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The Lady from Shanghai

  • 1947
  • Approved
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
35K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,213
2,420
Rita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Film NoirCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

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

  • Director
    • Orson Welles
  • Writers
    • Sherwood King
    • Orson Welles
    • William Castle
  • Stars
    • Rita Hayworth
    • Orson Welles
    • Everett Sloane
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    35K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,213
    2,420
    • Director
      • Orson Welles
    • Writers
      • Sherwood King
      • Orson Welles
      • William Castle
    • Stars
      • Rita Hayworth
      • Orson Welles
      • Everett Sloane
    • 246User reviews
    • 121Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win total

    Photos194

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    Top cast65

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    Rita Hayworth
    Rita Hayworth
    • Elsa Bannister
    Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    • Michael O'Hara
    Everett Sloane
    Everett Sloane
    • Arthur Bannister
    Glenn Anders
    Glenn Anders
    • George Grisby
    Ted de Corsia
    Ted de Corsia
    • Sidney Broome
    • (as Ted De Corsia)
    Erskine Sanford
    Erskine Sanford
    • Judge
    Gus Schilling
    Gus Schilling
    • Goldie
    Carl Frank
    Carl Frank
    • District Attorney Galloway
    Louis Merrill
    • Jake Bjornsen
    Evelyn Ellis
    Evelyn Ellis
    • Bessie
    Harry Shannon
    Harry Shannon
    • Cab Driver
    William Alland
    William Alland
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Jessie Arnold
    Jessie Arnold
    • Schoolteacher at Aquarium
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Wong Artarne
    • Ticket Taker
    • (uncredited)
    Rama Bai
    Rama Bai
    • Townswoman
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Baxley
    • Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Steve Benton
    • Policeman
    • (uncredited)
    Eumenio Blanco
    Eumenio Blanco
    • Sailor
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Orson Welles
    • Writers
      • Sherwood King
      • Orson Welles
      • William Castle
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews246

    7.535.3K
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    Featured reviews

    10mrwelles

    Highly underrated exercise in style

    Orson Welles' "The Lady From Shanghai" does not have the brilliant screenplay of "Citizen Kane," e.g., but Charles Lawton, Jr.'s cinematography, the unforgettable set pieces (such as the scene in the aquarium, the seagoing scene featuring a stunning, blonde-tressed Rita Hayworth singing "Please Don't Love Me," and the truly amazing Hall of Mirrors climax), and the wonderful cast (Everett Sloane in his greatest performance, Welles in a beautifully under-played role, the afore-mentioned Miss Hayworth--Welles' wife at the time--at her most gorgeous) make for a very memorable filmgoing experience. The bizarre murder mystery plot is fun and compelling, not inscrutable at all. The viewer is surprised by the twists and turns, and Welles' closing line is an unheralded classic. "The Lady From Shanghai" gets four stars from this impartial arbiter.
    8Nazi_Fighter_David

    Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth...

    After all, you do not go to an Orson Welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy-ever-after star…

    You go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings, lighted and scored imaginatively, photographed bravely, and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place…

    As usual, as well as directing, Welles wrote the script and he also played the hero – a young Irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil, but still retained his clear-eyed trust in the goodness of others… Unfortunately for him, he reposed this trust in Rita Hayworth, whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future… She was married without love, to an impotent, crippled advocate, acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant Everett Sloane…

    There is a youthful romanticism underlying it all, and this quality came into exuberant play in "The Lady from Shanghai." Before the inevitable happened, Welles escaped – to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors, which has become one of the classic scenes of the post-war cinema …

    Welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere… His camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web
    8objxs

    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!
    9ccthemovieman-1

    This Is One Wild-And-Crazy Film Noir!

    Of all the film noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, this has to rank as one of the strangest, and most fun to watch. I say that because of the four main actors: Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders.

    The first two names are familiar to everyone but it was the last two that made this movie so entertaining to me, especially Anders. His character, "George Grisby," is one of the strangest people I've ever seen on film. His voice, and some of the things he said, have to be heard to be believed. Slaone isn't far behind in the "strange" category. Hayworth is not as glamorous with short, blonde hair but still is Hayworth, which means a lot to ogle if you are a guy. Welles' is as fascinating as always. One tip: if you have the DVD, turn on the English subtitles. His character in this movie is an Irishman and you need the subtitles to understand everything he says.

    Welles also directed the film which means you have great camera angles and wonderful facial closeups. You also have a unique ending, visually, with a shootout in a house of mirrors. Great stuff! As bizarre as this film is, I still thought the buffoon-like carnival atmosphere at the trial near the end was too much and took away from the seriousness of the scene. Other than that, no complaints.

