Limehouse Blues

Limehouse Blues (1934)

DANGER and ROMANCE - hand in hand!

Fresh from Chinatown in New York, Harry Young has taken over the illegal import business in the seamy Limehouse district of London, where he cold-bloodedly disposes of rivals and runs a smoky nightclub. He falls for a low-class, white pickpocket, diminishing his pride in the Chinese half of his heritage and sparking the jealousy of the nightclub's moody star performer.

Date of release
1934-12-11
TMDB
4.4 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 3m
Genres
Crime, Drama
Director
Alexander Hall

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Los Angeles

Limehouse Blues is a 1934 American crime film, directed by Alexander Hall. The film is set in the Limehouse district in the East End of London and its Chinatown. Among the stars of the film were George Raft and Anna May Wong. The film is named after the song "Limehouse Blues".

Production

The working title of the film was Limehouse Nights, which was also the title of a book by Thomas Burke.

The role of Toni went through casting changes before filming begun. The role was originally intended for Sylvia Sidney, but she turned down offers to play in the film. Heather Angel was tested for the role, without getting hired. The role was eventually offered to Jean Parker. Parker was under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the time, and Paramount Pictures had to come to an agreement to get the actress "loaned" to them.

Anna May Wong was brought out from England to play an important role. Wong told the press the real Limehouse wasn't "fully Chinese it was more Asiatic."

Filming took place in October 1934. According to news articles from the 1930s, some scenes of the film were filmed at the port of San Pedro, Los Angeles. The scenes were reportedly directed by William Shea, who is credited as the second unit director.

There are some contradictions in the credits of the film. The pressbook of the film mentions Grover Jones among the screenwriters, but not all sources agree. Idwal Jones also reportedly worked on the script.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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