The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Genre: Crime / Filmnoir
Duration: 87 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Orson Welles
Stars: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles and Glenn Anders
IMDb score:
7,5 (35.191)
Releasedate: 24 December 1947
The Lady from Shanghai plot
"I told you... you know nothing about wickedness"
Against his better judgment, Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles) enlists as boatswain on Arthur Bannister's yacht, which is heading for San Francisco. Along the way, they pick up Grisby, Bannister's business associate. Bannister's wife, Elsa (Rita Hayworth), seems to like Michael more than her own husband. After docking in Sausalito, Michael agrees to a plan from Grisby that will have far-reaching consequences.
Actors and actresses
Elsa Bannister
Michael O'Hara
Arthur Bannister
George Grisby
Sidney Broome
Judge
Goldfish
Jake
District Attorney Galloway
Bessie
Reviews & comments
The One Ring
-
- 29974 messages
- 4109 votes
Never seen such an unbalanced piece of film. One moment the film is magical, the next it is simply horrific. So it's clear that I can't really call the film good; it's more of an interesting failure. The problem probably lies in many of the carvings in this film. But that doesn't explain why the dialogues come across so incredibly bad in this film. It never seems as if the actors react to each other. The texts they speak follow each other in perfect order, but they don't come out convincingly. They also often react too quickly or even mixed up.
The editing is also often a mess and it comes across as if the editor was sometimes just doing something. The cinematography, on the other hand, is brilliant. I found the acting performances mediocre; also from Hayworth and Welles to be honest, while I can appreciate them in other films. The first half hour of the film is one of the worst and least engrossing bits of cinema I've ever seen. The final is brilliant again. The story is intriguing, but it doesn't come across everywhere and is sometimes hard to follow.
All those contradictions ensure that I don't get further than 2.5*, especially thanks to the many visual finds. But this is one such rare case that I'm glad there's a remake coming. This is a masterpiece, but (thanks to the studio?) it certainly doesn't come out.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Filmkriebel
-
- 9549 messages
- 4430 votes
I personally like Welles much better than Hayworth; she plays a rather flat character as a femme fatale. Except as a man magnet, one can hardly attribute any qualities to her. So you see how a man's world looked at women at the time. She just has to impress and fascinate with her beauty. The many close-ups of her face certainly wanted to accentuate that.
Typical film noir motifs with manipulation where Welles' character Michael O'Hara is the puppet whose ropes are pulled. I was quite impressed with the sets they used and gave the film dynamism; part of the film was actually shot in Acapulco and you get to see images of the San Francisco of the 1940s. So no mattes. A classic that remains in my eyes.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
-
- 30827 messages
- 5356 votes
A film noir that, despite the accessible story, didn't really fit into mainstream Hollywood. As a result, the film faced some headwinds, it was cut seriously and even Rita Hayworth's haircut was the subject of slander. The cut work in particular didn't really do the film well. Not that the film necessarily has to be longer, but now you sometimes miss some coherence. However, the film has some strong scenes.
Fortunately, the story is still clear and interesting enough to enjoy it. And with actors like Hayworth, Welles and Sloane, it certainly turned out to be a good movie. An underrated film, but not a masterpiece.
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