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.

Director:

Orson Welles (uncredited)

Writers:

Sherwood King (story based on a novel by), Orson Welles (screenplay)

Stars:

Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane

1 win.

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 Bjornsen
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, Elsa, 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 Elsa. 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:

hall of mirrors | shanghai china | taxicab | national film registry | murder | 

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Taglines:

The Story Of A Reckless Woman!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

24 December 1947 (France)

Also Known As:

If I Die Before I Wake

Filming Locations:

Playland at the Beach, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,927, 30 August 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,927, 30 August 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Mercury Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 92 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Orson Welles runs past an old Mexican movie poster of Resurrection (1927) during a chase scene. The film stars Dolores del Rio, a former girlfriend of Welles'.

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Goofs

Elsa enters the hall of mirrors wearing a pair of peep-toe heels with a distinctive crisscross ankle strap, but a later shot in the same scene shows her wearing plain pumps with no ankle strap. Seconds later, she's wearing the original ankle-strap heels again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael O'Hara: When I start out to make a fool of myself, there's very little can stop me. If I'd known where it would end, I'd never let anything start... if I'd been in my right mind, that is. But once I'd seen her, once I'd seen her, I was not in my right mind for quite some time.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits shown over a water background.

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Connections

Featured in The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995)

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Soundtracks

Please Don't Kiss Me
by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher
Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Anita Ellis) (uncredited)

User Reviews

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.