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I struggled over giving this Mill Creek Blu-ray of a near-classic, 1948 movie a rating of '3' or '4.' Call it 3.5.
This is an OTOH/BOTOH/BOTTH review: "on the one hand"/"but on the other hand"/"but on the third hand."
OTOH, in the true tradition of film noir, the plot is twisted. BOTOH, some twists are so nutty that, on reflection, they don't make any sense. BOTTH, sheer logic doesn't necessarily produce captivating entertainment. Directors as different as Hitchcock and Tarantino have proved that.
OTOH, the performances are amusingly arch. BOTOH, most of the actors are so fine—especially Rita Hayworth and Everett Sloane—that one suspects they were directed to pitch their style into an upper register, as befits pulp fiction. The director, by the way, was Orson Welles, whose own performance is comparatively underplayed.
OTOH, the exterior shots on the shores of places like Acapulco and Sausalito are rich and lovely, whether in daylight or at night. (I didn't catch a day-for-night shot; probably there are some.) Screen ratio is 4:3, with vertical black bars on the sides. BOTOH, Welles's blocking and staging of some scenes seem surprisingly clunky. BOTTH, the movie's famous set-pieces inside an aquarium and a fun-house are magnificent beyond description. I don't know whether Welles was bored with other scenes or whether he executed some brilliantly, only to have them hacked up by Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures. Like "The Magnificent Ambersons" but less obviously so, "The Lady From Shanghai" suffered severe studio cuts over which Welles had no control. Cohn also mandated some close-ups that aggravated Welles and may irritate you, too.
OTOH, Mill Creek Entertainment has done a fine job of remastering this print in 1080HD. It's as clean as any I've ever seen of this movie. That's important: the noir is really noirish. BOTOH, this disc is bare-bones with no frills: no extras, not even scene selections. The title card offers you only two options: "Play Feature" and "Subtitles" (in English only). BOTTH: At this writing this Blu-ray is now priced at under eight bucks. You get what you pay for. Until Criterion picks up the license and jazzes things up, as this film arguably deserves, I'll be satisfied with what Mill Creek provides.
If you are a Welles aficionado, you'll want to snatch this while available and affordable. If not, you may want to rent it, even though the image and audio may not be as sharp as the Mill Creek edition. In Welles's overall output, I'd pitch "The Lady From Shanghai" straight down the middle: not great, not bad, touched by genius. I'd say the same for the technical production afforded here by Mill Creek.
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Editorial Reviews
The Story Of A Reckless Woman!
Baffling murders, fascinating plot twists and remarkable camera work all contribute to this spellbinding, time-honored film noir written, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to the disabled husband of femme fatale Rita Hayworth, Welles plays an innocent man drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue and murder.
The subject of great controversy and scandal upon its initial release, The Lady From Shanghai shocked 1948 audiences by presenting Hayworth with her flaming red hair cut short and dyed champagne blonde. Fifty years later, The Lady From Shanghai is considered vintage Welles, his famous hall of mirrors climax hailed as one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history.
Based on the novel If I Die Before I Wake
Technical Aspects:
- 1080p High-Definition Video from a 4k Digital Restoration
- Presented in Original Aspect Ratio of 1.37:1
- DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
- Subtitles: English
- Black and White / 88 minutes
- New Artwork with Double-Sided Packaging
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : s_medNotRated NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 6.5 x 5.25 x 0.3 inches; 2.4 Ounces
- Item model number : MLCR63224BR
- Director : Orson Welles
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Full Screen
- Run time : 1 hour and 28 minutes
- Release date : March 17, 2015
- Actors : Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Sony Pictures Home
- ASIN : B00S1VR62K
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
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Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2019
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Classic Film Noir of a man who can't say no to a woman who means nothing but trouble
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2020Verified Purchase
Lady From Shanghai is a classic Film Noir made by Orson Wells who co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in the movie. He plays Michael O’Hara who falls for a woman named Elsa (Rita Hayworth) who he rescues from a mugging in New York’s Central Park. She offers him a job on a boat trip to San Francisco which he accepts. She says she’ll make it worth his while but it turns out she’s married to a crippled lawyer Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane). She is the definition of a Femme Fatale and will be nothing but trouble for O’Hara.
