Hollywood films were firmly entrenched in the genteel and "The Shanghai Gesture" was considered too daring to be made.Indeed the film could only be made with heavy censorship and this constitutes the film's most serious flaw-some of the plot becomes incoherent due to the forced obscuring of some of the character's motivation. But the film is still remarkable for how perverse it is ,considering the time period,and its subtle yet unmistakeable methods of portraying depravity.Unfortunately,"The Shanghai Gesture" met the same fate as "The Devil is a Woman" and not until it was rediscovered by the French was it appreciated as the masterpiece that it is.The only thing to be added is of the technical-its camerawork and photography are outstanding and it contains a very entertaining and large cast of whom three deserve mention.Victor Mature,very amusing as the sly and mysterious Dr. Omar;Gene Tierney,so breathtakingly gorgeous as the eager to be corrupted Poppy,and best of all -Ona Munson giving the performance of her career as Mother Gin Sling -a Machiavellian revenger whose serpentine coiffure and mocking nonchalance conceal a heart consumed by pain."The Shanghai Gesture" is Josef Von Sternberg's last memorable Hollywood film and though not as well known as the great Marlene Dietrich collaborations certainly merits to be ranked with them.
Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre, Visually Sumptuous Film
Review: Although the plot may present some "holes" (I think maybe due to censorship "cuts") and some of it might strike some as "uneven", it is nevertheless an attractive, visually stunning, sumptuous, bizarre, baroque, "decadent" Von Sternberg film, with a great cast.I will start with Ona Munson, 'cos she really steals the film from everyone, including one of my favourite actresses and beauties, lovely Gene Tierney glamorously dressed by her then husband Oleg Cassini. Munson's performance is a-la-par with any of the exotic characters played by Marlene Dietrich in her '30s Paramount Extravaganzas. As Mother Gin Sling, she's simply superb, wearing heavy Chinese-make-up, and all kinds of exotic hairstyles and clothes. I only recall Ona Munson, as Belle Watling in "Gone With the Wind", and you'd never tell they're the same person. She seems to have been really a "chameleon", because she IS the embittered Mother Gin Sling. I think she gave an Academy Award winning performance (IMHO). On the other hand, Walter Huston, one of America's greatest actors ever ("Dodsworth", "Treasure of Sierra Madre", etc.) is his usual best as Sir Guy Charteris, the man who wants to take control of Shanghai, thus affecting Mother Gin Sling's business (she owns a Casino located in an "important zone" of the city). I won't tell more. I saw this one on TCM (they borrowed it , because it does not belong to their catalog) with a Robert Osborne introduction, excellent as always, and he tells that no one could had filmed this story, because of the restrictions of the Production Code, until Von Sternberg did it, using the "innuendo" and making changes on the original story here and there, to have the "approval" seal. Anyway, the films is charged with sexual tension, double-entendre, amorality and decadence, as I stated before. It is a Shanghai that can only exist within the mind of the "Master of Style" that was Von Sternberg, I just love his films. And we have too a lovely, young Gene Tierney as the spoiled Victoria Charteris (Huston's daughter), Victor Mature as "gigoloyish" character, Phyllis Brooks, as a beautiful, wise-cracking chorus girl (she reminded me of Jean Harlow's wise-cracking roles), Ivan Lebedeff as a "Casino-Roulette-addict", the funny Eric Blore as an employee of Mother Gin Sling, Mike Mazurki (as one of Mother Gin-Sling's thugs) and Madame Maria Ouspenskaya, in a small role (The "Amah"). In all, a worthwhile film, which I enjoyed completely. Sadly, it seems there are not "restored" copies available. I think I'll buy the DVD, in spite of what's stated about its quality, because I don't think that there is any better edition around (Both the VHS and the DVD were edited by Image).
Rating: 
Summary: A Feeble Gesture
Review: Compared to the earlier LD and VHS releases from Mystic Fire Video, this DVD is a major disappointment. The source print is abysmal, scratchy and spotted throughout, and there are a couple of jarring jumps in the soundtrack. This bizarre film's best attributes are its atmospheric, moody cinematography; the Oscar-nominated set decorations by Boris Levin; and the sumptuous beauty of the then-20-years-old Gene Tierney. Unfortunately, none of these virtues are adequately presented on the DVD transfer. A pity.
Rating:
Summary: A Feeble Gesture
Review: Compared to the earlier LD and VHS releases from Mystic Fire Video, this DVD is a major disappointment. The source print is abysmal, scratchy and spotted throughout, and there are a couple of jarring jumps in the soundtrack. This bizarre film's best attributes are its atmospheric, moody cinematography; the Oscar-nominated set decorations by Boris Levin; and the sumptuous beauty of the then-20-years-old Gene Tierney. Unfortunately, none of these virtues are adequately presented on the DVD transfer. A pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Masterpiece in need of a good restoration!
