Shanghai Express (1932)

It's 1931 China and there's a civil war going on. A disparate group of passengers are traveling via train from Peking to Shanghai but will they make it to Shanghai safely? Based on SKY OVER CHINA by Henry Hervey and directed by Josef von Sternberg. I've never been a big fan of the much admired von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich collaborations but SHANGHAI EXPRESS is my favorite even if it does poop out in the last twenty minutes. I suppose my taste for it is because I have an affection for movies set on trains. This being a pre-code film, there's no uncertainty about how Dietrich and Anna May Wong earn their living! It's stylish, glamorous and rich in intrigue and a nice assortment of character actors make the journey agreeable. Alas, von Sternberg can't keep the momentum up and the film's last twenty minutes are a drag with Clive Brook, dry as sawdust, and Dietrich wrangling over their future together. With Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Gustav Von Seyffertitz and Louise Closser Hale.