| Shanghai Surprise | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jim Goddard |
| Written by | John Kohn Robert Bentley |
| Based on | Faraday's Flowers novel byTony Kenrick |
| Produced by | John Kohn |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ernie Vincze |
| Edited by | Ralph Sheldon |
| Music by | George Harrison Michael Kamen |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Columbia-Cannon-Warner Distributors (United Kingdom)[1] MGM Entertainment Co. (United States) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Budget | $15 million[2] |
| Box office | $2.31 million(US)[3] |
Shanghai Surprise is a 1986adventurecomedy film directed byJim Goddard and starring then-newlywedsSean Penn andMadonna. The screenplay was adapted byJohn Kohn and Robert Bentley fromTony Kenrick's 1978 novelFaraday's Flowers. Produced byGeorge Harrison'sHandMade Films and distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Harrison himself appears in the film as a night club singer, and he wrote and recorded five original songs for the soundtrack. The film was a critical andcommercial failure, and an officialsoundtrack album was never released.
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Glendon Wasey is a sleazy, down-on-his-luck con man struggling to sell glow-in-the-dark neckties in Shanghai. When he encounters the lovely Gloria Tatlock, amissionary nurse who wants to obtain a supply of opium to ease the suffering of her patients, he decides to help her get hold of a stolen supply of the valuable drug. The only problem is that a lot of other people want to secure the stolen opium as well—gangsters, smugglers, thugs and a host of upstanding air force recruits.
In November 1985, it was announcedMadonna and then newlywed husbandSean Penn had signed to doShanghai Surprise with principal photography set to begin inMacau andHong Kong by January 1986.[2] Due to the high profile status of the stars' real life relationship, by the second day of filming the production was often inundated with photographers to the point Penn demanded the film's publicist be fired and replaced.[2] According to co-starRichard Griffiths:
Sean Penn always had an ace of trumps up his sleeve. He'd play his ace of trumps, win the trick and then put it back up his sleeve and then when the next drama was played, he'd pull out his ace of trumps again. And the ace of trumps was this: in Madonna's contract, and Penn was very sore about this because he saw himself as the star of the movie, there was a clause and it saidMadonna shall have the casting approval of her leading man. In other words, "If you don't do what I say," says Penn, "I quit, and if I quit, she won't agree with any other guy playing my part because, hey, she's my wife, and you don't have a movie, so go and fuck yourselves. Do as I say or I'm out of here." Boy, did he know how to manipulate that situation with Madonna.[4]
The press frenzy led Madonna and Penn to isolate themselves from the production when not on set, which created tension with the crew. "Sean and Madonna weren’t being very nice to the crew,"George Harrison later explained. "It's hard work, dragging equipment round places where it's freezing cold for hours—and, while she's in a warm trailer, they're trying to drink a cup of tea to keep warm, and a little 'Hello, good morning, how are you?' goes a long way under those circumstances." Their discontent led some crew members to spread gossip to the tabloid reporters on the scene, further inflaming the hostility between the press and the stars.[5]
Harrison even reluctantly flew to Hong Kong to try and smooth things over between the cast, crew, and press.[6]Jim Goddard's initial cut of the film was rejected by executives atMGM, and Goddard’s attempts to find alternative distribution were fruitless resulting in his return to MGM.[2] Prior to release both Madonna and Penn attempted to distance themselves from the film with the two insisting their likenesses be removed from the tie-in novel fromViking Press a few days before it was set to hit printers.[2]
Shanghai Surprise debuted following a "great deal of hype and promotion" in the United Kingdom,[7] including being hyped on the music television seriesThe Tube.[8] In the United States, however, asThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in October 1986, "The movie opened so poorly in its first wave of playdates (late August in the Northeast and Midwest) that MGM has made severe cuts in its marketing budget. One MGM exec was quoted in the trades as saying this was necessary because 'the interest in the film has been non-existent.'"[9]
The film featured 5 original songs by George Harrison: "Shanghai Surprise" (duet withVicki Brown), "Someplace Else", "Breath Away from Heaven", "Zig Zag", and "Hottest Gong in Town". While an official soundtrack album for the film was never released, the title track was issued as a promotional single in 1986.
