"The Lady From Shanghai" (1947)

There's two things wrong with the title...1) she 'aint no lady 2) she 'aint from Shanghai.

What more can I say about Orson Welles, except that he didn’t always look like a fat(ter) Captain Ahab. In fact, he was a svelte St. Nick in training in this movie.

Don’t let the exotic name fool you, none of it takes place in Shanghai. In 1947 (presumably when this was shot) it was still a far off land only rich people and industrialist would send their minions to trade. There are murmurs of this in this movie, but it means more as an identifier to sexy Rita Hayworth who plays Rosalie, a mysterious woman Michael O’Hara, an Irish dude played by Welles meet in the darkness of the park. He rescues her from muggers, only to accept a job…supposedly to help sail her husband’s ship. Whoops…didn’t tell the smitten Irish Welles she was married. Whoops. Definitely didn’t realize he is the insanely wealthy lawyer Bannister whose oily dealings have not only made him taking unnecessary trips to Acapulco, but hiring goons to watch his sex-sweaty wife.

Secrets, secrets, secrets. The alarming part of this movie is…the secrets are in the open. Everyone says what they want, but what they want may or may not be what they REALLY want. Such is a film noir. And she may or may not be in love with him. Or using him. But all we have to know is he’s taken by her, and has a dark past himself. I’m not sure if this is a commentary on the rich, or the powerful, but it’s a very biting look at deceptively happy people whose wealth does not buy them a night of rest. It surrounds them with paranoia.

I think it’s an underrated movie. I think this came out the time when Welles was going through some crazy shit with Rita Hayworth (to which they were married at the time). Also, it was teetering between an odd courtroom comedy, and thriller noir. Note to writers, this type of balance almost NEVER works. But I really don’t want to put this completely on director Welles’ shoulders. Apparently, the production shaved off over an hour of his cut. This could’ve buffered a lot of the inconsistencies of the movie. To the people who are movie sophisticates, none of this will be all that shocking or revelatory.

I loved it though. And there's something boner-inducing about a pretty girl in a sailor cap: