Shanghai Gesture, The

Shanghai Gesture, The (1926), a melodrama by John Colton. [ Martin Beck Theatre, 331 perf.] At the “Far‐Famed House of Mother Goddam,” a Shanghai brothel, the proprietress entertains the head of the British‐China Trading Company, Sir Guy Charteris ( McKay Morris). Mother Goddam ( Florence Reed) reminds Sir Guy of several things he has forgotten: that they were once lovers, that he had promised to marry her, and that he had sold her to some cruel Chinese junkmen when he fell in love with an English girl. As Sir Guy and his friends look on, Mother Goddam now sells a young girl to similar junkmen, then reveals that the girl was a daughter she had had by Guy. When the daughter, Poppy ( Mary Duncan), returns to the brothel as a dope addict and a prostitute, Mother Goddam strangles her. Originally written as a vehicle for Mrs. Fiske, who was dismissed by director Guthrie McClintic during the tryout, the play was lambasted by many critics. George Jean Nathan called it “a pâté of box‐office drivel.” But its lurid story and Reed's memorable performance made it a major hit.