Shadows Over Shanghai (1938)

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The bloom of youth had long faded on actor James Dunn when he starred in Shadows Over Shanghai. Even so, he is fairly convincing as hotshot newspaperman Johnny McGinty, on assignment in war-torn China (courtesy of the General Service Studios backlot). McGinty is one of several interested parties… More The bloom of youth had long faded on actor James Dunn when he starred in Shadows Over Shanghai. Even so, he is fairly convincing as hotshot newspaperman Johnny McGinty, on assignment in war-torn China (courtesy of the General Service Studios backlot). McGinty is one of several interested parties involved in a stolen Chinese amulet, which allegedly provides clues to the location of a treasure buried somewhere in America. Also searching high and low for the amulet and the treasure are refugee Russian schoolteacher Irene Roma (Linda Gray) and shady munitions dealer Howard Barclay (Ralph Morgan). To add a bit of versimilitude to the proceedings, newsreel footage of the Sino-Japanese war (from both sides) is inserted into the action, none too convincingly. Its seedy production values aside, Shadows Over Shanghai is reasonably exciting nonsense. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi