Noir before noir was cool.
Or it kind of starts out that way until Matt Moore's nerdy proto-James Bond uses his handsomeness to turn Priscilla Dean's opium dealer good. And there's an impressive action-battle sequence at the end that reveals this has been an adventure story all along.
Anna May Wong stands out as a teenager in love with Moore, but that's not going to end well with Dean getting top billing.
The movie's put together well; it just wraps up a little too neatly for what the first half seemed to be promising.
