{"id":25047,"date":"2012-04-02T13:07:26","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T20:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25047"},"modified":"2021-01-26T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T22:08:16","slug":"shanghai-gesture-the-1941","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25047","title":{"rendered":"Shanghai Gesture, The (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It smells so incredibly evil&#8230; I didn&#8217;t know such a place existed, except in my imagination.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-25048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Poster.jpg 497w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe thrill-seeking daughter (Gene Tierney) of a wealthy businessman (Walter Huston) becomes a regular patron at a gambling house in Shanghai owned by &#8220;Mother&#8221; Gin Sling (Ona Munson), who is upset that Huston is trying to force her to move her establishment to another district.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gambling<\/li>\n<li>Gene Tierney Films<\/li>\n<li>Josef von Sternberg Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Victor Mature Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary refers to this Josef von Sternberg-directed outing &#8212; a &#8220;much cleaner&#8221; adaptation of John Colton&#8217;s 1926 Broadway play &#8212; as &#8220;an absolutely ridiculous film&#8221;, citing this as the &#8220;reason that it has a cult&#8221;. He notes that the &#8220;extremely weird, overwritten, often dull script&#8221; &#8212; which is &#8220;full of awkward introductions, lectures, people yelling at each other, [and] double entendres&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;comes across like a clumsy first draft that was filmed only because the next 20 drafts were lost&#8221;. He insists that &#8220;performances by the entire cast &#8212; including Victor Mature as a poetry-reciting Arab &#8212; are outrageous&#8221;, and &#8220;so is the ending&#8221;. He concludes his review by noting that the &#8220;strangest [fact] of all is that von Sternberg didn&#8217;t recognize his folly and inserted a few inspired touches along the way that might have been saved for a better picture&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>As evidenced by comments on IMDb, <em>The Shanghai Gesture<\/em> has retained its cult status, with one user referring to it (with notable delight) as a &#8220;campy trainwreck&#8221;. Fans seem to especially enjoy both Gene Tierney&#8217;s rather <em>nuance-free<\/em> performance as the spoiled young heiress (whose addiction to gambling is here used as a stand-in for drug addiction, as depicted in the original play), and the presence of Una Munson&#8217;s truly outrageous hairpieces; as Peary cheekily notes, she &#8220;obviously had hair done by someone who had learned to tie shoelaces&#8221;. Indeed, an entire thesis could likely be written on what, exactly, Munson&#8217;s &#8212; wigs? can you call them that? &#8212; give away about her character&#8217;s state of mind, particularly as they become literally unbalanced near the end of the story (see still below). Regardless, Munson&#8217;s central performance as &#8216;Mother&#8217; Gin Sling remains the film&#8217;s dominant force: she so fully inhabits this archetypal &#8220;Dragon Lady&#8221; that we&#8217;re immediately willing to suspend all disbelief about a white woman portraying an Asian. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ona Munson as Mother Gin Sling<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Munson2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Munson2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"656\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25053\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Munson2.png 656w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Munson2-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Munson2-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"656\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography.png 656w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"656\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography2.png 656w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography2-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Cinematography2-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Oscar-nominated art direction<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Casino.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Casino.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"656\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Casino.png 656w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Casino-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Shanghai-Gesture-Casino-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An enjoyably pulpy script: &#8220;I have no country; and the more I see of countries, the better I like the idea!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its cult status. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0034175\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1941\/12\/26\/archives\/at-the-astor.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imagesjournal.com\/issue08\/reviews\/shanghai\/\">Images Journal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/89804\/the-shanghai-gesture#articles-reviews?articleId=25854\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-shanghai-gesture\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It smells so incredibly evil&#8230; I didn&#8217;t know such a place existed, except in my imagination.&#8221; Synopsis: The thrill-seeking daughter (Gene Tierney) of a wealthy businessman (Walter Huston) becomes a regular patron at a gambling house in Shanghai owned by &#8220;Mother&#8221; Gin Sling (Ona Munson), who is upset that Huston is trying to force her to move her establishment to another district. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Gambling Gene Tierney Films Josef von Sternberg Films Play Adaptations Victor Mature Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25047\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25047"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66168,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25047\/revisions\/66168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}