Shadows Over Shanghai is a 1938 American drama film directed by Charles Lamont and starring James Dunn, Ralph Morgan, Robert Barrat, and Paul Sutton. Set in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the plot centers on the efforts of Japanese and Russian espionage agents to get their hands on an amulet which is the key to a $5 million fund meant to help China purchase munitions. Footage from the bombing of Shanghai during the 1937–1945 war was incorporated into several scenes.

Plot

Russian agent Igor Sargoza shoots down Peter Roma's biplane over an orphanage in China where Roma's sister Irene teaches. Badly wounded, Peter entrusts Irene with a broken amulet that he needs to get to San Francisco; the other half is being held there, where the two halves will unlock $5 million to be used for the purchase of munitions for China to defend itself during the Second Sino-Japanese War. With Sargoza on her trail, Irene misses the last ship of the day evacuating foreigners and goes to see Howard Barclay, whom her brother says will help her. Barclay’s friend Johnny McGinty, an Irish-American photojournalist who also wants to leave Shanghai the next day, is asked to assist Irene. Since Irene lacks an American passport, Barclay suggests she and Johnny get married so she can be added to Johnny’s passport. They can annul the marriage when they reach San Francisco.