Right from the start O’Hara knows he shouldn’t get involved with Elsa but he does anyway. For instance after saving her in the park he notes that she had a gun in her purse but threw it away. She claims she didn’t know how to shoot it. He replies “It’s easy you just pull the trigger.” That’s some of the quick, fast and witty dialogue the best Noir’s were known for. When he finds out she has a husband he notes he didn’t like married women and if she would fool her spouse she would definitely fool him. Then Mr. Bannister comes to recruit him for the trip and O’Hara promises he won’t accept but does anyway. He says that Mr. Bannister was like a “sleeping rattlesnake.” Here again O’Hara sees the warning signs about taking up Elsa on her offer and yet he can’t turn her down especially when she pleads with him in a sexy little sailor outfit. This is another Noir trope, the male main character feeling helpless against the odds. So what if it is of his own making in this case. The fact that he feels trapped by Elsa’s beauty is all part of the thrill of this genre. You can also tell where the story is going but you play along just to see how it will work out and what dark fate awaits O’Hara and Elsa.
The climax is one of the classics in cinema where O’Hara and Elsa confront each other in a hall of mirrors in San Francisco. It’s symbolic of the confused relationship between the two as well as them having to face themselves.
Overall this is a great Noir. It has all the elements and Wells and Hayworth play their roles to a T.
Right from the start O’Hara knows he shouldn’t get involved with Elsa but he does anyway. For instance after saving her in the park he notes that she had a gun in her purse but threw it away. She claims she didn’t know how to shoot it. He replies “It’s easy you just pull the trigger.” That’s some of the quick, fast and witty dialogue the best Noir’s were known for. When he finds out she has a husband he notes he didn’t like married women and if she would fool her spouse she would definitely fool him. Then Mr. Bannister comes to recruit him for the trip and O’Hara promises he won’t accept but does anyway. He says that Mr. Bannister was like a “sleeping rattlesnake.” Here again O’Hara sees the warning signs about taking up Elsa on her offer and yet he can’t turn her down especially when she pleads with him in a sexy little sailor outfit. This is another Noir trope, the male main character feeling helpless against the odds. So what if it is of his own making in this case. The fact that he feels trapped by Elsa’s beauty is all part of the thrill of this genre. You can also tell where the story is going but you play along just to see how it will work out and what dark fate awaits O’Hara and Elsa.
The climax is one of the classics in cinema where O’Hara and Elsa confront each other in a hall of mirrors in San Francisco. It’s symbolic of the confused relationship between the two as well as them having to face themselves.
Overall this is a great Noir. It has all the elements and Wells and Hayworth play their roles to a T.
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THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI [1947 / 2017] [Blu-ray + DVD]
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2015Verified Purchase
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI [1947 / 2017] [Blu-ray + DVD] A 4K Digital Restoration in High-Definition Video and Audio! The Story of a Reckless Woman!
Baffling murders, fascinating plot twists and remarkable camera work all contribute to this spellbinding, time-honoured “film noir” written, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to the disabled husband of femme fatale Rita Hayworth, Welles plays an innocent man drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue and murder.
The subject of great controversy and scandal upon its initial release, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ shocked 1948 audiences by presenting Rita Hayworth with her flaming red hair cut short and dyed champagne blonde. Fifty years later, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is considered vintage Orson Welles, especially with his famous hall of mirrors climax hailed as one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. Based on the novel “If I Die Before I Wake.”
FILM FACT: Other scenes were filmed in Acapulco. The yacht Zaca, on which many scenes take place, was owned by actor Errol Flynn, who skippered the yacht in between takes and can also be seen in the background in one scene at a cantina in Acapulco.
Cast: Orson Welles (Narrator), Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia, Erskine Sanford, Gus Schilling, Carl Frank, Louis Merrill, Evelyn Ellis and Harry Shannon
Director: Orson Welles
Producer: Orson Welles
Screenplay: Orson Welles, Charles Lederer (uncredited), Fletcher Markle (uncredited) and William Castle (uncredited)
Composers: Heinz Roemheld, Doris Fisher and Allen Roberts (song "Please Don't Kiss Me")
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr., Joseph Walker (uncredited) and Rudolph Maté (uncredited)
Video Resolution: 1080p [Black-and-White]
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 87 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Powerhouse Films
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ [1948] is an imaginative, complicated, unsettling film noir who-dun-it thriller, with fascinating visuals and tilting compositions, luminous and brilliant camerawork by Charles Lawton, Jr., and numerous sub-plots and confounding plot twists. Although the tale of betrayal, lust, greed and murder was filmed in late 1946 and finished in early 1947, it wasn't released until late in 1948 and it failed both at the box-office and as a critical success and sadly there were no Academy Award® nominations, which Orson Welles, was badly let down.
