Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 4, 2018

Josef von Sternberg's "Shanghai Express" (1932) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The only bonus feature on the disc is a new video interview with film scholar Homay King. The release also arrives with an 80-page illustrated book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme, as well as detailed technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The beautiful courtesan

It is quite interesting that at approximately the same time Josef von Sternberg was finishing Shanghai Express thousands of miles away Walter Forde was also putting the final touches on Rome Express. The latter even has a better story but no one that could match the star power of Marlene Dietirch. Needless to say, today only folks who have a special interest in early British cinema are likely to be aware of Forde’s film.

Von Sternberg does a number of interesting things with the energy and tempo of the film to imitate the actual rhythm of a moving train. Almost immediately after the Shanghai Express leaves the station in Peking -- and this is some of the most memorable footage from the entire film as the train is literally in the middle of a big, very narrow and overcrowded street -- one gets the sense that the movement occurs in real time. The editing is particularly good, especially for such an early film, as the smart juxtaposition of the interior and exterior footage essentially makes it impossible to tell that the journey to Shanghai is simulated.

As the motley crew of passengers in first-class settle down someone mentions that the notorious courtesan Shanghai Lily (Dietrich) is amongst them and a few panic. But they don’t know how to recognize her, so they are left speculating and even doubting whether the revelation is legit. The only passenger that knows Lily is Captain Donald Harvey (Clive Brook), a British doctor who is on his way to Shanghai where he is expected to perform an urgent operation. The doctor is Lily’s former lover who years ago left her after she played a trick on him to test the strength of their relationship. However, at the time her name was Madeline, which is why the doctor has no idea that she is the notorious courtesan that everyone is concerned with. The former lovers meet and as they learn more about the pain they struggled with after their breakup realize that they are still very much in love. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Express is frequently slowed down by political drama involving secret revolutionary agents and supporters of Chiang-kai shek’s government.

Shanghai Express has that special appearance that ‘old Hollywood’ loved and promoted and this is basically what makes the film so attractive. However, the real magic comes from von Sternberg’s clear understanding of how to capture his muse so that she looks glamorous even when placed in an extremely casual environment.

The film has two rather obvious flaws. The first is Brook’s inability to emerge as the type of special man that a stunning beauty like Dietrich would fall for and then because of his departure choose to become a courtesan in order to suppress her heartache. He looks awkwardly stiff and frequently so unapologetically cold that it is actually hard to believe that a woman would even contemplate a relationship with him. The needed chemistry for the romantic drama to look legit simply isn’t there. The second flaw is easier to ignore. A few of the subplots that involve the other passengers and their true identities rush their climaxes and when it happens it does feel like the primary goal was to enhance the period flavor. This is particularly obvious with the character transformation that the Eurasian businessman Henry Chang (Warner Oland) undergoes.

Lee Garmes won an Oscar Award for Best Cinematography, but in her memoirs Dietrich confirmed that von Sternberg actually did the bulk of the lensing.

Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the book provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Shanghai Express was restored by Universal Pictures, from 4K resolution scans of a 35mm duplicate negative and a complete fine-grain made on an ARRISCAN film scanner, with restoration services by NBCUniversal StudioPost. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from a 35mm optical soundtrack negative by Universal Studios."

The elements that Universal worked with to deliver the new remaster of Shanghai Express must have been in an overall better condition than those that were available for Morocco as large areas of this film have more consistent density. However, there are still segments where it is easy to tell that ideally depth and shadow definition should be better (see an example in screencapture #14). The grading is good, but I felt that during some of the darker/indoor footage perhaps some better efforts could have been made to avoid light crushing. Grain retention is pleasing, but some very small traces of digital work are visible. Image stability is very good. Debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, and all other conventional age-related imperfections have been removed as best as possible. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I was rather impressed by the quality of the lossless audio. I have a DVD release of this film in my library and after performing some quick tests I can confirm that there is a pretty substantial improvement in terms of overall thickness. I would even say that dynamic balance is better, even during casual conversations where typically it would be quite difficult to tell. There is no distracting background hiss. Also, stability in the high-frequencies is very good.

Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Homay King - in this brand new video interview, film scholar Homay King, author of Lost in Translation: Orientalism, Cinema, and the Enigmatic Signifier, discusses Josef von Sternberg's cinematic vision of China. some of the socio-political themes that are part of the narrative of Shanghai Express, and the role of star Anna May Wong. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 1080p).

• Book - 80-page illustrated book featuring essays by critics Imogen Sara Smith, Gary Giddins, and Farran Smith Nehme, as well as detailed technical credits for each film in the box set.

Shanghai Express Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shanghai Express is a glamorous, old-fashioned Hollywood romantic melodrama that was conceived and delivered as an exotic fantasy film. In terms of style, it has everything that made Josef von Sternberg's work special, from imaginative sensual lighting and exceptionally elegant framing to pure atmosphere defined by a rather spectacular awareness of rhythm and space. It is also amongst the most beautiful films that von Sternebrg made with Marlene Dietirch. Criterion's new release is sourced from a 4K restoration that was completed by Universal Pictures, and is included in the Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood six-disc Blu-ray box set. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.