Shanghai express is a beautifully shot film. Marlene Dietrich is charming and elegant. Along with Clive Brook, who is brilliantly British and anna may Wong, who is sleek and dangerous. Shanghai express is truly a gem that stands out in 1932 cinema.

I liked the movie's plot, although it could have been a touch faster. I liked the moral of the story, and while the end was predictable, it was well done. I wish they made Chang a bit more menacing, though. What I didn't like about this movie was the acting! Clive Brooks, who I usually really like, was terrible! And Marlene Dietrich wasn't much better. Both were so stilted and corny, and there was no chemistry between them. Maybe I should blame the director for this, as usually they are really good, but wow! It spoiled the movie for me! The only acting I did enjoy was Lawrence Grant. What makes this movie sing is the cinematography and design. The lighting was so well done - so classy and sublime. The outfits were iconic, making Marlene look stunning. 7.2/10.

Good for the time I guess. However, nothing exceptional in cinematography (except Marlene Dietrich closeups), story or acting (just Marlene Dietrich being Marlene Dietrich). I have no idea why people think this movie is interesting, it really lacks any interesting plot developments, and the romance is just stupid...a woman who desperately wants a man to trust her love, but gives him no reason to? One thing I noticed was that no one in the movie drank, because the movie was made during prohibition. At that time in China, all the Brits would be downing gin! Yet another unrealistic element in an overall waste of time.

This film is about a group of European and American first class travelers on a train who are held hostage by a warlord during the Chinese Civil War. It was dubbed Grand Hotel on wheels. Marelene Dietrich gives a great performance and the film is useful as a piece of history. The real events of the 1923 Lincheng incident were more dramatic. The film presents a curious bifurcation on race in that the respectable white characters are seen as both flawed and racist and the film is surprisingly feminist. It's memorable for its stylistic black and white chiaroscuro cinematography.

Marlene Dietrich is SO gorgeous, her outfits SO amazing, and her acting SO engaging that I was entranced. The cinematography clearly deserved the Academy Award it got.

...an eighty-two minute train ride across contemporary China rife with barely-comprehensible intrigue and a continuous barrage of ornately busy visuals. A passenger train complete with sliding glass doors and lavish interior is the dominant setting. China's then-colonialist division justifies the array of diverse accents and ethnicities in this warped, artificial version of the real thing. Like all of these films, Shanghai Express is a total Hollywood studio-based shoot. Though engaging in racial stereotypes and outright fictions about China, von Sternberg probably employed every actor, extra (and then some) of Chinese descent. Though the whole thing is culturally suspect by today's standards, it's interesting to think that back then, mounting a film like this one in this manner would seem downright progressive. The movie itself is a fair potboiler, but one doesn't board this train for the plot, nor for its destination. It's the journey and the scenery that are everything. Those, and of course the company of fellow travelers.

A somewhat pulpy, populist exotic romance that is kicked up to a higher standard by a performance from Dietrich that perfectly captures her screen persona as the independently-minded, sexually liberated woman in chic evening wear surrounded by cigarette smoke and constantly delivering her aloof dialogue with a chill. Four films into their collaboration, Sternberg was fully aware how to place and effectively light his star to maximize her presence in front of the camera. The narrative sets itself up as something of a Murder on the Oriental Express predecessor, introducing a series of colorful and distinctive characters trapped in a train, but with the exception that Shanghai Express doesn't really take the time to explore or capitalize on most of them. The entire Chinese Civil War setting is really just dressing for the romance between Lily and Harvey; Wong's Hui Fei murders the top commander of the Chinese rebel forces (Oland's Chang, criminally underexplored) in his own camp before the group just sort of leaves with virtually no resistance or consequences. Though the film establishes itself on atmosphere and slickness, it's not always a winner in that department, with such nuggets as "How in the name of Confucius can I kiss you with all these people around?" The film may not focus exclusively on Dietrich, but she is doubtlessly the reason that this film hasn't slipped into obscurity, singlehandedly salvaging much of Shanghai Express on persona alone (though Wong is great as well). (4/5)

A visual delight with a romantic subplot set on a train racing through war-torn China, or some Hollywood fantasy thereof.

A bit over the top but the actors make it entertaining.

The best movie quote ever spoken: "It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily."

