The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

“AS TANGLED AND INGENIOUS AS ANY OF WELLES’S CONJURING TRICKS” – THE INDEPENDENT (UK)

Orson Welles takes on film noir with this story of murder, fraud, deceit, betrayal and, of course, a femme fatale.

Travelling from New York, to a yacht on route through the Caribbean to Acapulco, up to San Francisco’s Chinatown and finally into a playground amusement park, Welles plays an Irish seaman drawn into this noir chaos by a mysterious woman (Rita Hayworth).

“Like most of Welles’ Hollywood efforts, Shanghai was shanghaied by studio tampering…but it also contains some of his greatest set pieces, topped by the delirious shootout in the funhouse hall of mirrors.”

• Boulder Weekly

“One intriguing reading of the movie is that it’s a commentary on Welles’s marriage to Hayworth…Complex, courageous and utterly compelling.”

• Martyn Auty, Time Out Film Guide

To read David Hare's notes on the film, click here.

Rating

PG

Cast

Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane

Director

Orson Welles