The Lady from Shanghai
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1946 / B&w / 1.33: 1
Starring Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane
Written by Orson Welles
Directed by Orson Welles
To those who know him, Michael O’Hara “… has got a lot of blarney in him.” That also applies to Orson Welles, the man who created that smooth-talking Irishman and plays him in The Lady from Shanghai, a labyrinthine guessing-game written and directed by Welles in 1946. Welles’s enigmatic co-stars include Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister, “the world’s greatest lawyer or the world’s greatest criminal”, and Rita Hayworth as Bannister’s wife, an unknowable beauty hiding behind a plutonium hairdo.
Hayworth is not the only one wearing a disguise—like any noir, everyone has two or more personas, but Welles’s film is no ordinary noir, and for better and for worse, The Lady from Shanghai is no ordinary movie. The film, both haphazard...
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1946 / B&w / 1.33: 1
Starring Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane
Written by Orson Welles
Directed by Orson Welles
To those who know him, Michael O’Hara “… has got a lot of blarney in him.” That also applies to Orson Welles, the man who created that smooth-talking Irishman and plays him in The Lady from Shanghai, a labyrinthine guessing-game written and directed by Welles in 1946. Welles’s enigmatic co-stars include Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister, “the world’s greatest lawyer or the world’s greatest criminal”, and Rita Hayworth as Bannister’s wife, an unknowable beauty hiding behind a plutonium hairdo.
Hayworth is not the only one wearing a disguise—like any noir, everyone has two or more personas, but Welles’s film is no ordinary noir, and for better and for worse, The Lady from Shanghai is no ordinary movie. The film, both haphazard...
- 2/4/2023
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Lady from Shanghai
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) didn’t come easily for Orson Welles. No film ever really did after his breakthrough, the great Citizen Kane (1941), the movie that put him on the map and in the crosshairs of the Hollywood establishment. They wanted little to do with this iconoclastic hotshot from New York, and for the rest of his days, Welles struggled to achieve an autonomous artistic vision. That so many astonishing films came out of this struggle, like The Lady from Shanghai, surely says something about his cinematic gift, an inherent talent that could not be restrained or denied.
It took considerable wheeling and dealing for Welles to convince Harry Cohn to back the film. Welles had three features on his directorial résumé, and though Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) were not financially successful, his third film, The Stranger (1946), was.
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
The Lady from Shanghai (1947) didn’t come easily for Orson Welles. No film ever really did after his breakthrough, the great Citizen Kane (1941), the movie that put him on the map and in the crosshairs of the Hollywood establishment. They wanted little to do with this iconoclastic hotshot from New York, and for the rest of his days, Welles struggled to achieve an autonomous artistic vision. That so many astonishing films came out of this struggle, like The Lady from Shanghai, surely says something about his cinematic gift, an inherent talent that could not be restrained or denied.
It took considerable wheeling and dealing for Welles to convince Harry Cohn to back the film. Welles had three features on his directorial résumé, and though Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) were not financially successful, his third film, The Stranger (1946), was.
- 3/25/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
The Lady from Shanghai
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) is an Irish émigré to the United States who earns his income as a sailor. Walking the streets of Manhattan one night, he comes across the carriage of one Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), whose beauty and charm immediately catch his eye. After rescuing her from a group of thieves in Central Park, he offers to drive her home, during which time they grow fond of one another. Lo and behold, the next day, Mr. Bannister (Everett Sloane), a notorious criminal lawyer and her husband, makes an offer: come sail with them through the Americas on their way to San Francisco. O’Hara, clearly attracted to the man’s wife but trepidatious about potential complications, reluctantly accepts the offer. The trip and its aftermath in San Francisco prove unforgettable, with everyone’s disdain for Mr.
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles) is an Irish émigré to the United States who earns his income as a sailor. Walking the streets of Manhattan one night, he comes across the carriage of one Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), whose beauty and charm immediately catch his eye. After rescuing her from a group of thieves in Central Park, he offers to drive her home, during which time they grow fond of one another. Lo and behold, the next day, Mr. Bannister (Everett Sloane), a notorious criminal lawyer and her husband, makes an offer: come sail with them through the Americas on their way to San Francisco. O’Hara, clearly attracted to the man’s wife but trepidatious about potential complications, reluctantly accepts the offer. The trip and its aftermath in San Francisco prove unforgettable, with everyone’s disdain for Mr.
- 1/24/2014
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
The Lady from Shanghai
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
Long before the likes of Brangelina dominated the Hollywood gossip columns, figures such as Hedda Hooper and Louella Parsons were the all-powerful industry matriarchs whose withering wit could make or break film careers. The tumultuous romance between Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth on the set of The Lady from Shanghai, which has received a BFI funded restoration for this year’s London Film Festival, was the fodder of scandal-drenched periodicals around the globe in those postwar years. The main difference between Shanghai and something like 2005′s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is that the former film endures as a curious classic beyond the fading celebrity chatter, with subsequent analysis identifying the movie as either Welles’ strychnine-poisoned valentine to Hayworth or a gloomy paean to a remorse-fueled marriage. Either way, it’s a curiously ambivalent and fractured piece that inverts and perverts the traditional trappings of noir,...
Written and directed by Orson Welles
USA, 1947
Long before the likes of Brangelina dominated the Hollywood gossip columns, figures such as Hedda Hooper and Louella Parsons were the all-powerful industry matriarchs whose withering wit could make or break film careers. The tumultuous romance between Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth on the set of The Lady from Shanghai, which has received a BFI funded restoration for this year’s London Film Festival, was the fodder of scandal-drenched periodicals around the globe in those postwar years. The main difference between Shanghai and something like 2005′s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is that the former film endures as a curious classic beyond the fading celebrity chatter, with subsequent analysis identifying the movie as either Welles’ strychnine-poisoned valentine to Hayworth or a gloomy paean to a remorse-fueled marriage. Either way, it’s a curiously ambivalent and fractured piece that inverts and perverts the traditional trappings of noir,...
- 10/17/2013
- by John
- SoundOnSight
As a sparkling restoration of Orson Welles's delirious 1947 film noir is unveiled at the London film festival, Tony Paley explores the dramatic story behind its production
• More on the London film festival
Citizen Kane may no longer automatically called the greatest film ever made, but a year after Orson Welles's movie was knocked off the top of Sight & Sound's poll on the 50 greatest films of all time, the late director is back in the spotlight with two world premieres.
This week, Too Much Johnson (1938), a forerunner to Citizen Kane, was screened where the director's "lost" silent film was found – in the Italian town of Pordenone. It coincided with the opening night of the London film festival, where the sparkling new restoration of The Lady from Shanghai (1947) will be unveiled.
Welles screened The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) for his cast and crew prior to shooting The Lady from Shanghai.
• More on the London film festival
Citizen Kane may no longer automatically called the greatest film ever made, but a year after Orson Welles's movie was knocked off the top of Sight & Sound's poll on the 50 greatest films of all time, the late director is back in the spotlight with two world premieres.
This week, Too Much Johnson (1938), a forerunner to Citizen Kane, was screened where the director's "lost" silent film was found – in the Italian town of Pordenone. It coincided with the opening night of the London film festival, where the sparkling new restoration of The Lady from Shanghai (1947) will be unveiled.
Welles screened The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) for his cast and crew prior to shooting The Lady from Shanghai.
- 10/10/2013
- by Tony Paley
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.