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The Shanghai Gesture

The Shanghai Gesture

Drama · Crime · Mystery · 1941

A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.

Movie details

The Shanghai Gesture

“Mystery-lure of the Far East!”

1941 Drama · Crime · Mystery 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Shanghai Gesture?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Winter's Tale

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In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.

Borrowed Hearts

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Single mom Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) and her daughter Zoey pretend to be Kathleen's boss's "family" so he can close a major business deal with the mysterious Mexican financier Javier Del Campo.

Northanger Abbey

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A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

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Librarian and real crime buff Aurora “Roe” Teagarden never liked Detective Sergeant Jack Burns, but she also never wanted to see him dead. When his body is found outside of Aurora’s home, she then becomes the main suspect. Determined to find the killer and clear her name, Aurora can't help but to get involved once again.

The Mask of Dimitrios

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Glengarry Glen Ross

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Impact

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After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.

Sleuth

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Josef von Sternberg

Written by

James M. Cain · Karl Vollmöller · Josef von Sternberg · Geza Herczeg

Victor Mature

Victor Mature

Doctor Omar

Ona Munson

Ona Munson

'Mother' Gin Sling

Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney

Victoria Charteris (aka "Poppy Smith")

Walter Huston

Walter Huston

Sir Guy Charteris

Phyllis Brooks

Phyllis Brooks

Dixie Pomeroy

Albert Bassermann

Albert Bassermann

Van Elst

Maria Ouspenskaya

Maria Ouspenskaya

The Amah

Court is in session

Put The Shanghai Gesture on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.