Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Richard Chatten 'West of Shanghai' was the third of four film versions of a play by Porter Emerson Browne (best remembered today for 'A Fool That There Was'), and was the only version not filmed under the play's original title of 'The Bad Man' or in the original Mexican setting. Successfully produced on Broadway in 1920, 'The Bad Man' had originally been a comedy, which explains the beguiling flashes of humour sprinkled throughout Ralph Spence's script; notably in the sassier quips by Lola Galt, and a vaudeville routine in which Fang divests Creed, then Galt, then Dr. Abernathy of $50,000, only for it to eventually end up in Fang's own wallet.Boris Karloff is obviously enjoying himself as Chinese warlord General Wu Yen Fang ("I am Fang!!"), despite the uncomfortable-looking makeup, which genuinely gave him blurred vision on the set. His opposite number General Chow Fu-Shan is played by Moscow-born Vladimir Sokoloff, while the authentically Chinese-American actor Richard Loo is the only one not required to adopt an accent as Fang's US-raised right-hand man Mr. Cheng. The script does a sort of reverse 'Psycho' by setting up Ricardo Cortez as Gordon Creed as the film's hero, only to switch allegiance to the boring Jim Hallet (played by Gordon Oliver) and casually have Creed killed off, enabling Hallet to ride off with Creed's estranged wife Jane (as if anyone cared). Sheila Bromley is so sassy as Lola Galt and Beverly Roberts such a pudding as Jane Creed the film's switch of emphasis from the former to the latter, and Fang's unlikely preference for Jane to Lola ("Hair like straw, eye like fog; have wide mouth of fish") suggests that the script was insufficiently revised to accommodate the casting.Photography by L. William O'Connell and direction by John Farrow are both up to their usual standard.

boscofl A pleasant surprise, "West of Shanghai" is a Warner Brothers B movie that benefits entirely from the performance of Boris Karloff. Unlike his rival Bela Lugosi, who gave his all in even the most wretched films, Karloff is known for walking through movies that he probably deemed beneath him. For every "Frankenstein" or "The Body Snatcher" there are countless examples of him collecting a paycheck while performing monotonously or, even worse, overracting terribly. Thankfully this is not the case here. Perhaps realizing the absurdity of both the film and his role, Karloff has an absolute blast enacting Chinese warlord Wu Yen Fang. Complete with matted down black hair and slanted eyes, he is an absolute hoot in a performance that will make politically correct watchdogs wince.The film itself moves very slowly despite the 64 minute running time. Karloff doesn't appear until almost 21 minutes in but once he does the story picks up dramatically. He alternately amuses, terrifies, extorts, and bewilders the cast around him. The supporting performances are pretty bland which probably enhances Karloff's lively turn. The only actor of note in a substantial role is Ricardo Cortez, famously cast as Sam Spade in the 1931 version of "The Maltese Falcon," who finds himself on the wrong end of Fang's justice.The only reason the film is watchable today is Karloff. He has so many hilarious bits that I scarcely know where to begin. While attempting to seduce the heroine, trading barbs with another saucy ingenue, extorting money from an oil company bigwig in a routine worthy of Abbott and Costello, or praising himself by announcing "I am Fang!" whenever someone questions his audaciousness, Boris is just delightful. His final comment to sidekick Richard Loo before they are executed will have anyone rolling on the floor with laughter. If anyone is frustrated by Karloff's colorless turns in so many mediocre horror films of the 30's and 40's this is the film to watch.

Phil (ROC-7) Have seen this film on Turner for the first time....Karloff and a delightful script marks my contention that Mr. Karloff is an underrated actor...he is whimsical as well as threatening as the officious Chinese General and has prompted me to search and buy this wonderful film. Oh,such a sad season of the Politically-correct..they'd never let Dear Boris film this today and more is the pity! The rest of the cast is pedestrian,but "Dear Boris" is worth the price of admission! His noble ending is worth the wait,but delight in his early exchange with his captors..I have a feeling that Mr. Karloff had a fun time in some of this making of the film.

tayandbay Fans of Boris Karloff should enjoy this B feature not because it is a great example of 1930's horror, but because it isn't. Made at a time when Hollywood had set a self-imposed moratorium on monster movies, "West of Shanghai" proves that Karloff could survive as a character star, delivering a well-conceived interpretation of a likable but mercenary Chinese warlord. He is a joy to watch, engaging his American captives in sardonic broken English, doling out his own brand of makeshift justice, and, at least in his own mind, exercising nobility as he faces execution. The rest of the cast is standard, except for Ricardo Cortez, who registers very well (as he did in Karloff's "The Walking Dead") as an attractive, well-polished heel. Director John Farrow sets a crisp pace and doesn't allow the film to drag. "West of Shanghai" may not be one of the best Karloff films, but his presence certainly makes it more than noteworthy.