Marlene Dietrich Shanghai Express - Vintage Movie Photo
Shanghai Express was the highest earning movie in America in 1932.
 
Shanghai Express is a romantic thriller that tells of a journey by a group of people on a train from Peking to Shanghai during the Chinese revolution.

Dietrich plays “Shanghai Lily”, a notorious classy prostitute making a living by being a mistress to wealthy men. Lily's presence on the train causes a scandal, with several passengers shocked that she another woman of "low character" were permitted to travel with “respectable people” on the train.

Lily comes across a British Army Officer and surgeon with whom she once had a passionate affair.  The train was stopped half way into the journey by Chinese Revolutionaries who were looking for a hostage. They decided to hold Captain Harvey and it was up to Lily to make a sacrifice to get him out of danger.
 
Hollywood has presented to the world many extraordinarily sexy women but few like Marlene Dietrich  that found dramatic roles that allowed their sexuality to so dominate the movie.