Josef+von+sternberg

Shanghai Express - by Josef von Sternberg (1932)

Many passengers on the Shanghai Express are more concerned that the notorious Shanghai Lil is on board than the fact that a civil war is going on that may make the trip take more than three days. The British Army doctor, Donald Harvey, knew Lil before she became a famous "coaster." A fellow passenger defines a coaster as "a woman who lives by her wits along the China coast." When Chinese guerillas stop the train, Dr. Harvey is selected as the hostage.

This version is almost the exact same as the German version, but of course in English. That means it is still wonderful, but with all of the "Unrath" puns removed. The only reason to just stick with the German is because most of the language in this film is either still German, or hard to understand due to th actors' thick accents, Marlene, surprisingly, is perfectly accent less despite not knowing any English. Fans of the German version should still just check it out as a historical novelty and see how similar and/or different the film is.