In her time Marlene Dietrich was considered one of the most exciting stars in the world with her androgynous looks and German iciness and her appeal still applies today as she is a paragon of glamour and elegance. This is why I eagerly anticipated watching this film as she had paired with Josef von Sternberg previously on the fantastic Morocco (1930) and The Scarlet Empress (1934) but I found myself disappointed by this film. Unlike their previous collaborations this film felt the need to introduce an unnecessarily complex plot in favor of focusing on Dietrich's mysterious, alluring leading lady or further exploring her relationships with those around her. How odd then that this was their only collaboration together that was nominated for Best Picture. Famous courtesan "Shanghai Lily", Marlene Dietrich, boards a train from Peking to Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War. On board she encounters her former lover, the uptight British Captain Donald Harvey, Clive Brook, who was unaware of her identity under a new name and who knew her as "Madeleine", a woman who pushed him to display his devotion too early on in their relationship. They both realize that they still love one another. Their rekindled romance is interrupted when rebel army leader Chang, Warner Oland, boards the train and selects Harvey to take hostage as bait to take back his own aide. Harvey is going to perform surgery on a government official and despite his resistance to Chang he is taken by him. Chang attempts to pursue Madeleine but because of her love for Harvey she turns him down leading him to rape her friend Hui Fei, Anna May Wong, in revenge. Chang threatens to blind Harvey but Madeleine chooses to sacrifice herself for him before Hui Fei takes matters into her own hands and kills him. Films about lovers in tumultuous relationships who meet again after several years of separation and find that the passion is still alive are a favorite of mine as I enjoyed Separate Tables (1958) more than I really should have. Unfortunately the affair in this film was not particularly torrid and the grievances that the two characters had about the breakdown of their relation did not seem realistic. I did not need alcoholism or father issues but simply the man not wanting to commit, and a meek man at that, did not create fireworks on screen and they never really delved deeper into his reasoning for fearing commitment. Dietrich plays Dietrich here and it is always a pleasure to see her suffer in the most photogenic fashion and silently feel pain as the man she loves distances himself from her. Brook is less of a known quantity and in this film I found him to be stiff and rather like an older, British version, of Don Ameche in the 1940s with his performance being technically competent but lacking in any emotion. When serving as a romantic leading man this really puts a dampener on the emotional connection at the heart of the film. The plot of the film itself felt overloaded for a film that was just 80 minutes long as you have a mix of sexual assault, double crossing and murder in this short amount of time and none of them are focused on with enough detail. Had they really delved into the emotional damage caused by Hui Fei in the wake of her horrific rape instead of jumping to her murdering a man suddenly. The film seemed to use rape more as a plot device than as an issue it was genuinely concerned about and that inspired real disgust in me. I understand that it was the 1930s and if a film featured a star on the level of Dietrich and a plot with enough melodrama in it to keep chugging along for a reasonable amount of time it would get made and most likely made money but I just wanted more. Notably the film isn't shot particularly well as while Morocco and another Dietrich vehicle The Garden of Allah (1936) make fantastic use of the exotic surroundings and beautiful stars they feature the action in this film feels static. There is nothing really to recommend this film on as Dietrich has made better films and as a technical achievement the film hardly impresses.

Filled with iconic imagery and the narrative is surprisingly even handed for the 1930s. It throws a bunch of different people with various conflicting ideologies together but never really picks a side. There's also no moral center to the story, even the male lead is mostly just sarcastic.

The Oscar for Best Cinematography is well earned. Plenty of absolutely stunning shots and very effective camera work. Deitrich, too, is stunning, though the script and some of the supporting performances leave a bit to be desired.

"Murder on the Orient Express", minus the murder...whoops, spoke too soon... Takes a while to really get going, being slow and largely unfocused early on, but the intrigue and audience engagement really build as we watch these travelling civilians get caught in war diplomacy, becoming unwitting hostages. A romantic and forlorn ensemble drama that ends better than it starts.

