In post-WW2 Shanghai, expatriate Westerners are detained in the Waldorf Hotel until the Communists can identify a suspected spy among them but some prisoners try to outwit the interrogators ... Read allIn post-WW2 Shanghai, expatriate Westerners are detained in the Waldorf Hotel until the Communists can identify a suspected spy among them but some prisoners try to outwit the interrogators and the armed guards and flee.In post-WW2 Shanghai, expatriate Westerners are detained in the Waldorf Hotel until the Communists can identify a suspected spy among them but some prisoners try to outwit the interrogators and the armed guards and flee.
- Mrs. Leah De Verno
- (as Yvette Dugay)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIts World Television Premiere was 9 March 1958 on New York's WRCA-TV, Channel 4.
- GoofsAll entries contain spoilers
- Quotes
Dr. Dan Maynard: Why don't they lock you up with the rest of us? What have you got, a pipeline direct to the big brass?
Rita King: Why should they lock me up with a group of people who have been fools enough to let themselves get trapped in China? They had plenty of time to get out. I've always lived at this hotel. It's comfortable. I like comfort. Besides, I'm not a citizen of the western nations. I was born in Tangiers. And I am a woman of all countries. With no politics.
Dr. Dan Maynard: No politics?
Rita King: That's right. I'm not on anybody's team. I'm strictly on my own.
Dr. Dan Maynard: Are you happy that way?
Rita King: What difference does it make?
Dr. Dan Maynard: I don't think you are. I can see in that.
Rita King: What else can you see?
Dr. Dan Maynard: I'm not sure. But I think there might be an old dream there.
Rita King: But it's dying out, is that it?
Dr. Dan Maynard: It does for all of us.
- ConnectionsReferenced in The 400 Blows (1959)
The Chinese communists in this film are almost uniformly stupid, paranoid and evil. One is even apparently not above using extortion to try force one of the prisoners to put out for him. And, though the course of the film, these Chinese become more violent and nasty.
The odd person out in all this is Rita King (Ruth Roman). Unlike the other westerners, she is free to come and go from the hotel...presumably because she's putting out for one of the higher Chinese officials. Because of this, the other internees avoid and dislike her. But through the course of the story, she turns out to have a heart of gold and tries her best to help these prisoners.
If you are looking for realism, this isn't a great film for you. Although the Chinese communists were a bloodthirsty lot, the western folks in the film are almost like cartoon characters and often lack realism. Making threats against your captors...that certainly seems odd and stupidly out of place, for example.
Overall, a rather obvious propaganda film which could have been better had the writing been better. I think the Chinese were portrayed reasonably well...but the rest seemed like caricatures instead of real people.
- planktonrules
- Feb 17, 2019
Details
- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color