The Shanghai Gesture

Many classical films noirs rely upon Orientalist elements of mise-en-scène to convey a sense of enigma or unintelligibility. This article gives a name to this visual trope, “the Shanghai gesture,” and describes how Asian objects in Hollywood cinema have come to be associated with the irrational. In ...

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Autor principal:	Homay King
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Edinburgh 2008
Materias:	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0cdcd01c163545f991d5424340c20a17
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:0cdcd01c163545f991d5424340c20a17
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0cdcd01c163545f991d5424340c20a172021-11-23T09:46:01ZThe Shanghai Gesture1749-9771https://doaj.org/article/0cdcd01c163545f991d5424340c20a172008-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/592https://doaj.org/toc/1749-9771Many classical films noirs rely upon Orientalist elements of mise-en-scène to convey a sense of enigma or unintelligibility. This article gives a name to this visual trope, “the Shanghai gesture,” and describes how Asian objects in Hollywood cinema have come to be associated with the irrational. In The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) and The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946), elements of Orientalist décor function to evoke a sense of mystery or exoticism. In many cases, these elements are little more than exoticist set-dressing. However, in some cases they come to bear the burden of explanation for unresolved aspects of the plot, or even to suggest a limit-point of western rationality. This article concludes with a discussion of The Shanghai Gesture (Sternberg, 1941), addressing both mise-en-scène and the unique circumstances that surrounded its production. Based on a play by John Colton, the property was greatly sought after by all the major Hollywood studios, and rejected numerous times by the Hays Office for its “sordid” depictions of Shanghai bawdy-houses and casinos. Archival correspondence reveals that Hays and others linked the script’s sordidness to its Asian setting. Both a hot commodity and an object in need of censorship, The Shanghai Gesture itself became an over-determined Orientalist object, at once coveted and taboo, desirable and incomprehensible.Homay KingUniversity of EdinburgharticleFine ArtsNLanguage and LiteraturePENForum, Iss 06, Pp 1-23 (2008)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P Homay King The Shanghai Gesture
description	Many classical films noirs rely upon Orientalist elements of mise-en-scène to convey a sense of enigma or unintelligibility. This article gives a name to this visual trope, “the Shanghai gesture,” and describes how Asian objects in Hollywood cinema have come to be associated with the irrational. In The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) and The Big Sleep (Hawks, 1946), elements of Orientalist décor function to evoke a sense of mystery or exoticism. In many cases, these elements are little more than exoticist set-dressing. However, in some cases they come to bear the burden of explanation for unresolved aspects of the plot, or even to suggest a limit-point of western rationality. This article concludes with a discussion of The Shanghai Gesture (Sternberg, 1941), addressing both mise-en-scène and the unique circumstances that surrounded its production. Based on a play by John Colton, the property was greatly sought after by all the major Hollywood studios, and rejected numerous times by the Hays Office for its “sordid” depictions of Shanghai bawdy-houses and casinos. Archival correspondence reveals that Hays and others linked the script’s sordidness to its Asian setting. Both a hot commodity and an object in need of censorship, The Shanghai Gesture itself became an over-determined Orientalist object, at once coveted and taboo, desirable and incomprehensible.
format	article
author	Homay King
author_facet	Homay King
author_sort	Homay King
title	The Shanghai Gesture
title_short	The Shanghai Gesture
title_full	The Shanghai Gesture
title_fullStr	The Shanghai Gesture
title_full_unstemmed	The Shanghai Gesture
title_sort	shanghai gesture
publisher	University of Edinburgh
publishDate	2008
url	https://doaj.org/article/0cdcd01c163545f991d5424340c20a17
work_keys_str_mv	AT homayking theshanghaigesture AT homayking shanghaigesture
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The Shanghai Gesture

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