Limehouse Blues Film Review

Limehouse must have been great fun in its day. A melting pot of crime and desire. Opium dens and female pickpockets in the shadows. Smoky clubs where the exotic beauty arouses the men with her slinky dragon decorated outfits and the Apache Dance. But there are rules in Limehouse too. Races don't mix. Business is one thing; love is another. This film is a creaky melodrama that not only has Yellow Face going but a strong tint of the Yellow Peril. It could have been fun as a straightforward gangster film but gets bogged down in forbidden love and a lesson to the audience that crossing that line is dangerous.

The Lily Garden is run by a recently arrived American, half Chinese, half white. Harry Young played by George Raft with something done to narrow his eyes, a thick astro-turf black wig and a broken pattern of speech to pass as Chinese. The Lily Garden has acts, serves warm beer and has a smuggling business going on in the backroom which is right next to the Thames. His entertainer is Tu Tuan, played by Anna May Wong. She is the only one to bring any life into this dull affair. A few dances and a fury against racial mixing.

Especially when Toni (Jean Parker) runs from the cops with a stolen watch into the arms of Harry. He immediately falls in love and tries to possess her with money and a cold charm. Tu Tuan seethes as she watches this. "I am half white", he tells Tuan. "Only the other half matters". Whether she loves him and is jealous or just sees that this is doomed is hard to say. Only 63 minutes in length. Anna was still signed up with Paramount and stuck with roles that put her into exotic stylish Dragon Lady characters. Raft as usual does nothing for me. He had been successful in Scarface but not much since. His evolution from dancer to tough guy was underway, but bringing much charisma to this role was beyond his acting skills.