Tonight's Movie: The Lady From Shanghai (1947) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review
Orson Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947) was recently released as a Kino Lorber Special Edition Blu-ray.THE LADY FROM SHANGAI was written and directed by Welles based on a novel by Sherwood King, with uncredited script input from William Castle, Charles Lederer, and Fletcher Markle.
The film's title character, Elsa Bannister, was played by Rita Hayworth, who was married to Welles from 1943 to 1947.
Elsa chances to meet Irishman Michael O'Shea (Welles) in a park, and soon thereafter Elsa's crippled attorney husband Arthur (Everett Sloane) hires Michael to work as a crew member on his yacht.
Once the yacht arrives back in San Francisco, a double murder creates chaos for the surviving characters, culminating in a raucous trial.
This was my first viewing of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, and I really wasn't sure what to make of it. Hayworth is one of my all-time favorite screen stars, but while I loved watching her, most of the characters are so creepy that I didn't find it a great deal of fun to watch.
I can't say I found it an especially enjoyable 87 minutes, but there were certainly some striking, impressive moments, including the famous finale in a fun house hall of mirrors.
While it will never be one of my favorite films, I've seen TOUCH OF EVIL as least two more times since my first viewing nearly a decade ago, and my appreciation for it has gradually grown. Due to that experience, I'm keeping an open mind about THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI and am particularly interested in hearing thoughts from two people I respect who are part of the disc's extras, Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith. I'll be checking out their comments over the next few days.
That said, it's hard to buy Elsa's romance with Michael; we know the actors were married in real life, but Welles is not exactly Tyrone Power and it's a stretch that she falls for the lumbering, if articulate, Michael -- even realizing that Elsa is playing a multilevel game of sorts.
Hayworth's luxuriant red hair was famously cut and dyed champagne blonde for this film; she's still beautiful, but it's a shame, presaging the harsh, aging haircuts actresses such as Betty Grable and Barbara Stanwyck would also soon undergo.
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI was filmed in black and white by Charles Lawton Jr. and the uncredited Rudolph Mate and Joseph Walker. The supporting cast includes Ted de Corsia, Carl Frank, and Erskine Sanford.
Kino Lorber's Blu-ray extras include two new commentaries, by Imogen Sara Smith and Tim Lucas; an archival commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich; a 21-minute interview with Bogdanovich; comments by Eddie Muller (also 21 minutes); the trailer; and a gallery of trailers for for additional films available from Kino Lorber.
The physical set itself is impressive; the DVD case has reversible cover art with two different, very striking designs, and yet a third poster design is on the set's cardboard slipcase.
For anyone wanting to see and learn more about this unusual film, the Kino Lorber Blu-ray is surely the way to go. I may be ambivalent about the movie at this point, but the set is highly recommended.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
posted by Laura @ 10:30 PM
8 Comments:
Your reaction to this film on a first watch was exactly the same as my own reaction, Laura. I pushed myself to rewatch in the past year and found more -I won't say enjoyment exactly - to get from the film this time. Welles was of course an artistically creative man and the hall of mirrors sequence is very well done, as an example. Even on the DVD the film looks terrific so the BluRay probably further enhances the experience.
Never going to be a favourite film for me but it is not a film easily forgotten.
I absolutely love The lady From Shanghai. As for Orson in the lead, no one could have been better, attractive, naive, sophisticated, and sweet. Many people, this particular disc aside, agree with you, Laura. Not me, and that is probably a fatal flaw in my character.
One of the things that's fun about THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is hearing everyone's varied opinions!
Jerry, that's fun to hear that we reacted similarly. Not easily forgotten is a good description! And I suppose it's worth seeing from that angle.
Barry, I probably would not have guessed correctly that you're a fan of this one and find it intriguing that you love not only the film but Orson in the lead. I don't think it's a fatal flaw, I think it makes you interesting! :)
Best wishes,
Laura
The way Welles intended us to interpret the story and events. Hayworth is a prostitute, who is so successfully neurotic she sells herself, not on a street corner basis, but to genuinely high bidders, and then turns on them. Everyone else, the men, all of whom other than Welles as Michael, are unattractive physically and in their minds. If they all looked like Clark Gable, none of this might happen. As for OOrson, I do not get the problem, before gaining a tremendous amount of weight, he was catnip to the ladies, and generally considered handsome. Louis Hayward thought he and Welles looked like one another, as did Desi Arnaz.
Here is Richard Winnington's comment: The slurred social conscience of the hero leads him to some murky philosophizing, all of which, with many individualities of diction clog the issue and soundtrack.Subtitles would have helped.
I think that is just nuts. Overly pseudo-intellectual.
Final thought. Rita plays someone who is not just an abused beauty, but a girl who hates the world. The reference to Shanghai sells it, and she is the villain, not the nutty men.
Barry, this is all very interesting and I appreciate you sharing it. I can sort of see the facial resemblance of Hayward and Welles although I find Hayward more appealing.
Nice bits of analysis of Hayworth's character. I'd add to that that while I described her as baffling, I did some additional reading today to learn more about the film; a review of Imogen Sara Smith's commentary said she describes Elsa as "inscrutable." I liked that adjective for Elsa. That said, I think you flesh her character out a little more with the idea she turns on the men.
Although I wasn't sure I precisely enjoyed it, I do enjoy the way a movie like this makes me think and analyze!
Best wishes,
Laura
Nice review of a film I find terribly fascinating.
Oh I meant to add I love Welles speech about the sharks. So true of human nature. I really like the film but it is a very crazy one noir. Welles is truly something as a director.
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