The Lady from Shanghai
1947 Directed by Orson Welles
Synopsis
I told you... you know nothing about wickedness
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Cast
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What a weird movie - Orson Welles with a bad Irish "brogue", some truly strange supporting characters, and a plot that doesn't really come together. However, it's entirely worth it for the end sequence in the fun house. It's too bad that the film was subjected to so much studio interference (the fun house scene alone was supposed to be 20 minutes long!); I would hope that Welles' intended film would have worked out some of the narrative issues.
This is a film that you can really appreciate knowing how much effort some of those shots would have taken at the time. The location shooting, really marvelous stuff.
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Convoluted..... I like this piece of trivia from IMDB though:
Near the end of shooting, Orson Welles told Columbia executives that he wanted a complete set repainted on a Saturday for shooting on Monday. Columbia exec Jack Fier told Welles it was impossible, because of union rules and the expense that would be incurred by calling in a crew of painters to work on a weekend. Welles and several friends broke into the paint department that Saturday and repainted the set themselves, and when they were finished they hung a banner on the set that read "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fier Himself". When the union painters arrived at work on Monday and saw that the set… -
Plotting was a bit shaky, but great direction from Welles, who - despite his kinda ridiculous Lucky Charms accent - gives a great performance, and gets equally impressive ones from his cast. I also really liked the racial politics, (for the most part), similarly forward-thinking for 1947. People of color were given inner lives, even those on the periphery, without too much "othering".
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It's in the same vein as The Magnificent Ambersons, really; a great movie underneath (probably), technically in tact (actually, there was the odd occasion of the dialogue looking like it was dubbed), and well acted, but marred with some of the most nonchalant style of storytelling I've seen from a director of such exceptional talent. It's almost contradicting. But I know I'm not enjoying a movie when I find myself zoning out, just staring at the screen, only admiring camerawork or acting, rather than having any concern towards the story's events or characters. Seriously, apart from the first time he spoke, I couldn't even force a smile at Welles' patchy Irish accent or feel any kind of emotion in general…
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I love whoever the costume designer was!
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Interesting noir opened up visually by taking it out of the standard urban setting and placing much of the action on a boat and coastal locales. Wonderfully surreal in moments (the aquarium, the famous hall of mirrors finale).
A true testament to the idea (not unfamiliar in film noirs--or movies, themselves, really) that a woman's mere beauty can potentially lead to a man's utter destruction. And a true testament to Hayworth being that ultimate of movie beauties.
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It's in the same vein as The Magnificent Ambersons, really; a great movie underneath (probably), technically in tact (actually, there was the odd occasion of the dialogue looking like it was dubbed), and well acted, but marred with some of the most nonchalant style of storytelling I've seen from a director of such exceptional talent. It's almost contradicting. But I know I'm not enjoying a movie when I find myself zoning out, just staring at the screen, only admiring camerawork or acting, rather than having any concern towards the story's events or characters. Seriously, apart from the first time he spoke, I couldn't even force a smile at Welles' patchy Irish accent or feel any kind of emotion in general…
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Welles reaffirms his technical prowess.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Exciting noir, with Welles on good form (both in front & behind the camera) & Hayworth at her smoldering, mesmerising best.
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Despite my 5 star rating, this is a flawed film. Most of that is due to studio interference which caused about an hour of footage to be removed and lost forever. Because of this the story moves too fast and sometimes feels like we are seeing an abriged version of events.
But having said that, this is such a highly entertaining film noir filled with whacky moments and characters. Some of the wackiness comes from Glenn Anders over the top performance, to Orson Welles' odd Irish accent, to the entire courtroom sequence. Orson Welles directs Rita Hayworth here in a very memorable role, capturing her breathtaking beauty in every frame she appears, and he displays her in a variety of…
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Mais uma obra-prima de Welles. Só a sequência final, com Haywoth refletida em inúmeros espelhos, já vale o filme.
Another masterpiece by Welles. The final sequence itself, with Haywoth reflected in many mirrors, is worth the film. -
This is one bizarre movie, that's all I have to say about it really.
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Plotting was a bit shaky, but great direction from Welles, who - despite his kinda ridiculous Lucky Charms accent - gives a great performance, and gets equally impressive ones from his cast. I also really liked the racial politics, (for the most part), similarly forward-thinking for 1947. People of color were given inner lives, even those on the periphery, without too much "othering".