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Shanghai Lady (Universal). The suggestion of toughness in Mary Nolan's pouting, blonde good looks is well capitalized in this picture. She is a fancy lady who has been kicked out of the worst joint in Shanghai but who pretends to be refined when she meets a handsome gentleman on a train. The gentleman (James Murray) is a crook who has escaped from a Chinese prison. He copies Nolan's respectable front. Even dull directing, bad dialog and indifferent recording fail to blot out something touching and terrible in their momentary romance. Best shot: tea for two in a Chinese private dining room.
Romance of the Rio Grande (Fox). One of the things sound pictures can do most effectively is make portraits of unfamiliar places. In spite of its melodramatic story and the pidgin-English used by the characters, Romance of the Rio Grande is a highly atmospheric account of the routines of a big Mexican rancho, its noises, difficulties, fiestas. Baxter and Moreno, respectively grandson and nephew of the ranch owner quarrel to see who inherits the layout. A new girl named Mona Maris has a shrill voice and wiry body that suit her role as an orphan-pensioner living on the rancho.