Shadows of the Orient

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.

A disappointingly dull 'actioner' here, that tells of evil Chinese smugglers (which, interestingly enough, are being stashed over the border in Mexico. All of this of course, is controlled by gangsters. A blonde socialite is soon caught up in all of this by getting wooed by the head honcho of this enterprise, who decides to use her for his own means. Luckily, the hotshot police detective hired to the case also has the hots for her.. I was actually surprised at how incompetent this movie was. Filled with boring dialogue, inane fight sequences, and gun fight sequences taken right out of the 'Police Squad' book of crimefighting,. But at least the beginning (where a pilot has a hilarious, and unexpected way to deal with unwanted cargo), and the ending, with it's plane chase (but not the ridiculous plane chase before it, where a plane with a machine gun can't shoot a plane down that's 10 feet in front of it) is interesting, but the rest is an unmitigated bore.

I'm a fan of B-movies, but this Poverty Row film is so bad, I'm tempted not to bother reviewing it, but that cool title is what suckered me into watching it, so maybe my review will save others who might be equally tempted. This begins with a good scene that was duplicated in a later (and much better) Ronald Reagan B-movie, SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR, in which a pilot, smuggling a Chinese family of illegal aliens, dumps them out in mid-air to their deaths when he's attacked by another plane. The pilot, angry when his boss won't pay him for the aborted delivery, calls the Feds and offers to give them the goods on the smuggling ring, but is shot to death just before the agents raid the Chinese restaurant which is the front for the gang. The leader, Sidney Blackmer, gets away, but agent Regis Toomey, his older sidekick (J. Farrell McDonald), and a prominent judge's daughter (Esther Ralston) try to infiltrate the gang, only to wind up in danger. The 70-minute movie is filled with inept photography, bad sets, and flubbed lines left in, and the lack of any background music at all only accentuates the sheer boredom of the proceedings. Even the promise of a moderately exciting air chase at the end goes nowhere. The actors, all pros who have done good B-film work elsewhere, are left at sea by bad direction and zero production values. Blackmer gets one nicely slimy, almost campy line, when he says, "Orientals have a peculiar irresistible fascination for me," but despite the promise of the melodramatic title, this one will hold no one's interest.

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.

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.