Marlene Dietrich

SHANGHAI EXPRESS

Paramount Publix Corp., 1932.  Directed by Josef Von Sternberg.  Camera:  Lee Garmes, James Wong Howe.  With Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette.

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In 1931, as the Chinese Civil War rages, Captain Donald Harvey, a physician known as "Doc," meets his long-lost love, Magdalen, now known as Shanghai Lily, as they board the Shanghai Express in the Peking railroad station.  Lily is a notorious "coaster," a woman who, while not a professional prostitute, lives by her feminine wits along the China coast.

While the train is stopped, the passengers are searched by soldiers of the Chinese Army, and a spy is arrested.  Fellow passenger Henry Chang surreptitiously sends a telegram to rebel troops commanding them to hijack the train at midnight.

Traveling once again, Lily and Donald rekindle their love, but Donald is repelled by the life Lily has been leading.  When the train is accosted by the rebels and Chang interrogates the first-class passengers, they realize that he is commander-in-chief of the rebel army.  Donald informs Chang of the urgency of his trip to Shanghai, where he is expected to perform brain surgery on the governor-general.  Chang holds Donald hostage, and only agrees to release him if the British Legation returns his spy to him the next morning.

Chang propositions Lily, but she says she has reformed. When Chang forces himself on her, Donald breaks in and knocks him down.

That evening, Chang rapes Hui Fei, also a coaster, and keeps her imprisoned for the night.  Chang's spy is returned to him, but he continues to hold Donald, threatening to blind him until Lily offers to accompany Chang back to his palace in exchange for leaving Donald unharmed.  Hui Fei stabs Chang to death as retribution, and the train and its passengers finally complete their journey to Shanghai.

Dr. Carmichael, doctor of divinity, commends Lily for her sacrifice and tries to convince Donald of her honor, but Donald refuses to believe him.  When Donald sees Lily buying a watch for him to replace the one he had lost, however, he begs her forgiveness and they embrace in the crowded station.

American Film Institute Catalog