    This is great entertainment, which is the name of the game.
    8Narrator_Jack_dot_com

    Orson's Corrections

    These are excerpts from a nine-page "Memo to Mr. Cohn from Mr. Welles", written after Orson had seen studio mogul Harry Cohn's edited version of the picture (he took an hour out):

    "...The preview title music was written by a first rate composer, George Antheil. Although not written for our picture at all, this temporary title music had an atmosphere of darkness and menace combined with something lush and romantic which made it acceptable...The only musical idea which seems to have occurred to this present composer (Heinz Roemheld) is the rather weary one of using a popular song--the "theme"--in as many arrangements as possible. Throughout we have musical references to "Please Don't Kiss Me" for almost every bridge and also for a great deal of the background material. The tune is pleasing, it may do very well on the Hit Parade--but Lady from Shanghai is not a musical comedy...Mr. Roemheld is an ardent devotee of an old-fashioned type of scoring now referred to in our business as "Disney". In other words, if somebody falls down, he makes a "falling down" sound in the orchestra, etc., etc...If the lab had scratched initials and phone numbers all over the negative, I couldn't be unhappier about the results...Just before I left to go abroad, I asked Vi (Viola Lawrence, the editor) to make a cut which would involve dropping the near accident with the taxi-cab and also quite a bit of dialogue. I am convinced that this would have been an excellent cut...saving much needed footage in the slow opening sequence (this was not done, accounting for the main weaknesses of the film's opening reel)...There is nothing in the fact of Rita's diving to warrant a big orchestral crescendo...What does matter is Rita's beauty...the evil overtones suggested by Grigsby's character, and Michael's bewilderment. Any or all of these items might have inspired the music. Instead, the dive is treated as though it were a major climax or some antic moment in a Silly Symphony: a pratfall by Pluto the Pup, or a wild jump into space by Donald Duck...There is no sound atmosphere on the boat. A little wind and water is sorely missed. There's no point in photographing a scene on a real boat if you make it sound as though it all happened in front of a process screen...At the start of the picnic sequence...in the temporary score, we used a very curious, sexy Latin-American strain...This has been replaced with a corny "dramatic" sequel--bad stock stuff...This sort of music destroys that quality of strangeness which is exactly what might have saved Lady from Shanghai from being just another whodunit...There is a big musical outburst after Grigsby's line, "I want you to kill him." This is absurd...The Hawaiian guitar music which comes out of the radio...was supposed to be corny enough to make a certain satirical point. As it stands now, it's on about the same level as the rest of the scoring. Nobody in the audience could possibly suspect that we're kidding...The aquarium scene needs more echo. "Please Don't Kiss Me" is in again!...A bad dubbing job and poor scoring has destroyed the character of Michael's run down the pier. From the gunshot through to the phone call, a careful pattern of voices had been built up with the expenditure of much time and effort. For some reason, this has all been junked in favor of a vague hullabaloo. As a result, the whole sequence seems dull...The audience should feel at this point, along with Michael, that maybe they are going crazy. The new dubbing job can only make them feel that maybe they're going to sleep...The gun battle with the breaking mirrors must not be backed with music...The closing music again makes reference to "Please Don't Kiss Me"...This finale is obvious to the point of vulgarity, and does incalculable injury to the finish of the picture."

    All of these edits from Orson were ignored

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      According to Orson Welles, this film grew out of an act of pure desperation. Welles, whose Mercury Theatre company produced a musical version of "Around the World in 80 Days," was in desperate need of money just before the Boston preview. Mere hours before the show was due to open, the costumes had been impounded and unless Welles could come up with $55,000 to pay outstanding debts, the performance would have to be canceled. Stumbling upon a copy of "If I Die Before I Wake," the novel upon which this film is based, Welles phoned Harry Cohn, instructing him to buy the rights to the novel and offering to write, direct and star in the film so long as Cohn would send $55,000 to Boston within two hours. The money arrived, and the production went on as planned.
    • Goofs
      The narrator mentions they arrive back in San Francisco in early October, but in the document (prepared by Grisby) that Michael signs verifying his killing of Grisby, it is dated August 9th, supposedly the next day.
    • Quotes

      Michael O'Hara: Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying.

    • Crazy credits
      There is no director credit. Welles' main credit reads "Screen Play and Production Orson Welles."
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      Please Don't Kiss Me
      by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher

      Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Anita Ellis) (uncredited)

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    FAQ23

    • How long is The Lady from Shanghai?Powered by Alexa
    • What was Orson Welles' biggest gripe about the finished product (since he usually clashed with the studio)?
    • Is "The Lady from Shanghai" based on a book?
    • Who is the lady from Shanghai?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 14, 1948 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Cantonese
    • Also known as
      • La dama de Shangai
    • Filming locations
      • Playland at the Beach, San Francisco, California, USA(exteriors: house of mirrors funhouse - demolished 1972)
    • Production company
      • Mercury Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $2,300,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,950
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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