Shanghai: A Melodrama Stuck in Its Own Time

If you're looking for a breezy period romance, Shanghai is... well, it's something. You'll probably enjoy it if you like staring at 1930s sets and don't mind when a movie treats a fairly simple secret like it's a state crime. If you're sensitive to how old movies handle race, you might want to skip this one entirely. It's a bit of a relic, and not always in a charming way.

Loretta Young is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She plays the wide-eyed visitor with that specific kind of frantic energy people had in the thirties. When she's on screen with Charles Boyer, you can tell they're trying to make the chemistry work, but the script keeps tripping them up. The whole thing feels like a high-stakes game of keep-away, except the thing being kept away is just... reality.

The plot hinges on this 'big secret'—that Dmitri has Chinese heritage. Watching the characters treat this like a devastating revelation is exhausting. It's not exactly subtle, and it makes the movie feel older than it actually is. It’s like the film is trying to convince you the world is ending because of a family tree.

There's this one scene where they're talking in a garden or a lobby or somewhere fancy, and the lighting is just so soft it's almost blurry. It’s a very specific look, like someone smeared Vaseline on the lens. You can almost see the studio trying to manufacture this aura of elegance, but it just feels stiff.

It’s not as punchy or weird as Collegiate, which had at least a bit more pep in its step. Shanghai just sort of drags its feet. It's too serious about its own drama to be fun, but not smart enough to actually say anything interesting about the stuff it brings up.

I kept waiting for someone to just stop and have a normal conversation, but that never happens. Everyone is always whispering or looking over their shoulder. It gets kind of repetitive. By the time the finale rolled around, I was ready for them to just get on with it.

If you need a fix of classic Hollywood melodrama, maybe look elsewhere. This isn't exactly a hidden gem. It's just a dusty one. 🕰️