Movies Like Shanghai Express (1932)

Shanghai Express is a 1932 crime, drama, history, romance, war film from Josef von Sternberg with a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Bitter Tea of General Yen and Lust, Caution.

Crime Drama History Romance War

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

1932

An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.

6.2

MagicScore

Lust, Caution

2007

During World War II, a secret agent must seduce and assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.

7.3

MagicScore

The Patriot

2000

After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.

7.2

MagicScore

Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl

1919

The love story of an abused English girl and a Chinese Buddhist in a time when London was a brutal and harsh place to live.

6.9

MagicScore

Rain

1932

Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pago, a small village on a Pacific island where it incessantly rains. Among the stranded passengers are Sadie Thompson, a prostitute, and Alfred Davidson, a fanatic missionary who will try to redeem her.

6.6

MagicScore

The General Died at Dawn

1936

China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.

6.3

MagicScore

To Live

1994

Married couple Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in mid-20th century mainland China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

8.1

MagicScore

It Happened One Night

1934

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

7.8

MagicScore

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

2004

Young Jeremiah lives in a stable environment with loving foster parents until the day his troubled mother, Sarah, returns to claim him. Jeremiah becomes swept up in his mother's dangerous world of drugs, seedy hotels, strip joints and revolving lovers. Salvation comes in the form of the boy's ultrareligious grandparents, but soon Jeremiah's mother returns. Maternal love binds the pair together on the road until Sarah's desperate and depraved lifestyle finally consumes her.

5.8

MagicScore

#10

Rashomon

1950

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

8.0

MagicScore

#11

The Black Cat

1934

After a road accident in Hungary, the American honeymooners Joan and Peter and the enigmatic Dr. Werdegast find refuge in the house of the famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig, who shares a dark past with the doctor.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

The Last Emperor

1987

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

7.6

MagicScore

#13

Lan Yu

2001

A love story between a country boy in Beijing to study and a wealthy businessman set against the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.

6.9

MagicScore

#14

Saving Mr. Wu

2015

Mr. Wu, a Hong Kong movie star, is kidnapped in Beijing by Zhang Hua's gang. The police quickly form a task force and begin the search, ignoring that detectives in charge have only twenty hours before the deadline.

6.4

MagicScore

#15

Farewell My Concubine

1993

In an epic tale of theater, gender, love and class, two Beijing opera actors navigate political turmoil as their friendship evolves over decades.

7.9

MagicScore

#16

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life

2003

Off the coast of the volcanic island of Santorini, the intrepid archaeologist Lara Croft makes the unexpected discovery of a pulsating golden orb able to guide its holder to the mythical Pandora's Box. As the legendary artifact contains ancient mysteries of unfathomable power - said to contain one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, Lara is tasked by MI6 to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. With the aid of former Marine turned mercenary Terry Sheridan, she travels the world in pursuit of the precious item in a race against time; she must beat the unscrupulous Nobel Prize-winning scientist turned bioterrorist, Jonathan Reiss, to it.

5.8

MagicScore

#17

East Palace, West Palace

1996

A young gay man, identified as a writer, encounters a local policeman, who arrests him for public cruising in a park. The policeman is more than professionally curious about the young man, who seems to have the cop's number and suddenly kisses him.

6.2

MagicScore

#18

The Painted Veil

2006

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

7.3

MagicScore

#19

SoulMate

2016

The films spans two decades as the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks that begin when Qiyue and Ansheng were just thirteen. The two became inseparable until they met a boy who ended up tearing their lives apart.

7.1

MagicScore

#20

Corto Maltese: The Secret Court of the Arcane

2002

At the end of 1918 while civil war is raging on in Russia, antagonism is slowly spreading to the East, between the Oral mountains and Shanghai. Stuck between a desire to save what's left of the great Imperial Russia, and starting from a clean slate, old generals, secret organizations, and mercenaries attracted by gold, struggle to take advantage of the events. As Corto Maltese returns to Shanghai, he barely gets time to cross paths with his old friend/nemesis Rasputin, and escape a murder attempt before being contacted by members of a Chinese secret organization called "The Red Lanterns". In the heart of violent Manchurian horizons, Corto and Rasputin launch themselves into a fabulous treasure hunt, following the tracks of the mysterious armor-plated train of Kolchak. A steel monster spiked with canons and machine guns, this trains protects the counter-revolutionaries gold...

6.4

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Shanghai Express?

The top films similar to Shanghai Express by MovieMagicScore are The Bitter Tea of General Yen (6.2), Lust, Caution (7.3), The Patriot (7.2). Each shares crime/drama/history/romance/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Shanghai Express worth watching?

Shanghai Express holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10 from 219 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Shanghai Express?

Shanghai Express (1932) is a crime, drama, history, romance, war film directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong.

Where can I find more recommendations like Shanghai Express?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more crime recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like The Bitter Tea of General Yen Movies like Lust, Caution Movies like The Patriot Movies like Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl Movies like Rain Movies like The General Died at Dawn

About movies like Shanghai Express

This ranked list pairs Shanghai Express (1932), a crime and drama and history and romance and war film from Josef von Sternberg, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Marlene Dietrich take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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