DESCRIPTION:
"It smells so incredibly evil... I didn't think such a place existed except in my own imagination. It has a ghastly familiarity like a half-remembered dream. Anything could happen here... any moment...."

The Shanghai Gesture is a 1941 American United Artists film noir starring Gene Tierney and Walter Huston, with Victor Mature and Ona Munson. It was adapted for the screen by Josef von Sternberg, based on the play by John Colton, produced by Arnold Pressburger for United Artists, and directed by von Sternberg. This early film noir explores the lives and secret pasts of the main characters, played out in a luxurious casino owned by "Mother" Gin Sling. Keye Luke painted the mural that is displayed in the casino.
The Shanghai Gesture received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction (Boris Leven) and Best Original Music Score.