Irish sailor Michael O'Hara [Orson Wells] saves a beautiful woman from a robbery in Central Park; she turns out to be Elsa Bannister [Rita Hayworth], wife of the famed defence lawyer Arthur Bannister [Everett Sloane] who offers Michael O'Hara a job on his yacht, which is sailing from New York to San Francisco. During the voyage Michael O'Hara finds himself attracted to Elsa Bannister; at the same time, he becomes enmeshed in a Byzantine web of intrigue between Elsa Bannister, Arthur Bannister, and Arthur's partner George Grisby [Glenn Anders]. During a stop in Acapulco, George Grisby asks Michael O'Hara to pretend to murder him once they reach San Francisco so that he can collect his share of the insurance and run away to create a new life for himself. Michael O'Hara agrees, only to discover that he has been framed for a real murder; the only way out now is to allow none other than Arthur Bannister himself to defend his case in court.
The novel from which the film was adapted, was in fact entitled “If I Die Before I Wake;” in addition to that title, other working titles for the film included ‘Black Irish’ and ‘Take This Woman.’ William Castle, who later found fame as the producer/director of gimmicky horror films such as ‘House on Haunted Hill’ [1959], ‘The Tingler’ [1959] and ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ [1960], already owned the rights to the book. He consequently acted as an associate producer and may have contributed to the script. Woody Allen paid homage to the famous Hall of Mirrors scene in his film ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’ [1993].
Orson Welles' rough cut of the film ran approximately 155 minutes. When it tested poorly with preview audiences, the editor Viola Lawrence, at the request of the studio, cut out over an hour of footage, bringing the film to its current length of 87 minutes. The Chinese opera sequence and the funhouse sequence were originally much more elaborate set-pieces; Welles was particularly proud of the latter and has insisted that it would have been, if anything, more memorable than the climactic shootout in the hall of mirrors. Only a few stills remain to suggest what the funhouse sequence in its entirety might have looked like. However, even more than the cuts Welles objected to the musical score, which consists largely of quotations from the song "Please Don't Kiss Me" which Rita Hayworth sings on the yacht.
Jump cuts in the editing, the almost Brechtian distancing effect of the stylised performances, the doubling of the film frame in the Chinese theatre scene, the deep focus that disorients by giving far backgrounds equal weight with extreme close-ups, the use of optical devices ranging from water tumblers to windshields, especially in the film's most famous set pieces, aquarium glass and multiple mirrors, all of these serve to forefront the experience of watching cinema and to push the envelope of what is expected and permissible on screen.
Whether you like the film or not, you must admit the final scenes are truly brilliant. Not only was it technically impossible Hall of Mirrors scene, where we all say however did he do it is beyond me, but also the suspenseful Chinese theatre segment, the surreal and nightmarish funhouse, and the final scene between Elsa Bannister and Michael O'Hara, in which he performs one of the most coldest and unpunished actions during the Hays code years. And the films immortal final line, “Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying.”
Had this film been left in its original form, I’m certain it would be Orson Welles’s masterpiece (hopefully someday, somehow, the lost footage will pop up, or at least the score will be replaced with the intended one). Whereas ‘Citizen Kane’ manages to be visually beautiful yet still leaves one cold, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ possesses a soul, however a tragic, grotesque one. If a film can feel like an epic in only 88 minutes, imagine what the experience would have been like had it been in 150 minutes. We are never given many answers, like just what did Arthur Bannister have on Elsa Bannister, how was Elsa Bannister connected to the Chinese mafia, etc., but the mystery still keeps this film alive. However, even in its somewhat mutilated form ‘The Lady from Shanghai’ remains a well-acted and stylish example of the film noir. Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders in particular stand out and the film is distinguished by its striking deep-focus and chiaroscuro cinematography and a number of offbeat touches that only a director like Orson Welles could have dreamed up.