New versions of both "Breath Away from Heaven" and "Someplace Else" were recorded for inclusion on Harrison's 1987 albumCloud Nine,[10] while an alternate mix of "Zig Zag" (with the notable addition of backing vocals) was released as the B-side of Harrison's "When We Was Fab" single in early 1988.
The song "Hottest Gong in Town" was included on the EP that came with the 1992 bookSongs by George Harrison 2. The title song and the single mix of "Zig Zag" were also added to the 2004 re-release ofCloud Nine as bonus tracks.
The film received mixed critical response during its pre-release.[11] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 20% of 10 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.9/10.[12]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 16 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[13]
Bill Cosford of theMiami Herald, granting it 1 star out of 4, wrote, "InShanghai Surprise, as you may have heard, almost everything is just a bit off. Though widely anticipated as a musical,Shanghai Surprise is actually a kind of miniaturization ofRaiders of the Lost Ark /Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, with a feisty heroine (Madonna) in the vain [sic] ofRita Hayworth inThe Lady From Shanghai, and a roguish adventure hero (Sean Penn) as well as apop-sprinkled score (partly the work of George Harrison)... There's a plot here, involving Madonna's quest to find a load of hijacked opium for conversion to morphine to help the troops fighting the Japanese. Penn, though he spends his big scene panting in a brothel, will save the day. But the film was conceived and executed as a star vehicle. Wrong stars, wrong roles, not much happening here. And for George Harrison and hisHandmade Films, the first big bust."[14]The Philadelphia Inquirer also gave it only 1 star: "Shanghai Surprise is so dismally scripted and directed that no one could redeem it... an atmospheric, handsomely shot and, sadly, utterly empty piece of work."[15] TheLexington Herald-Leader called it "a turkey": "This film is bad. The acting is terrible. The hackneyed screenplay traffics in stereotype and yuk-yuk jokes. And the point is non-existent."[16] TheSan Diego Union said, "In its campy nostalgia for old adventure films,Shanghai Surprise is cloddish. There's something rotten at the core about a movie that would recycle lines like "That's mighty white of you." Even sadder is the realization that some of the old cornball movies are still fresher, more alive, than this regurgitation."[17]
ThePhiladelphia Daily News faulted the casting as well as the script: "The ever-important spirit is missing as Mr. and Mrs. Penn wrestle with old gags that are beyond their ken. It's not entirely their fault though: They've been given no characters to play. Much ofShanghai Surprise might have worked if they at least were permitted to play themselves — apunk rocker and punk actor at large in an alien movie world."[18] TheChicago Sun-Times, awarding the movie half a star, complained of its "warped attitudes toward women," adding, "It's hard to know for whom this wretch of a film was made. Idiotic dialogue should turn off the adults, teens will be disappointed by theirrock heroine and kids shouldn't even be watching."[19] Film professor Michal Conford, ofRyerson University, reviewed the film for theSan Jose Mercury News with another half-star rating, saying sardonically, "Shanghai Surprise stars Madonna and Sean Penn together for the first time and has songs by George Harrison. That is the most positive sentence that can be written about the film, now playing locally. MGM must have suspected – the company tried to open the film in places like Iowa to avoid getting slaughtered. Nice try... The film is supposed to be a shaggy dog adventure... Shaggy, no. Dog, yes."[20]
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Picture | Shanghai Surprise | Nominated |
| Worst Screenplay | John Kohn and Robert Bentley | Nominated | |
| Worst Actress | Madonna | Won | |
| Worst Actor | Sean Penn | Nominated | |
| Worst Director | Jim Goddard | Nominated | |
| Worst Original Song | "Shanghai Surprise" byGeorge Harrison | Nominated | |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[21] | Worst Picture | Shanghai Surprise | Nominated |
Thehome video was released byVestron Video. The company paid $5 million for distribution rights.[22] TheVHS debuted onBillboard's Top Videocassette Sales at number 28 and peaked at number 25 in the issue dated April 4, 1987.[23] With aretail price of $79.98,[24] the videocassette sold only 100,000 copies in the United States as of 1987, causing Vestron a $1 million loss.[25][22]
