Shanghai (1935) User Reviews

Rather dull and disjointed

[kmbama · 5/10 · 14 May 2017]

A rather disjointed, dull film that Charles Boyer fans may like simply because it's another film with Charles Boyer. Nothing really remarkable in it other than an odd appearance of Warner Oland playing not Charlie Chan but a Chinese diplomat and Keye Luke playing his son (again). Scenes skip from the main characters poverty, wealth, poverty with no visible explanation, other than a succinct, "Well, I've lost everything."

I suppose the point of the film was a lame attempt at criticizing prejudice in a film complete with Libby Taylor as "Corona" the stereotypical black maid complete with campy attitude and down-home witticisms but who, unlike virtually anyone else in the picture, seems to speak Chinese. Warner Oland's appearance makes the ostensible point of the film even more comical.

Interesting Movie with two strong leads

[robluvthebeach · 7/10 · 5 April 2015]

Loretta Young and Charles Boyer make for an interesting pairing (though Boyer hardly seems the obvious choice for a mixed race character. However, the theme of bigotry because of race and unrequited love between two people was very well done. Also, the dialogue of how society perceives their romantic entanglement made for effective storytelling and formed the basis of this story. Both leads are really strong in this tale and Loretta is at her most beautiful both in appearance and strength of character. This was viewed online and the print was really good. Though they were not paired at the end, the meaning of why they were separated was very touching and bittersweet.This is worth a look and should have wider distribution.

The stars survived this disaster, but will you make it through the 75 minutes?

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 22 August 2018]

Hard to believe that Charles Boyer and Loretta Young got stuck in this fiasco of an exotic romantic melodrama where Boyer is revealed to be Eurasian via his suicidal mother's side, even though he was apparently born in Russia.

While this film is attractive to look at, it is deadly boring, even though it has a cast of some great character actors (Alison Skipworth, Warner Oland, Charley Grapewin) and some brilliant camera work.

It starts off on the right mysterious note, but quickly skips into cliche after cliche, with Oland the stereotypical Chinese wise man hiding the secrets of Boyer's past for his own good, and Skipworth a typical domineering aunt, trying to keep Young under lock and key.

When Young makes her first appearance, she notices, rather seductively, Boyer in typical Chinese peasant clothing either begging or protesting, and is obviously smitten with him. All of a sudden, he's working in a bank, making huge transactions, and rising in the business world.

When all is revealed, Skipworth snootily storms off, dragging Young with her, but then Young decides she's following Boyer into the depths of a world she isn't sure she can handle, declaring her love for Boyer.

It's over-the-top and melodramatic, and at one point, Young sneers out a line at Boyer like she's dropping him, then proceeds to coo and roll her eyes at him. Blame it on the lousy script and generally bad direction.

I'm surprised that this isn't on many worst lists, even though it is one of the rare times I had to completely agree with Leonard Maltin as to the weakness of this as a whole.

Rare romantic treasure for Charles Boyer fans

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 1 August 2016]

Here's a rare Charles Boyer film I recently discovered on YouTube (through my smart TV), and I really love it. The story is about the relationship between Barbara Howard, an American society girl, and Dmitri Koslov, a half-bred man with a secret about his parentage that is threatening.

I love those love stories where prejudice often gets in the way of romance. Why "prejudice"? Watch this film, and you'll know why. I don't want to give out spoilers. You know, I thought Charles Boyer and Loretta Young's performances were spot on. So anyway, I thought this film was one of the best romance films ever made and a rare treasure for Charles Boyer fans.