Shanghai Surprise
Encyclopedia
Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 British
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...

 adventure
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....

 comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 starring then-newlyweds Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

 and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

, produced by George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

's HandMade Films
Handmade Films
HandMade Films is a British film production and distribution company. Through a series of sales, and acquisitions, the company now known as Handmade Plc owns all the rights and assets of the original HandMade Films Ltd...

 and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

. Harrison appeared as a night club singer, and also recorded several songs for the film's soundtrack including the song "Breath Away From Heaven", which was re-recorded and released on his album Cloud Nine
Cloud Nine (George Harrison album)
-Personnel:The following personnel was credited in the liner notes.*George Harrison – vocals, guitars, keyboards, sitar*Jeff Lynne – guitars, bass, vocals, keyboards*Eric Clapton – guitar*Elton John – piano*Gary Wright – piano*Ringo Starr – drums...

along with the song "Someplace Else", another track used in the film. The soundtrack for Shanghai Surprise was never released as a record or CD, and was only briefly available as a promotional single featuring the title song "Shanghai Surprise" and "Zig Zag". Both of these songs have since been released as "additional tracks" on the 2004 release of the Cloud Nine CD. Another track, "The Hottest Gong in Town", was included on the EP Songs by George Harrison Volume 2.

The screenplay was adapted by John Kohn and Robert Bentley from Tony Kenrick's 1978 novel Faraday's Flowers. The book was reprinted (under the film's title and with a film-centric cover) as a piece of tie-in merchandise for the film.

The movie was panned by critics and failed at the box office. It was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards
Golden Raspberry Awards
A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day...

, "winning" one of them, Worst Actress
Razzie Award for Worst Actress
The Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....

 for Madonna.

Cast

  • Sean Penn
    Sean Penn
    Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

     as Glendon Wasey
  • Madonna
    Madonna (entertainer)
    Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

     as Gloria Tatlock
  • Paul Freeman as Walter Faraday
  • Richard Griffiths
    Richard Griffiths
    Richard Griffiths, OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor...

     as Willie Tuttle
  • Philip Sayer
    Philip Sayer
    Philip Sayer was a British actor. He worked for stage, film and television; and was probably best known for his role as Sam Phillips in the science-fiction horror film, Xtro .- Biography :...

     as Justin Kronk
  • Clyde Kusatsu
    Clyde Kusatsu
    Clyde Kusatsu is a U.S. actor.Kusatsu was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he attended ʻIolani School. Kusatsu began acting in Honolulu summer stock, and after studying theatre at Northwestern University, started to make his mark on the small screen in the mid-1970s...

     as Joe Go
  • George Harrison
    George Harrison
    George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

     as Night Club Singer
  • Victor Wong
    Victor Wong
    Victor Wong was a Chinese American character actor who appeared in supporting roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s.-Education:...

     as Ho Chong

Awards and nominations

  • Golden Raspberry Awards
    Golden Raspberry Awards
    A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day...

Won: Worst Actress
Razzie Award for Worst Actress
The Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....

 - Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

Nominated: Worst Picture
Razzie Award for Worst Picture
The Razzie Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each film's distribution company and producer.-1980s:...

Nominated: Worst Director
Razzie Award for Worst Director
The Razzie Award for Worst Director is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst director of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....

 - Jim Goddard
Jim Goddard
Jim Goddard is an English film and TV director born in London on February 2, 1936. He has directed episodes of many UK TV series such as Public Eye, Callan, Special Branch, The Sweeney, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The Bell and Holby City...

Nominated: Worst Screenplay
Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay
The Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst film screenplay of the past year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each screenplay's author...

 - John Kohn and Robert Bentley
Nominated: Worst Original Song
Razzie Award for Worst Original Song
The Razzie Award for Worst Original Song is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst song written for a film in the previous year. The following is a list of recipients and nominees of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated...

 - "Shanghai Surprise"
Nominated: Worst Actor
Razzie Award for Worst Actor
The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....

 - Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

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