Shanghai Express (film)

Shanghai Express
Original theatrical poster
Directed byJosef von Sternberg
Written byJules Furthman
Harry Hervey (story)
Based on"Sky Over China" (also known as "China Pass")
by Harry Hervey
Produced byAdolph Zukor
StarringMarlene Dietrich
Clive Brook
Anna May Wong
Warner Oland
CinematographyLee Garmes
Edited byFrank Sullivan
Music byW. Franke Harling
Rudolph G. Kopp
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • February 12, 1932 (1932-02-12)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million (worldwide rentals)[1]

Shanghai Express is a 1932 American pre-Code film about a group of train passengers held hostage by a warlord during the Chinese Civil War. It was directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong and Warner Oland. The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman based on a 1931 short story by Harry Hervey. Shanghai Express was the fourth of seven films that Sternberg and Dietrich created together.

The film was released during the midst of the Great Depression. It was remade as Night Plane from Chungking (1943) and Peking Express (1951).

  1. ^ Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autry (March 30, 2010). George Lucas's blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. It Books. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-0-0619-6345-2.