Review: I love love love the movie: the kind of movie that makes you travel in space and time, but it is a trip to Hell rather than Paradise! Amazing cast of characters (and actors), decor, plot, and costumes (oh yes, lots of great dresses and headdresses) and a totally scrumptious dialogue. However, the DVD transfer is visually rather poor, and auditively execrable (shame shame shame , for this Shanghai Gesture dialogue is first class, and the musical soundtrack very interesting too.) Somebody , please, re-do the DVD properly this time, and I 'll buy it and watch over and over again!
Rating:
Summary: clearly censored
Review: I think this film exceeds in censorship. It's impossible in such a corrupt casino there's no clear exposition of drugs and prostitution that the ambiance plenty of ssmoke or suspicious fog suggests fully as the decadency of many personages. Victor Mature is a bad actor, but Gene Tierney is beautiful a surely she and the other women aren't in such a morbous club for only selling cigarettes. Vice is breathed all time, but isn't show. Make up is exaggerated. This movie his fun if one doesn't have many exigences and with more liberal times could be of regular quality.
Rating:
Summary: BIZARRE BAZAAR.....
Review: If you want to see what a sick movie was like in 1941, then this is for you. Supposedly watered down from the stage play, "Shanghai Gesture" is a mess. A spoiled rich girl, Poppy (get it?) becomes enamored of a hustler (Victor Mature) working in a notorious Den of Sin run by the notorious Madame Gin Sling (Ona Munson from "GWTW"). It's a gambling set up that offers more if you're interested. Poppy becomes addicted to gambling and opium in a bizarre plot by Gin Sling to humiliate the girl's father (Walter Huston) who she had once been involved with and who left her when she became pregnant. Now China's most infamous underworld figure, she's out to even the score. Trashy and ridiculous, it takes a lot to sit through this hokum. Gin Sling's hair styles are a sight to see. Mean, unsympathetic characters populate this Von Sternberg directed morality tale but the overall effect is "yawn". A lot of hinted at depravity includes white slavery where girls are held in baskets that are suspended over throngs of reaching and grabbing men. See this out of curiosity if you must---it sounds more interesting than it really is---but be aware the DVD transfer is poor. Gene Tierney (Poppy) went on to do better films than this like "Laura" and "Leave Her to Heaven" proving that her talent and beauty could shine in better material.
Rating:
Summary: "I would have torn down the whole world to get at you."
Review: In Josef von Sternberg's film "The Shanghai Gesture" sinister Madame Gin Sling runs a very profitable casino in Shanghai. When the casino is scheduled for demolition to make way for new real estate development, Gin Sling receives an eviction order from Shanghai government officials. Madame Gin Sling initially resists the order from Sir Guy Charteris, but then suddenly submits. She gains a slight delay--until Chinese New Year's--the day when all debts are paid. Sir Guy's daughter bets heavily--and loses--at the casino nightly. Her little gambling addiction goes unnoticed by Sir Guy. He's unaware that she's sinking deeper and deeper into debt and debauchery, or that she's now the paramour of the decadent poetry-spouting Dr Omar (Victor Mature). Madame Gin Sling "trades in the weaknesses of others" and so she's experienced enough to utterly ruin Guy's daughter and blackmail Sir Guy into a better bargaining position. "The Shanghai Gesture", at first, seems tremendously dated. Americans play the roles of the Chinese characters, and this has an overall cheesy effect. Then to make matters worse, the Chinese characters (who are clearly European) speak gibberish and Pidgin English. But as the story develops, and the plot intensifies, authenticity seems to matter little. The sets are magnificent--especially the casino floor. The casino is huge, teeming with life--people cheating & attempting suicide. The impression is that the casino is a world of its own, and Madame Gin Sling rules over all. She descends to the casino floor when trouble erupts (this is frequently), and she also has the final word on who is allowed credit. A jeweler evaluates and prices jewelry as desperate gamblers exchange family heirlooms to stake the next bet, and baskets are filled with money from the gambling tables and then hauled up through holes in the ceiling. This is Madame Gin Sling's empire, and she rules with an iron fist and long, sharp claws. Talented acting really carries this film far. Three of the main characters--Madame Gin Sling, Poppy/Victoria Charteris and Dr Omar (Victor Mature) all really work at their roles. Ona Munson plays Madame Gin Sling magnificently. She is the ultimate dragon lady--complete with ridiculously exaggerated eyebrows, long, sharp nails, and fantastically complex hairstyles. She "washed ashore" in Shanghai--the "cesspool of the Far East" and created her fortune. While she is not a particularly sympathetic character, all attention is focused on her whenever she enters a scene. Gene Tierney plays "Poppy" (the name she uses in the casino) or Victoria Charteris. As the film begins, she appears fresh and quite beautiful, but as the film winds on, the results of her decadent behaviour begin to tell, and her looks fade. Tierney also does an excellent job in her role, and she is at her best when she's manipulating the men in her life--Dr Omar and her indulgent father, Guy Charteris. When I first saw Victor Mature as Dr Omar, I cringed. He wore a fez and cloak, and yet underneath that costume, it was still Victor Mature as large as life. But, once again, as the plot wore on, I became wrapped up in his role. Omar is a delightful rogue, and he announces, "I'm not an authority on mirages or powder puffs." From the onset, it's clear that Poppy won't be able to manipulate Omar. The source of his income is dubious and he tells Poppy "I can say with pride that I've never paid for anything in my life." He is a moral corruptor and also a conduit between Madame Gin Sling and Sir Guy. The universal and timeless themes in the story are ultimately what make this film quite wonderful. The stuffy British and European officials and nobility look down on Madame Gin Sling, and yet they create a class of "useable" (see the scene of girls in the cages) people by their corruption and decadence--it's not the other way around. Madame Gin Sling is created by forces which now imagine they can destroy her. The story of her past is both terrible and magnificent. "The Shanghai Gesture" is--in many ways--an amazingly enlightened film for its time. The film was rejected by censors 32 times before its release, and if you watch the film you'll see why. Due to reviewer complaints about the quality of the DVD, I purchased the videotape, and the quality was excellent--displacedhuman.