Given Orson Welles's reputation as an embattled genius and the fact that much of ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is superb, this is a film you really want to like. And one might, were Orson Welles's performance not so wretched and were the plot not as hard to navigate. All sorts of reasons have been put forward for the film's failure ranging from interference on the behalf of Harry Cohn to indifference on the part of Orson Welles. Whoever is responsible, the fact remains that this is a great film, but sadly let down by the studio’s 100% interference.
Blu-ray Video Quality – Powerhouse Films has given us a 4K restoration and re-mastered for Blu-ray in a stunning 1080p encoded image, the 1.37:1 aspect ratio transfer is a true thing of beauty. Not a scratch, spot, or speck of dust remains, and yet the film doesn’t look overly processed at all retaining amazing sharpness and the grey scale is very rich with deep blacks and crisp whites that is a pleasure to watch just for the sheer beauty of the photography by Charles Lawton Jr., and the shadow detail is terrific, and the contrast has been applied extremely very well, but this Blu-ray edition is definitely of top quality reference all the way. The only slight visual anomaly is when we have the shoot out in the Hall of Mirrors, here you get to view a strange aspect ratio, where the whole scene has a small black border top and bottom of the screen and was wondering why Orson Welles wanted it to be viewed this way.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Powerhouse Films has given us a really special 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio sound mix that offers the sound design of its era presented without any aural artefacts. Quite a bit of the dialogue was obviously looped, so there is that arid quality that comes with extensive looping of entire scenes, but the dialogue is certainly clearly presented, but I found at times it was out of sync and very off putting and has been mixed with surety with the sound effects, but it is helped along with the interesting Heinz Roemheld’s composers background music.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
4K restoration from the original negative.
Original 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio.
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Audio Commentary with filmmaker and Orson Welles expert Peter Bogdanovich: Here we are introduced to the director Peter Bogdanovich who talks glowingly about the Orson Welles film and is totally wonderfully throughout the whole audio commentary in conjunction with the film that is packed with loads fascinating anecdotes about Orson Welles the director, who spent a lot of time with Orson Welles when compiling his book on the director. Peter Bogdanovich at the start of the film that he first met Orson Welles at the end of 1968, because Peter had written a monograph about Orson Welles for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, New York in 1961, and sent it off to Orson Welles while he was living in Europe at the time. But out of the blue when Orson Welles happen to be in New York at the time telephoned Peter and informed him he was longing to meet him, which Peter informed Orson he was really keen to meet him as well, as he was a massive fan of all his work, so there and then Orson made an appointment to meet him the next day and Peter informs us that it was the best three hours he had ever experienced. In that meeting Orson informs him about his two films he is very proud of and those were ‘The Stranger’ and ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ despite all the logistic problems he encountered and at the time of the release of ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ whenever people met Orson they would avoid talking about the film as much as possible, but when Orson went to Europe they heaped massive praise on all his films he has produced. Orson also talks about another actress that was supposed to appear as the leading lady in the film ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ but because it was a Harry Cohen film he insisted that Rita Hayworth would be the leading lady as Rita was under contract with Columbia Pictures. Orson Welles also told Peter that the final scene in the Hall of Mirrors was supposed to be completely silent, apart from the crashing of the mirrors with the gun shootout, but Harry Cohen insisted that the theme music had to be heard in the background and also throughout the film, which really annoyed Orson Welles and also comments about the first scenes in Central Park and felt that it was his worst acting scenes and was totally embarrassed when viewed at the film’s preview. Orson informed Peter about the very long memo sent to Harry Cohen that he did not want the continuous theme music played throughout the film and what specific sounds he wanted to be heard in the film and of course Harry Cohen completely ignored Orson Welles instructions. At a certain point of the film Peter talks about certain scenes in the film where the actors are in hammocks, where Peter feels this is a very chilling part in the film where they talk about sharks, which relates to evil people, and feels it is one of the best scenes in the film. By the way if you listen to this audio commentary, listen out for the most hilarious anecdote about Harry Cohen on previewing a film with Fritz Lang and informs him that the film is 16 minutes too long and Fritz Lang asks Harry Cohen how does he know this and what you hear will make you laugh out loud. We find out that the film composer Bernard Herrmann was first used by Orson Welles long before Alfred Hitchcock used