Abandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to put her past behind her on a steamer to Mandalay.
Mandalay proved to be something of a surprise. I had feared a rather dull expedition into romance and associated plot mechanics - but this exceeded the usual tropes by portraying a series of damaged but not irredeemable people all looking for some kind of salvation in part of what is now Myanmar.
Kay Francis plays a character whose journey runs from refugee of the Russian Revolution to mistress of a dubious arms dealer, to high class prostitute, partner to an alcoholic and then to a potential redemption (all within 65 minutes).
Her performance covers off the emotions of all of these roles well, through her expressive eyes conveying hope, despair, confidence and murderous intent as needed. It is a superb jewel of acting on display and the centrepiece of the film.
Good support is provided by Lyle Talbot as an alcoholic doctor, the Swedish Warner Oland as a kind of Chinese gangster / classless brothel manager and Ricardo Cortez as a resourceful but uncaring man.
Michael Curtiz, of Casablanca fame and innumerable other great films, is perhaps slumming a little here, but the camera work is very confident. An early shot follows a motor boat from the port across the bay then sweeps away from the boat to glide smoothly towards a moored yacht and eventually to introduce a character on the railing. It is really superbly done and adds class to the story.
The settings are all convincing and the crew somehow manage to convey a feeling of a south-east Asian port, paddle steamers on jungle infested rivers and a diverse populous without presumably ever having left Los Angeles.
This is a small triumph of 1930s filmmaking.