In the polyethnic city of Shanghai, various unusual characters cross paths in the gambling den of Mother Gin Sling (Ona Munson). These include rich girl Poppy (Gene Tierney), womanizer Dr. Omar (Victor Mature), stranded chorus girl Dixie (Phyllis Brooks), and many others. Things get complicated when English businessman Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston) buys the block containing Gin Sling's place and he orders the place shut down. Also featuring Albert Bassermann, Eric Blore, Ivan Lebedeff, Mike Mazurki, Michael Dalmatoff, and Maria Ouspenskaya as the Amah.
This fairly lurid stuff, obviously neutered a bit by the Production Code, but still managing to be salacious enough to upset some. This ended up being the final completed American film for director Josef von Sternberg. Munson as dragon lady Gin Sling is a riot, with her ridiculous hair-style certainly memorable. Gene Tierney looks terrific, while Victor Mature looks appropriately sleazy. I'm not sure how good this really was, but it was outrageous enough to entertain me quite a bit. It earned Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction, and Best Score (Richard Hageman). One unusual bit about the movie is this entry at the end of the films opening credits: "And a large cast of "HOLLYWOOD EXTRAS" who without expecting credit or mention stand ready day and night to do their best - - and who at their best are more than good enough to deserve mention."
This fairly lurid stuff, obviously neutered a bit by the Production Code, but still managing to be salacious enough to upset some. This ended up being the final completed American film for director Josef von Sternberg. Munson as dragon lady Gin Sling is a riot, with her ridiculous hair-style certainly memorable. Gene Tierney looks terrific, while Victor Mature looks appropriately sleazy. I'm not sure how good this really was, but it was outrageous enough to entertain me quite a bit. It earned Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction, and Best Score (Richard Hageman). One unusual bit about the movie is this entry at the end of the films opening credits: "And a large cast of "HOLLYWOOD EXTRAS" who without expecting credit or mention stand ready day and night to do their best - - and who at their best are more than good enough to deserve mention."