PiccadillyFame makes people abandon their scruples. Piccadilly is a silent movie from 1929 about a young dishwasher named Shosho (Anna May Wong) who is first fired by the manager--a man named Valentine Wilmot (Jameson Thomas)--of the ritzy club where she works in the scullery, then rehired as a dancer. His motive for this is twofold: First, he had to fire the other half of his featured dancing act--Victor Smiles (Cyril Ritchard)--for sexually harassing his other dancer and his lover, Mabel Greenfield (Gilda Gray). And second, deep down, Valentine has a yen for Shosho, and her hypnotic swaying has put him under her spell...and she knows it.
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Piccadilly is named after Piccadilly Circus, both the name of Valentine's nightclub and the part of London in which the club exists. Piccadilly Circus (both) is a vibrant scene for the posh upper crust to drink, dance, and socialize. The film shows off all of the glitz and glamour on the surface, but descends deeper into the less glamorous recesses of it following a seemingly unimportant event. A curmudgeonly guest at Valentine's club--played by none other than Charles Laughton--complains of a dirty plate, which prompts Valentine to all but literally dig deeper into his own club. As he looks for the source of this embarrassment, he complains to his floor manager, who tells him it is a problem with the kitchen. He complains to the kitchen, who tells him it is the scullery's fault. And when he arrives at the scullery, he sees all of the poor, bedraggled women distracted from their toil by Shosho dancing on the tables. So from this point, Piccadilly establishes a clear distinction in the livelihoods between the "haves" and "have nots". Compare how it took repeated harassments before Valentine fired Victor, but just a glance to make him give Shosho the ax. That's because Valentine puts his needs ahead of his staff, and sees Shosho as just another impediment in his finances...until his beloved Mabel can't keep the business coming in as well as before all by herself. All of a sudden, Shosho is the first person who comes to Valentine's mind who might pull him out of his micro financial crisis; and he has the gall (or stupidity) to ask her for it. This puts him right in the palm of her hand, and she isn't afraid to pull a minor scam on him. To that end, she has her boyfriend, Jim (King Hou Chang), partner with a costume designer to bilk Valentine out of eighty pounds for an outfit to wear for her debut performance. And what a performance it is! She gives an alluring dance that makes her an instant superstar, which is doubly enticing to Valentine, which in turn stokes the flames of jealousy for Mabel (who is, truthfully, not much of a dancer anyway). As Shosho's fame blossoms, she ingratiates herself to Valentine more and more, pushing away Jim (in one scene, literally, while he's standing behind a door), and Valentine's focus drifts from Mabel to Shosho, professionally and romantically.
Disparity in class and race is an inexorable theme of Piccadilly. Incidentally, Anna May Wong is often credited as "the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood", and her race is relevant to the story here. She is originally viewed as a novelty act by Valentine because she is Chinese, and he describes her as a curio to Mabel--possibly to quell her jealousy (unsuccessfully), but also because he seems to believe it. He is out of his element when she takes him to the Limehouse section of London, a rundown slum where Shosho calls home, along with many other poorer, Chinese immigrants. Impressions as to whether Shosho is a gold digger or not might vary. She is certainly swayed by her new, uplifted lifestyle and she trades in her former existence of drudgery and uncertainty for a more posh one. But was she scheming all along, or did she just get seduced by the luxury? In one key scene, she takes Valentine to the "real Piccadilly", a rough and tumble bar where the common folk carouse and hang out, drinking and dancing. Why does she bother? I think it is because there is a part of her that longs to exist within both worlds. She feels nostalgic for her roots, but desires success. What is interesting about Piccadilly is that it's not immediately clear who the "main" character is. Certainly Shosho is the most interesting and appealing, but her character is only a step removed from a proto-femme fatale--maybe an antagonist even. She isn't shy about stealing away Valentine from Mabel, even if she feebly pretends that she wasn't trying to do this when Mabel confronts her. And then there is the business of who shot who. To avoid any further spoilers, I will say that Piccadilly ties this mystery up a little too neatly for its own good, and maintains a kind of unfortunate attitude about Asians which isn't flattering in hindsight. That said, it would be unfair and inaccurate to describe the film as "racist", a word that gets bandied about far too often these days, to the point where it is essentially meaningless. No, the story is crafted in a way that doesn't challenge the status quo about social standing due to race. Regardless, Shosho is a very human character, sympathetic despite her flaws, just as it is with the others, like Mabel, Valentine, and Jim. All of these people are caught up in a roller coaster of emotions that comes from immersion in a life of fame and fortune, of rags to riches, and of reckless ambition and heartbreak.
Recommended for: Fans of an engaging story of romance, success, dancing, betrayal, and even mystery; a noteworthy film of the era for many reasons. Piccadilly should also be recognized for its rather inventive opening credits, involving a series of busses which display the credits on the side; quite novel for 1929!
Disparity in class and race is an inexorable theme of Piccadilly. Incidentally, Anna May Wong is often credited as "the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood", and her race is relevant to the story here. She is originally viewed as a novelty act by Valentine because she is Chinese, and he describes her as a curio to Mabel--possibly to quell her jealousy (unsuccessfully), but also because he seems to believe it. He is out of his element when she takes him to the Limehouse section of London, a rundown slum where Shosho calls home, along with many other poorer, Chinese immigrants. Impressions as to whether Shosho is a gold digger or not might vary. She is certainly swayed by her new, uplifted lifestyle and she trades in her former existence of drudgery and uncertainty for a more posh one. But was she scheming all along, or did she just get seduced by the luxury? In one key scene, she takes Valentine to the "real Piccadilly", a rough and tumble bar where the common folk carouse and hang out, drinking and dancing. Why does she bother? I think it is because there is a part of her that longs to exist within both worlds. She feels nostalgic for her roots, but desires success. What is interesting about Piccadilly is that it's not immediately clear who the "main" character is. Certainly Shosho is the most interesting and appealing, but her character is only a step removed from a proto-femme fatale--maybe an antagonist even. She isn't shy about stealing away Valentine from Mabel, even if she feebly pretends that she wasn't trying to do this when Mabel confronts her. And then there is the business of who shot who. To avoid any further spoilers, I will say that Piccadilly ties this mystery up a little too neatly for its own good, and maintains a kind of unfortunate attitude about Asians which isn't flattering in hindsight. That said, it would be unfair and inaccurate to describe the film as "racist", a word that gets bandied about far too often these days, to the point where it is essentially meaningless. No, the story is crafted in a way that doesn't challenge the status quo about social standing due to race. Regardless, Shosho is a very human character, sympathetic despite her flaws, just as it is with the others, like Mabel, Valentine, and Jim. All of these people are caught up in a roller coaster of emotions that comes from immersion in a life of fame and fortune, of rags to riches, and of reckless ambition and heartbreak.
Recommended for: Fans of an engaging story of romance, success, dancing, betrayal, and even mystery; a noteworthy film of the era for many reasons. Piccadilly should also be recognized for its rather inventive opening credits, involving a series of busses which display the credits on the side; quite novel for 1929!