A group of Americans head to a remote part of China to obtain lucrative oil rights. When a warlord named General Wu Yen Fang invades the village they are staying in, it's no longer just a fight for oil - it's now a fight for life. I'm really surprised to read all the positive, glowing reviews for West of Shanghai. I'm sure my comment and 4/10 rating will be voted down like a rock in water. Sure, there are a few things to enjoy (Boris Karloff's wonderful performance as General Fang, the always enjoyable Ricardo Cortez, and some nice double-crosses near the film's end) but there's not enough for me to rate the movie favorably. My chief problem - I found most of West of Shanghai fairly dull and lifeless. Up to the point where Karloff comes in, the movie really drags. At just over an hour, the movie still manages 15 - 20 minutes of padding. The whole first act on the train is completely unnecessary. The murdered General has nothing to do with the rest of the film. And the big battle near the films climax is so poorly filmed, it's hard to tell what's going on. Not very exciting. Director John Farrow would go on to have an excellent career, but you'd have never have predicted it based on this early effort.

With me it has become a bit of a cliché to say that Boris Karloff is reason enough to see anything, even if the film is not that good(ie. The Invisible Menace). But I do genuinely mean that, he is a very magnetic actor who has the ability to show more than one side to his character in any film and do it well. He is great here as Fang, his accent is not the best but you forgive that immediately when he does sympathetic, humour and threatening with such aplomb with no overdoing or underplaying. His make-up and use of broken English is also very effective and just adds to the performance and character. Ricardo Cortez is appealing and works very well with him, but the rest of the cast do the job solidly enough but with not the command that Karloff shows and with not the perfectly pitched chemistry he and Cortez share(that with Richard Loo's Cheng is good too). It is a good-looking film, and has some funny dialogue exchanges, for example "What are they going to do with him"/"they're going to bury him", that make up for the moments where it does get a little too talky. The story moves crisply and maintains interest with a somewhat movingly dignified ending. I did wish that the length was longer though, 64 minutes does seem too short to me, but the film doesn't rush through or feel like the story is too thin to sustain the duration(the latter being a major problem with The Invisible Menace). To conclude, an enjoyable film and Karloff is great, a longer length, a stronger supporting cast and a little less talk(sometimes that is) would've made it even better perhaps though. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Have seen this film on Turner for the first time....Karloff and a delightful script marks my contention that Mr. Karloff is an underrated actor...he is whimsical as well as threatening as the officious Chinese General and has prompted me to search and buy this wonderful film. Oh,such a sad season of the Politically-correct..they'd never let Dear Boris film this today and more is the pity! The rest of the cast is pedestrian,but "Dear Boris" is worth the price of admission! His noble ending is worth the wait,but delight in his early exchange with his captors..I have a feeling that Mr. Karloff had a fun time in some of this making of the film.

I thought this was a well done movie. A group of Americans become in control of Fang, but while Fang is a killer(he decides who is good or bad), he befriends one of them because of a past experience. You become to like Boris Karloff character,General Fang. The chemistry between General Fang and Mr. Cheng is great and funny at times also. Ricardo Cortez does a good job fighting off Fang as Gordon Creed. Actually the fighting is usually with words and not action. Karloff does a great job of making this so-so movie better. I will give this film a 7.5 out of 10.