Settlement in Shanghai

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Movie
German title Settlement in Shanghai
Original title The Shanghai Gesture
Country of production United States
original language English , French , Chinese
Publishing year 1941
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Josef von Sternberg
script Josef von Sternberg,
Géza Herczeg ,
Jules Furthman ,
Karl Gustav Vollmoeller
production Arnold Pressburger
music Richard Hagemann
camera Paul Ivano
cut Sam Winston
occupation
synchronization

Settlement in Shanghai , also known as Im Banne von Shanghai (original title: The Shanghai Gesture ), is an American film noir by Josef von Sternberg from 1941. The leading roles are Gene Tierney , Walter Huston , Victor Mature and Ona Munson to see.

action

The young British girl Victoria Charteris wants to experience a bit of variety in Shanghai , which is why she pays a visit to a local casino one evening . Gambling addicts from all over the world hang around the casino, which is owned by a Chinese woman named "Mother" Gin Sling. Victoria is immediately fascinated by the mysterious atmosphere. Shortly afterwards, she meets the mysterious Egyptian Doctor Omar, whom she introduces herself as Poppy Smith. Meanwhile, Gin Sling learns that a wealthy Briton has bought her property and she has to close her casino. Determined to take revenge, Gin Sling finds out that the new owner is Sir Guy Charteris, Victoria's father and Gin Sling's ex-husband.

Weeks go by in which Victoria turns into an alcohol and gambling addicted woman who throws her father's money out the window at Omar's side. When her father hears about this, he insists that she return to England immediately . When Charteris meets Gin Sling, he only recognizes her when she calls him his old Chinese nickname. Gin Sling reproaches him for once abandoning her, stealing her daughter and stealing her money. However, Charteris feels misunderstood by her. He had divorced her, but he had put the allegedly stolen money in her name at a bank. He also saved Victoria from a hospital where she was abandoned.

Victoria, who, contrary to her father's wishes, did not fly to England, has no inkling of her half-Chinese descent. When she arrives at the casino and her father tells her to leave the casino, she gets angry and starts cursing Gin Sling too. She finally pulls a gun and shoots her own daughter.

background

The film is based on a play by John Colton that premiered on New York's Broadway in 1925 . For the screen adaptation, however, the piece had to be heavily censored in order to comply with the strict and conservative specifications of the Production Code . Originally, Gin Slings Casino was a brothel, while Omar was not a gambling addict, but a drug addict.

Settlement in Shanghai premiered on December 25, 1941 at the Astor Theater in New York and was released in US cinemas on January 15, 1942. In Germany , the film was shown for the first time on October 3, 1971 by WDR on television.

Reviews

"The story of the gigantic arcade, which was set up with all the means of cinema technology at the time, developed by Sternberg into a masterfully photographed and illuminated, highly stylized ballet of movements and gestures," said the lexicon of international film .

By contrast, Bosley Crowther's criticism in the New York Times in 1941 was very negative. The film is "absolutely pretentious, consistently obscure and played so badly in every single role" that "the only conciliatory quality" comes from the fact that it becomes "ridiculous in the end". As a director, Josef von Sternberg was "obviously so busy" with "taking beautiful pictures" that he "ignored the need" to make "an understandable film". Variety noted at the time that the film without “the effective elements” of the play on which it was based was “a rather boring and nebulous oriental drama”. However, Victor Mature delivered "an outstanding performance", while Walter Huston's "skills were lost in the mess" and Ona Munson could not penetrate her "mask-like make-up" in her game.

In retrospect, film critic Leonard Maltin was not convinced either. Settlement in Shanghai is a "slow, pompous drama". The “fascinating direction” could “somehow never tear it out”.

Awards

The film received two Oscar nominations in the categories of Best Production Design and Best Film Music . However, the responsible film architect Boris Leven and composer Richard Hagemann could not hold their own against the competition.

German version

A German dubbed version was created for GDR television based on the dialogue book and directed by Erik Veldre .

role actor Voice actor DDR
Victoria Charteris / Poppy Smith Gene Tierney Andrea Aust
Sir Guy Charteris Walter Huston Helmut Schellhardt
Doctor Omar Victor Mature Jaecki Schwarz
"Mother" gin sling Ona Munson Friederike Aust
Dixie Pomeroy Phyllis Brooks Barbara Schnitzler
Van Elst Albert Bassermann Gerry Wolff
Caesar Hawkins Eric Blore Horst lamp
Day laborer Mike Mazurki Dieter Korthals
Percival Montgomery Hower Clyde Fillmore Helmut Müller-Lankow
Mr. Jackson Rex Evans Lutz Riemann
Marcel Marcel Dalio Erik Veldre
Ryerson Leyland Hodgson Franz Viehmann

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Settlement in Shanghai. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 27, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ “It is so utterly and lavishly pretentious, so persistently opaque and so very badly acted in every leading role but one that its single redeeming feature is that it finally becomes laughable. […] The director was apparently so interested in shooting magnificent scenes that he overlooked the necessity of fitting together a lucid film. " Bosley Crowther : At the Astor . In: The New York Times , December 26, 1941.
  3. ↑ “Stripped of the sensational elements of gesture at the time it was produced on the stage, the resulting film version is a rather dull and hazy drama of the Orient. […] Victor Mature […] provides a standout performance. Huston's abilities are lost in the jumble, while Munson cannot penetrate the mask-like makeup arranged for her characterization. " See Review: 'The Shanghai Gesture' . In: Variety , 1941.
  4. ↑ Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide: The Modern Era . Penguin, New York 2012, ISBN 978-1-101-60463-2 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed June 8, 2019]): “Slow, overblown drama […]. Intriguing direction somehow never makes it. "
  5. ^ Settlement in Shanghai. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on June 27, 2017 .