The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

The Lady from Shanghai
Directed by Orson Welles
Written by Orson Welles from the novel If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King
1947/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#220 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Michael O’Hara: Everybody is somebody’s fool.[/box]

The Lady from Shanghai leaves me as at sea as the characters.  If not for the sometimes awesome visuals, it would entirely escape me.

It is love at first sight for seaman Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) when he rescues beautiful Elsa Bannister(Rita Hayworth)  from some muggers in Central Park.  Elsa apparently likes Michael too because she begs him to join her and her husband Arthur (Everett Sloane) on their yacht.  Michael demurs but a ruse by Arthur gets him aboard and he is soon way over his head.

Arthur’s law partner George Grigsby soon makes the party complete.  The “friends” are all at each other’s throats like sharks in a feeding frenzy that begin to devour themselves. The bewildered Michael is the only person left with a shred of humanity.  His love for Elsa makes him greedy, however, and he gives in to temptation when Grigsby offers him $5,000 to help him fake his death.  After this the only thing certain is that Michael will be the fall guy, no matter who is double-crossing whom.

Welles’s noir classic has me completely disoriented from the word go.  In the end, I could write a plot summary but still feel like I missed a lot.  Between that and Welles’ on-again-off-again Irish brogue, I can’t give this noir classic a lot of love. On the positive side, Rita Hayworth looks fabulous (I think the short blonde hairdo really suits her) and gives the strongest performance I have seen her in.  I love the trial scenes and their wicked skewering of the justice system.  And the justly famous scenes in the fun house are mind-blowing.  It’s hard to imagine how they got those shots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBsF4TimNF8

Trailer – cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr.