SHADOWS OF THE ORIENT

US, 1935, 69 minutes, Black and white.
Esther Ralston, Regis Toomey, J. Farrell Mc Donald, Sidney Blackmer.
Directed by Burt Lynwood.

Interesting in the light of perceptions of Chinese presence in the United States, especially on the West Coast, during the 1930s. While there were memories of migrations of Chinese for the building of the railroad as well as during the gold rushes, the film centres on the Chinatowns of the big cities, gambling, illegal smuggling, art dealings, illegal entries – as well as of the thrillers including Charlie Chan.

A rather lively Esther Ralston is Iola, the daughter of a judge who is caught in a raid on an illicit Chinese gambling den but is rescued by a suave art dealer, Sidney Blackmer (character actor and to be a villain in many films over the coming decades, including Rosemary’s Baby). The police are investigating but the detectives are getting old, especially character actor J. Farrell Mc Donald doing a variation on his usual performance, this time rather ignorant, put as an associate to a younger detective, Regis Toomey, slow on the uptake but ultimately doing a reasonable job. It is surprising to see Regis Toomey, for many decades a character actor, in a leading hero role.

As regards the police, Toomey’s Bob Baxter is up-and-coming, interviews Viola, is attracted to her, saves face with her judge father, especially in answering the media pack. When she gives a clue about the art dealer, he impersonates an expert and gets to the social where he again meets Viola. It emerges that everyone concerned has a pilot’s license.

The audience has seen a pilot jettisoning his cargo of Chinese when in danger from the authorities – and, when he demands his money, is killed while informing the police.

The art dealer is, of course, the boss of the illegal smuggling enterprise, needs a pilot, Bob being interviewed but being unmasked as an undercover agent, with Viola flying down to Mexico unwittingly to retrieve the Chinese and fly them back. She is to be left as a hostage but realising the truth, rushes to the plane and takes off with her cargo, Bob also flies off in his plane, the art dealer also take into the air in pursuit – which, for audiences who liked the prevalent aerial sequences in the films of the time, gives an opportunity for three planes, shootings, pistols and machine guns and a crash.

And, everything in order at the end.