The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister, seaman Michael O'Hara joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.

Writers:

Sherwood King (novel), Orson Welles (screenplay),

Stars:

Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rita Hayworth	...	Elsa Bannister
Orson Welles	...	Michael O'Hara
Everett Sloane	...	Arthur Bannister
Glenn Anders	...	George Grisby
Ted de Corsia	...	Sidney Broome (as Ted De Corsia)
Erskine Sanford	...	Judge
Gus Schilling	...	Goldie
Carl Frank	...	District Attorney Galloway
Louis Merrill	...	Jake
Evelyn Ellis	...	Bessie
Harry Shannon	...	Cab Driver

Storyline

Michael O'Hara, against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister's yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby, Bannister's law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Rosalie, who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby's weird plan to fake his (Grisby's) murder so he can disappear untailed. He wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Rosalie. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how. Bannister (the actual murderer?) defends Michael in court.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | cruise | court | yacht | partner | 

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Taglines:

One who keeps his nature keeps his original nature in the end.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

9 June 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Irish

Filming Locations:

Acapulco Bay, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,927 (USA) (28 August 1998)

Gross:

$7,927 (USA) (28 August 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Mercury Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 92 min (original release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Orson Welles was very displeased with the score put together by the studio-appointed composer. In a test screening, he put a temp stock score on which was supposed to be a model for the composer. The composer completely disregarded Welles' precisely laid-out blueprint. In particular, the final mirror scene was supposed to be unscored, to create the sense of terror.

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Goofs

In the Crazy House, Mrs. Bannister's lips do not match the line "we could have gone off together."

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Quotes

George Grisby: Just tell 'em you're taking a little tarrrr-get practice

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Connections

Referenced in Lost: The Economist (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Amado Mio"
(uncredited)
Written by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher

User Reviews

A Noir Experience

Made in 1946 and released in 1948, The Lady and Shanghai was one of the big films made by Welles after returning from relative exile for making Citizen Kane. Dark, brooding and expressing some early Cold War paranoia, this film stands tall as a Film-Noir crime film. The cinematography of this film is filled with Welles' characteristic quirks of odd angles, quick cuts, long pans and sinister lighting. The use of ambient street music is a precursor to the incredible long opening shot in Touch of Evil, and the mysterious Chinese characters and the sequences in Chinatown can only be considered as the inspiration, in many ways, to Roman Polanski's Chinatown. Unfortunately, it is Welles' obsession with technical filmmaking that hurts this film in its entirety. The plot of this story is often lost behind a sometimes incomprehensible clutter of film techniques.

However, despite this criticism, the story combined with wonderful performances by Welles, Hayworth and especially Glenn Anders (Laughter) make this film a joy to watch. Orson Welles pulls off not only the Irish brogue, but the torn identities as the honest but dangerous sailor. Rita Hayworth, who was married to Welles at the time, breaks with her usual roles as a sex goddess and takes on a role of real depth and contradictions. Finally, Glenn Anders strange and bizarre portrayal or Elsa's husbands' law partner is nothing short of classic!