Shanghai Surprise

Shanghai Surprise is a 1986 adventure comedy film directed by Jim Goddard and starring then-newlyweds Sean Penn and Madonna. The screenplay was adapted by John Kohn and Robert Bentley from Tony Kenrick's 1978 novel Faraday's Flowers. Produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Harrison himself appeared as a night club singer, and recorded several songs for the soundtrack, including "Breath Away from Heaven", which was re-recorded and released on his 1987 album Cloud Nine along with "Someplace Else", also used in the film. The soundtrack was never officially released, and was only briefly available as a promotional single featuring the title track, coupled with "Zig Zag". Both of these songs have since been released as "additional tracks" on the 2004 Cloud Nine re-release. Another track, "The Hottest Gong in Town", was included on the EP Songs by George Harrison Volume 2. Shanghai Surprise was a critical and commercial failure. Plot summary Glendon Wasey is a sleazy, down-on-his-luck con man struggling to sell glow-in-the-dark neckties in Shanghai. When he encounters the lovely Gloria Tatlock, a missionary nurse who wants to obtain a supply of opium to ease the suffering of her patients, he decides to help her get hold of a stolen supply of the valuable drug. The only problem is that a lot of other people want to secure the stolen opium as well—gangsters, smugglers, thugs and a host of upstanding air force recruits. Cast Sean Penn as Glendon Wasey Madonna as Gloria Tatlock Paul Freeman as Walter Faraday Richard Griffiths as Willie Tuttle Philip Sayer as Justin Kronk Clyde Kusatsu as Joe Go George Harrison as Night Club Singer Victor Wong as Ho Chong Lim Kay Tong as Mei Gan