The Shanghai Gesture

The Shanghai Gesture
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Josef von Sternberg
Produced by	Arnold Pressburger
Written by	John Colton (play)
Starring	Gene Tierney Walter Huston Victor Mature Ona Munson
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	December 25, 1941
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Shanghai Gesture is a 1941 American United Artists film noir starring Gene Tierney and Walter Huston, with Victor Mature and Ona Munson. It was adapted for the screen by Josef von Sternberg, based on the play by John Colton, produced by Arnold Pressburger for United Artists, and directed by von Sternberg. This early film noir explores the lives and secret pasts of the main characters, played out in a luxurious casino owned by "Mother" Gin Sling. Keye Luke painted the mural that is displayed in the casino.

The Shanghai Gesture received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction (Boris Leven) and Best Original Music Score.

Plot

Doctor Omar (Victor Mature) bribes the Shanghai police to not jail broke American showgirl Dixie Pomeroy (Phyllis Brooks); he invites her to seek a job at the casino owned by Dragon-lady "Mother" Gin Sling (Ona Munson), his boss.

In the casino, Omar attracts the attention of a beautiful, privileged young woman (Gene Tierney), fresh from a European finishing school. She is out for some excitement. When asked, she gives her name as "Poppy" Smith.

Meanwhile, Gin Sling is informed that she must move her establishment to the much less desirable Chinese sector. She is given five or six weeks, until Chinese New Year, to comply. Gin Sling is confident that she can thwart this threat to her livelihood, and orders her minions to find out everything they can about the man behind it, Englishman Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston), a wealthy entrepreneur who has purchased a large area of Shanghai. Dixie proves to be an unexpected source of information; Charteris had taken her out to dinner a number of times, before dumping her to avoid her meeting his newly arrived daughter: Poppy, whose real name is Victoria Charteris. From Dixie's description, Gin Sling realizes Charteris is someone from her past.

Meanwhile, Poppy falls in love with Omar and becomes addicted to gambling. Though the spoiled woman is openly contemptuous of the casino owner, Gin Sling allows her credit to cover her ever growing losses.

Gin Sling invites Charteris and other important dignitaries to a Chinese New Year dinner party. Charteris at first declines, but then curiosity gets the better of him. At the dinner, she exposes his disgraceful past. Charteris, then calling himself Victor Dawson, had married her. One day, he abandoned her, taking her father's money and their daughter, leaving her destitute and alone. Forced to do whatever she had to to survive, she wandered from place to place, until she reached Shanghai. There, Percival Hower had faith in her and backed her financially, allowing her to work her way up to her current position. To cap off her revenge, she has Victoria brought in. Victoria openly flaunts her attraction to Omar, a dinner guest. Charteris drags his wayward daughter out, but she defies him and goes back inside. When he tries to retrieve her, he is confronted by Gin Sling. He then reveals that Victoria is Gin Sling's own daughter. Gin Sling tries to talk to Victoria, telling her she is her mother, but when the young woman continues insulting her, Gin Sling grabs a pistol and shoots her dead. She then remarks to Hower that this is something she cannot bribe her way out of.

Cast

• Gene Tierney as Poppy (Victoria Charteris)
• Walter Huston as Sir Guy Charteris (aka Victor Dawson)
• Victor Mature as Doctor Omar
• Ona Munson as "Mother" Gin Sling
• Phyllis Brooks as The Chorus Girl, Dixie Pomeroy
• Albert Bassermann as Van Elst
• Maria Ouspenskaya as The Amah
• Eric Blore as The Bookkeeper, Caesar Hawkins
• Ivan Lebedeff as The Gambler, Boris
• Mike Mazurki as The Coolie
• Clyde Fillmore as The Comprador, Percival Montgomery Hower
• Grayce Hampton as The Social Leader, Lady Blessington, a guest at the dinner
• Rex Evans as The Counselor, Mr. Jackson
• Mikhail Rasumny as The Appraiser, Mischa Vaginisky (as Mikhail Rasumni)
• Michael Dalmatoff as The Bartender (as Michael Delmatoff)
• Marcel Dalio as The Master of the Spinning Wheel, Marcel

Differences from the play

Originally the casino was a brothel, Poppy was addicted to drugs (not gambling), and the evil woman who owned it was called Mother Goddam.

External links

• The Shanghai Gesture at the Internet Movie Database
• The Shanghai Gesture at Film Noir of the Week by Sheila O'Malley