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RKO's David O. Selznick was obviously aware of what Joseph Von Sternberg, Marlene Dietrich, and Clive Brook were up to on the Shanghai Express set over at Paramount when he crafted this noisy and rather farfetched melodrama. In theory at least, Mr. Selznick had some reasons to feel confident in the outcome; although Wesley Ruggles was no Von Sternberg, RKO had corralled Dietrich look-alike Gwili Andre, veteran action hero Richard Dix, and Edward Everett Horton. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just about everything it appears. The much vaunted Miss Andre is hardly in Marlene's league -- in fact, she is no actress at all and as mysterious and alluring as an ad for cold cream. Dix, in contrast, mugs mercilessly as the hero and Edward Everett Horton's perplexed comedy is not suited to the kind of slam-bang entertainment that Roar of the Dragon obviously aspires to be. The result is a rather tedious but -- at 78 minutes -- mercifully brief piece of Hollywood hokum, early talkie style.