Slow Sweat on the Upper Lip of a Girl in the Thrall of a Shanghai Bar
The Shanghai Gesture (1941)
directed by Josef von Sternberg
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Supposedly the play was more explicit about prostitution, and maybe von Sternberg leaves out a timeline in Gene Tierney's decline from apple of her father's eye to opium addict, but sordidness thrives in the swamps between connect-the-dots. There is no high ground here - even the gambling den sinks towards hell - and no character much better than a materialistic lecher. Those Huston men could carry evil more naturally than most actors, and if Victor Mature isn't sinister enough in his nonchalance, the cumulative wrongs inflicted on a mutual victim inhabit Tierney like a wasting witch in the woods. She is frayed, unhinged, even tiresome. But Laura's got nothing on her first few scenes; no one could love a ghost once they'd seen a flesh and blood woman dissolve into a cocktail - slowly, slowly, slowly - just so.
directed by Josef von Sternberg
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
Supposedly the play was more explicit about prostitution, and maybe von Sternberg leaves out a timeline in Gene Tierney's decline from apple of her father's eye to opium addict, but sordidness thrives in the swamps between connect-the-dots. There is no high ground here - even the gambling den sinks towards hell - and no character much better than a materialistic lecher. Those Huston men could carry evil more naturally than most actors, and if Victor Mature isn't sinister enough in his nonchalance, the cumulative wrongs inflicted on a mutual victim inhabit Tierney like a wasting witch in the woods. She is frayed, unhinged, even tiresome. But Laura's got nothing on her first few scenes; no one could love a ghost once they'd seen a flesh and blood woman dissolve into a cocktail - slowly, slowly, slowly - just so.
posted by NPK at 8:23 AM
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