"Review of "West of Shanghai" and question." Topic
7 Posts
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The Shadow | 10 Jan 2016 9:27 a.m. PST |
"West of Shanghai". Karloff (of all people) plays a 1930's Chinese warlord. It's about some Americans going to a Chinese village to negotiate oil drilling rights from another American and finding themselves "guests" of a ruthless Chinese warlord named Fang. Fang's not all bad, though. One of the oilmen saved Fang's life before he rose to power and the warlord tries to help him out in love and business. Karloff is the primary reason to see this. He's fun to watch and here he manages to imbue a somewhat villainous character with sympathy and humor, which kind reminded me of Wallace Beery in "Treasure Island". It's kind of slow going in the beginning, but it's all necessary to set up Fang's manipulations later in the film. Richard Loo is also in it playing Fang's loyal lieutenant and sometimes amusing interpreter of American slang. You can see the trailer on Youtube. Now for the question. I watched the movie mostly because I wanted to get some idea of the garb and weapons of the Chinese warlord armies. It was worth it, especially to see General Fang's uniform, but i'd like to see more. A *lot* more. So, can anyone recommend films that depict Chinese warlord armies. |
miniMo | 10 Jan 2016 9:54 a.m. PST |
The Warlords (2007) is set in the 1860s. For 20th century there is 1911 (2011). I can't vouch for the historical accuracy of these, but for games I prefer real life as seen in the movies anyway ^,^ |
M C MonkeyDew | 10 Jan 2016 10:59 a.m. PST |
Shoalin 2011 features three warlord factions at least. The foreign uniform is an amalgamation of US/UK/Russian garb and probably a few others but the warlord armies look good. Legend of the Fist 2010 takes place a bit later in Shanghai so in theory the troops are Chinese Republicans but you can always borrow! Bob |
Marianas Gamer | 10 Jan 2016 12:34 p.m. PST |
Two great films are the 1933 film The Bitter Tea of General Yen and the 1932 film Shanghai Express. Both are among my favorites. LB |
AmongLions | 10 Jan 2016 6:37 p.m. PST |
The Painted Veil (2006), actually has some really good footage of uniforms from the period. With KMT troops and Warlord Soldiers. |
The Shadow | 10 Jan 2016 8:35 p.m. PST |
Thanks all! I checked the trailers for all of these flicks and they look like they can offer uniform and weapon guidance. I don't know how I missed "Shanghai Express", as this is Dietrich's best period. She was a certifiable knockout…but I digress. :-) |
Bobgnar | 12 Jan 2016 1:56 p.m. PST |
A more modern film, in color, but perhaps less historical is High Road to China. Oil for Lamps of China has good background material. For a great ending do not forget "The General Died at Dawn" John Ford offers us "7 Women." Look at The Wife of General Ling. North China, but great fun, The Good the Bad and the Weird. |
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