DVD
Shanghai Express
Call Number
- DVD DRAMA (CEN)
Edition
DVD special edition.
Languages
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Performers
Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette.
Publication Information
[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2018]
Physical Description
1 videodisc (82 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in.
Audience
Not rated.
Summary
"An intoxicating mix of adventure, romance, and pre-Code salaciousness, Shanghai Express marks the commercial peak of an iconic collaboration. Marlene Dietrich is at her wicked best as Shanghai Lily, a courtesan whose reputation brings a hint of scandal to a three-day train ride through war-torn China. On board, she is surrounded by a motley crew of foreigners and lowlifes, including a fellow fallen woman, an old flame, and a rebel leader wanted by the authorities. As tensions come to a boil, director Josef von Sternberg delivers one breathtaking image after another, enveloping his star in a decadent profusion of feathers, furs, and cigarette smoke. The result is a triumph of studio filmmaking and a testament to the mythic power of Hollywood glamour."--Container.
Notes
From the story by Harry Hervey.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1932.
Issued in a boxed set: Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood.
Special features: New 4K digital restoration ; new interview with film scholar Homay King, author of Lost in translation: orientalism, cinema, and the enigmatic signifier.