Poker Face

The story itself is a little reminiscent of De Maupassant's "Boule de Suif" - a bunch of swells in a coach who look down on a woman (here because she's Chinese), but find themselves dependent on her. And some of the plot points are glaringly predictable. But some of the themes here are breathtakingly advanced for the time - racial prejudice, economic oppression of indigenous peoples. Plus the main kidnapper has real power and nobility. A lot of the rest is boiler plate, including a comic set piece with a corrupt Mexican officer. But what's surprising here is not what's predictable, it's what isn't. As it happens, I watched this during the premier of "Crisis", also about the kidnapping of a group. This was far more compelling, even across the formulaic context.