"Daughter of Shanghai"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 4 March 1939, Page 4

"Daughter of Shanghai "

DRAMA EXPOSES WORLD'S MOST INHUMAN RACKET

“Daughter of Shanghai” has nothing! to do with the current war in the Far 1 East. It concerns a gang of smugglers j which has been carrying on a racket of a rather peculiar kind, that of sneak- j ing in aliens in opposition to its laws | within the United States, and another 1 unusual angle is that it is finally dis-1 closed that the head of the gang is! Cecil Cunningham, socialite of San ‘ Francisco. The racketeers murder Anna's father! and she swears to avenge him. The story of her tracking down of the gang, assisted by Philip Ahn, is very well ' done, and one will find many breath- : less moments in their tale of dangerous traps, skin-of-the-teeth escapes, etc. i In the course of this, Miss Wong has ] iiiiiiiiiii!iHii!iiiiiiii::i!ii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiniiiiiiiiiliiiii»iiiniiiiiiiiiiiiilT!iiiiii!infiff

[to appear as a dancer in a cafe which ! Charles Bickford, leader of the actual | gang, controls on an island ofT the coast :of South America. From this base I he gets together his wretched material ; for introduction to the northern States. Ahn is a Chinese operative of the U.S. Government and gives a very fine peri formance as such, while the comeback jof Anna May Wong adds zest to the production apart from the superior style of her work. Bickford, of course, is a natural for a brutal role with Carrol Nash and Larry Crabbe aiding and abetting him. Fred Kohler again takes honour as a tough villain in a sea captain part, and Evelyn Brent does good work in a dance-hall portrait. IffiHTiimiMiTijimiiiiii'iiiiiiiiiiiiilliiiiiiiMMiii'iniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinmm