Shadows of the Orient (1937)

Let's be realistic.

Excellent but underrated film

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I don't think I am somebody who will watch ANY old b&w film and enjoy it (tried to watch an early Jon Hall poverty row film earlier tonight, gave up) but Shadows of the Orient isn't terrible. It isn't great, but , it's watchable. The pacing is slow no doubt, the budget tiny, but Esther Ralston, Regis Toomey, J. Farrell MacDonald and Sidney Blackmer are such professionals, they make so-so dialog work. Esther Ralston's character is the typical dumb rich girl, but hey, she is a pilot, which does play a role in the plot. as long as you are not expecting this film to be some great forgotten classic, chances are you will enjoy it.

Like most videos of older films from Alpha Video, this one is in very rough shape. It's obvious the print has seen much, much better days!"Shadows of the Orient" is set in the era just after the Johnson-Reed Act (also called 'Immigration Act of 1924' or 'The Oriental Exclusion Act'). This US law created quotas for immigrants that severely limited the number of folks from certain parts of the world--such as Eastern Europe and Asia. However, folks from 'desirable' nations (such as Northern Europe) were given preferential treatment.Regis Toomey and J. Farrell MacDonald play inspectors working to capture illegal aliens and those profiting from smuggling these folks into the US. Inspector Sullivan (MacDonald), an old an experienced man, is having trouble getting to the bottom of a gang smuggling in Chinese folks. So, Inspector Baxter (Toomey) is brought in--and Sullivan naturally resents it. However, through the course of the film, Baxter proves his worth and, along with his lady friend, is able to put an end to this gang.While I was uncomfortable with the somewhat xenophobic subject matter, you DO want to see the gang stopped as they are amazingly evil. When they are about to be caught in their airplane, they jettison their cargo--dropping these poor Chinese folks thousands of feet to their deaths!! Nice, huh?! Unfortunately, the film itself just wasn't very good. While Toomey and the rest tried their best, the material was a bit limp and the action scenes pretty bad. For instance, when one plane was shot down, you can see it's from another film as their is a German insignia on the plane that actually crashes! Cheap and silly overall.

A passable but essentially hum-drum action movie. Usually a title like this indicates that we will be able to view a fabulous collection of Chinese knick-knacks or see a group of our favourite uncredited Chinese actors and actresses milling around on a sound-stage, but, alas, "Shadows of the Orient" features only a short Chinese gambling sequence (fascinating but brief) and the ho-hum assortment of items in a rich man's collecion of orientalia, none of which are clearly seen on camera. After that it is bi-planes to Mexico and a lot of fighting and shooting by sturdy immigration and border patrol types, all Caucasian, with the brief exception of James B. Leong, looking quite dashing as a Chinese immigrant-smuggler.

(This may contain a few spoilers) Socialite who likes to gamble gets mixed up with gangsters smuggling Chinese over the border from Mexico.Jaw droppingly inept this is a movie that even bad movie lovers will have a hard time sitting through. The problem is not that its so bad as to be bad, rather its because its so badly paced that its really really dull.Filled with fake sets, fake facial hair, racist attitudes, bizarre actions and dialog with a high "huh?" factor, this is a movie that bad movie lovers can sit and watch and make fun of, assuming they can stay awake. Rarely have I seen a movie where I mumbled "I can't believe they did that" over and over again. It begins almost at the outset where a police patrol plane begins to strafe the smugglers plane with machine gun fire even though it suspects it has people hidden in it, continues as the smuggling pilot remedies the situation and then goes on from there.What were these people thinking? A unique viewing experience certainly, but not one I need to repeat or one I can recommend. If you like bad movies give it a shot, but be warned you may not make it to the end with out snoozing.3 out of 10