Sunday, March 24, 2013

Movie review - "Limehouse Blues" (1934) **

The title track is one of my favourite tunes from this era, and is heard over the opening credits, but the movie doesn't match it. George Raft is again running a nightclub, only the difference here is the club is in London's Limehouse district and he plays a half Chinese.

The plot concerns him falling in love with a girl (Jean Parker) - the daughter of a rival - but she falls in love with some other dopey guy (bland Kent Taylor). There's a lot of talk about Raft being half white and the girl being white and Anna May Wong as a Chinese girl who loves Raft and is jealous. They were obsessed with bloodlines in the Fu Manchu 30s, which has made this piece date badly.

It also suffers from slow direction. There is novelty value, plus some Anna May Wong dance numbers, but it's not enough.

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