I was blown away by this movie, if you liked murder on the orient express you will love this one. a pre code Hollywood masterpiece. Marlene is incredible as the harlot who is really a saint. recommended

Dietrich is beautiful and a wonderful actress. Hint of wry humor

Marlene Dietrich is an absolute goddess in this film, let's just start with that. My god, there are just so many wonderful shots of her that it's hard to mention them all. Obviously the one where she waits in a darkened room, her face upturned to the light, fingers trembling as she wonders if Clive Brook's character will want to be with her again is beyond special. The one with her concerned face through a window, with open palm flat against the pane, is fantastic too. I also loved the scene where she stops Anna May Wong's character from committing suicide with a knife after she's been raped. And how about when she's talking with Brook over what happened to their relationship five years before, and while flicking his hat (which she's wearing) with her forefinger, playfully says "There's only one thing I wouldn't have done....I wouldn't have bobbed my hair." Dietrich plays both cool woman of the world, and broken-hearted/vulnerable very well. Her eyes dance around in many of her scenes, and director Josef von Sternberg wisely gets everything he can out of her, with interesting fashion and tight shots. Her character is expressed so perfectly early on when she tells an old lady (Louise Closser Hale) "Don't you find respectable people terribly ... dull?" In light of that, it's a bit ironic that the love of her life, Clive Brook, is so respectable and restrained. Brook's performance gets a fair bit of criticism, but to me, he turned in a strong performance. I loved how he expresses his anger and disdain in that eminently British way of his. An example is when he rebukes the missionary for questioning the morals of Dietrich and Wong by saying "You interest me, Mr. Carmichael. I'm not exactly irreligious, but being a physician, I sometimes wonder how a man like you can locate a soul, and having located it, diagnose its condition as rotten." Later he gives a thinly veiled threat to Mr. Chang, after Chang says the Governor General will be benefitted by his skill, by saying "I hope someday to have the pleasure of demonstrating my skill upon you." Brook has been thinking of Dietrich for five years and four weeks, ever since they parted, their "smash-up" as he calls it, but he talks about it stoically, and with dignity. Of course, the stoicism of both of them is taken to an extreme, and we wonder a bit why Dietrich doesn't just tell Brook why she acted as she did with Mr. Chang, in the present. There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about it, just doing the right thing, and having faith that the other person will either recognized it or just believe in you. There is so much feeling in these simple lines: Dietrich: "What makes you think I'm nervous?" Brook: "One thing, your hands are trembling." Dietrich: "That's because you touched me, Doc." The supporting cast is also strong, led by Anna May Wong, who I adore. She has less to work with here, but is riveting nonetheless. I loved every languid yet fierce look. I also loved how her character isn't a stereotype, speaking perfect English with that same touch of class and sophistication that Dietrich's does. She first shows this when she says "I must confess, I don't quite know the standard of respectability that you demand in your boarding house, Mrs. Haggerty," in polished tones. There is an international flair to the cast, with French and German mixed in with the Chinese of the locals, though the latter is incorrectly a southern dialect. I wasn't wild about Waner Oland playing Mr. Chang, the half-Chinese, half-European passenger who turns out to be the leader of the insurgents, but it's not an offensive portrayal. Hale's character is the funniest, as she fusses over her dog Waffles, hmmph's indignantly at a fellow-traveler, and says "I've never been so shocked in my life. The Chinese girl deserves all she's getting. But as for the other lady, well, I'm not going to say anything. Of all the brazen creatures, playing the gramophone. She's the most terrible woman I've ever met." That really cracked me up, the nerve, playing the gramophone. Aside from all of these wonderful characters, Josef von Sternberg's story-telling is tight, and the film is highly atmospheric. This one is a must-see from the pre-Code era.

Shanghai Express is the story of a group of passengers traveling on a train through China. But it takes place during a time of political discord for China, and the passengers get mixed up in it all. I enjoyed the variety of characters and how they interacted with one another. In particular I appreciated the arc that the Reverend went through in the film. Marlene Dietrich has an intriguing quality that perfectly fits this role. It’s impressive when she turns the corner and starts betraying emotions she’s not willing to admit. Clive Brook is OK as her costar, but he is a bit flat. But I did like their interactions with one another, because you can sense the history between them even before they spell it out for us (which was kind of unnecessary.) The story doesn’t always work for me. There are some sections where it feels like the movie is spinning its wheels waiting for the next big moment, and other times when it feels like it’s racing ahead without letting things breathe. However the climax is extremely satisfying and makes up for a lot of the flaws. I’m happy that I’ve seen Shanghai Express, because it’s a powerful tale even if it meanders a little along the way.

I am not in love with this film, although it's admirable what von Sternberg was able to accomplish on a sound stage. The film really does feel like it was shot on location in China. Marlene Dietrich is amazing as usual, but although she has one of the more prominent roles, the film is really an ensemble story.

Quintessential Dietrich in an exotic land plagued by revolution. The framing of Dietrich was well done. 1001 movies to see before you die.