Shanghai - Cidade Maldita

I just watched The Shanghai Story and could not tell if it should be labeled a spy thriller! It is in a way, but not really.

Unfortunately, The Shanghai Story is not THE story of Shanghai after the fall of mainland China to the CCP in 1949. There are elements of truth in the film, and there are also stereotypes and exaggerations of CCP behavior. Some of what you see is true; and some of it is pretty silly stuff. Especially the ending; I will not reveal the ending, except to say it was one of the most ridiculous endings I have ever seen in a film. Edmund O"Brien was beginning to gain weight and age as a leading man, and looked more Rodney Dangerfield in a few scenes rather than a leading man. Ruth Roman was very good, however. And the direction is tight from Frank Lloyd. What we don't see are the motivations of the CCP in China at the time, and the amazing level of corruption of the KMT (that continues to this day in Taiwan). The fictional aspect of a "Chinese Underground" in Shanghai was also a complete fabrication; there was no such movement. However, the film is still entertaining.

Run of the mill prisoner of war film is elevated by the snappiness of the direction from Frank Lloyd, director of the first Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, and the cast.

Set mostly amongst a group of enemy aliens confined to a hotel in the title city Lloyd keeps the viewer engaged by having the action move repeatedly from room to room with occasional scenes elsewhere.

That's fine as far as it goes but the other element that makes the film enjoyable is the competence of the main players. Edmond O'Brien is impassioned as the doctor who becomes the focal point of the story with Whit Bissell and a very young Richard Jaeckel adding fine support as two fellow prisoners. Also standing out and looking very beautiful is Ruth Roman. Never given her due she was a fierce screen presence elevating the often middling material she was handed as she does here.

Nothing special but if you like this type of adventure/war picture an agreeable time passer.

The communists have taken over Shanghai. The city's luxury hotels have become internment camps for some of the few remaining foreigners. Dr. Dan Maynard (Edmond O'Brien) is world-weary from his time in China. Rita King (Ruth Roman) seems to have more freedom than the rest. Major Ling Wu (Philip Ahn) commands the guards and searches for an enemy agent among the group.

It's a Red Scare movie. I like the general opening premise. It does lean more on the concentration camp model of story. The movie is a bit stuck in that mode. Who's to say that there is a spy or not a spy or only one spy. I'm not invested in finding out. The movie is dreary and I don't care that much about it anyways.

Several Americans living in China are held captive in a hotel until the Chinese military finds out which of them is a spy. Hardly an original plot, but there is some good suspense. The leads have absolutely NO CHEMISTRY. I basically watched this to see Ruth Roman. Her part is good, but she doesn't play the downtrodden gutsy dames that made us love her. O'Brien is his typical crabby self. The supporting characters are relegated to speaking extras.

It is worth a watch, but don't go in with high expectations.