Rating:
Summary: "I would have torn down the whole world to get at you."
Review: In Josef von Sternberg's film "The Shanghai Gesture" sinister Madame Gin Sling runs a very profitable casino in Shanghai. When the casino is scheduled for demolition to make way for new real estate development, Gin Sling receives an eviction order from Shanghai government officials. Madame Gin Sling initially resists the order from Sir Guy Charteris, but then suddenly submits. She gains a slight delay--until Chinese New Year's--the day when all debts are paid. Sir Guy's daughter bets heavily--and loses--at the casino nightly. Her little gambling addiction goes unnoticed by Sir Guy. He's unaware that she's sinking deeper and deeper into debt and debauchery, or that she's now the paramour of the decadent poetry-spouting Dr Omar (Victor Mature). Madame Gin Sling "trades in the weaknesses of others" and so she's experienced enough to utterly ruin Guy's daughter and blackmail Sir Guy into a better bargaining position. "The Shanghai Gesture", at first, seems tremendously dated. Americans play the roles of the Chinese characters, and this has an overall cheesy effect. Then to make matters worse, the Chinese characters (who are clearly European) speak gibberish and Pidgin English. But as the story develops, and the plot intensifies, authenticity seems to matter little. The sets are magnificent--especially the casino floor. The casino is huge, teeming with life--people cheating & attempting suicide. The impression is that the casino is a world of its own, and Madame Gin Sling rules over all. She descends to the casino floor when trouble erupts (this is frequently), and she also has the final word on who is allowed credit. A jeweler evaluates and prices jewelry as desperate gamblers exchange family heirlooms to stake the next bet, and baskets are filled with money from the gambling tables and then hauled up through holes in the ceiling. This is Madame Gin Sling's empire, and she rules with an iron fist and long, sharp claws. Talented acting really carries this film far. Three of the main characters--Madame Gin Sling, Poppy/Victoria Charteris and Dr Omar (Victor Mature) all really work at their roles. Ona Munson plays Madame Gin Sling magnificently. She is the ultimate dragon lady--complete with ridiculously exaggerated eyebrows, long, sharp nails, and fantastically complex hairstyles. She "washed ashore" in Shanghai--the "cesspool of the Far East" and created her fortune. While she is not a particularly sympathetic character, all attention is focused on her whenever she enters a scene. Gene Tierney plays "Poppy" (the name she uses in the casino) or Victoria Charteris. As the film begins, she appears fresh and quite beautiful, but as the film winds on, the results of her decadent behaviour begin to tell, and her looks fade. Tierney also does an excellent job in her role, and she is at her best when she's manipulating the men in her life--Dr Omar and her indulgent father, Guy Charteris. When I first saw Victor Mature as Dr Omar, I cringed. He wore a fez and cloak, and yet underneath that costume, it was still Victor Mature as large as life. But, once again, as the plot wore on, I became wrapped up in his role. Omar is a delightful rogue, and he announces, "I'm not an authority on mirages or powder puffs." From the onset, it's clear that Poppy won't be able to manipulate Omar. The source of his income is dubious and he tells Poppy "I can say with pride that I've never paid for anything in my life." He is a moral corruptor and also a conduit between Madame Gin Sling and Sir Guy. The universal and timeless themes in the story are ultimately what make this film quite wonderful. The stuffy British and European officials and nobility look down on Madame Gin Sling, and yet they create a class of "useable" (see the scene of girls in the cages) people by their corruption and decadence--it's not the other way around. Madame Gin Sling is created by forces which now imagine they can destroy her. The story of her past is both terrible and magnificent. "The Shanghai Gesture" is--in many ways--an amazingly enlightened film for its time. The film was rejected by censors 32 times before its release, and if you watch the film you'll see why. Due to reviewer complaints about the quality of the DVD, I purchased the videotape, and the quality was excellent--displacedhuman.
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