VintageGriffin.com

Saturday night I went to a bonafide movie palace, the Lowe's Jersey Theatre. It launched in September of '29 with a now-little-known flick called Madame X. I went there for something else: Josef von Sternberg's fantastic, visually breath-stopping Shanghai Express, starring his muse, Marlene Dietrich.

This wasn't my first time to the theater, but it was my first time seeing this picture. I've read about Sternberg, about his mastery of shadow, texture, visual tension. But honestly, reading about Sternberg, or even seeing photographic stills, just ain't the same thing as experiencing him.

The film, 'tho shot in '32, has a modernist feel (well, except for a few scenes, and except for the male protagonist, Clive Brook, who presents a bit of a mystery as to why Dietrich's world-wise but not yet world-weary Shanghai Lily character would fancy him). Von Sternberg deals with the unpleasantries of rape, murder, and civil war mayhem more directly than other pre-code fare. There's not a lot of romance in this film, and when it appears, it seems a bit forced. I was so impressed as each scene unfurled...Dietrich looking ridiculous but dangerous in a Travis Banton rooster collar, the Peiping-to-Shanghai train plowing through China's chaotic masses, a steely Anna Mae Wong saying little but speaking volumes. This is gritty, beautiful stuff.





The whole film reeks of mood and meanace...and possibilities...




I'm so lucky that this film hit me while I was sitting in a theater that was designed for it...this place...








The whole thing was mesmerizing. Do you have a vintage movie palace in your area? Check it out. Honestly, some films just are worth seeing in these venues.