him, especially in his Mercury Radio programmes and especially on two of Orson Welles famous films, and Orson wished he had been able to use Bernard Herrmann on the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ Peter talks about the meeting he had with Orson Welles and how he influenced Peter in directing films and was also a great privilege to meet the great and awe inspiring director/actor Orson Welles. Also at the time of the meeting of Orson Welles there was quite an age gap, where Peter was 20 year of age and Orson was 50 years of age, but despite this Peter always felt that Orson had a very young outlook, but unfortunately health wise Orson Welles was not in the best of health and sadly at the age of 70 he passed away, and at the time of the meeting Orson predicted that when he is dead people will start to appreciate him so much more and of course his prediction has come to fruition, especially as a director of some of the most famous films ever released, especially in America from 1985 onwards. Peter also talks about the two directors that Orson Welles really admired and they were Jean Renoir and John Ford, and Orson especially loved the author P.J. Wodehouse and read to Peter some passages out of one of one his favourite books. When we get to the sequence in the Hall of Mirrors it is here that Peter points out the different framed apertures and we find out why Orson decided to have this part of the film in these different aspect ratios, and Peter was also very curious how Orson was able to film the actors in the mirrors without the camera not being viewed in the film. As we come to the end of the film, Peter comments that he feels Orson Welles is a towering genius and one that has inspired other people to go out there and make films also. So ends a really fascinating audio commentary, especially hearing so many interesting anecdotes about Orson Welles and there was sadly a lot more information from Peter that he revealed information on Orson Welles that I was not able include in this write up. I also found Peter Bogdanovich a really interesting person to listen to especially talking about his favourite and genius director Orson Welles who is up there as one of his best and true personal friend and if you want to find out totally fascinating information about the true genius that is Orson Welles, then this audio commentary will reveal all you want to know about this totally fascinating person Orson Welles, who I would of loved to have met and I can definitely assure you that this audio commentary definitely gets my five star rating and definitely not one to miss.
Special Feature: Simon Callow on ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ [2017] [1080] [1.78:1] [21:20] Here we have a brand new filmed appreciation piece by the acclaimed actor and Orson Welles scholar Simon Callow, who is totally passionate about the director and we hear some totally fascinating insight into all aspects about the director and his film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ We are informed by Simon Callow that at the time of Orson Welles personal film in 1947, he was going through a very rough patch in his overall career, but at the same time a previous director pulled out of directing the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI,’ so Orson Welles was brought in to rescue the project. At one point Orson felt he would like to try is hand into making a stage musical in collaboration with Cole Porter on “Around The World In 80 days,” but it all ended up in a total disaster, and it was an almighty flop and Orson owed vast amounts of money to the IRS. But out of the blue Harry Cohen of Columbia Pictures invited Orson Welles to direct the 1947 film, especially as it starred Rita Hayworth of the main leading lady, and the film was taken from the pulp fiction novel entitled “If I Die Before I Wake” by Sherwood King. Because Orson Welles wanted to film in certain locations it made Orson Welles and the crew very ill, all because of lots of logistic problems, but on top of all that the other woes for Orson Welles and the money problems were caused by the interference of the executives in not allowing Orson Welles to make the film how he had envisaged, but despite this, the end of the film in the Hall of Mirrors and that is definitely why Orson Welles is classed as a genius in pulling off such a dramatic end to the film. Simon Callow also points out that in his opinion Orson Welles is a total genius, but was always outwitted by much less intelligent people, and the director Mike Nichols also commented about the genius of Orson Welles, that the people who run the film studios are dumb. But as we come to the this very special feature, Simon Callow sums up that when you are a genius like Orson Welles, that at times he also felt like a genius, but when working in films you need people around you to support you, but unfortunately Orson Welles was a bit of a rebel and a loner who felt he did not need any help and all in all, in reality the studio executives were all in the end totally against Orson with his handling of the film, which unfortunately was his big downfall, which is a crying shame, as if he had been give 100% control, as well being given 100% support by the studio executives, I am sure Orson Welles would of produced another masterpiece as he envisaged, like the majority of his films that if Orson Welles had not had any interference by the studio executives would of produced even more true film masterpieces. Now despite this Simon Callow special is rather short, it certainly packs in a lot of information and is definitely well worth viewing and definitely gets a five star rating.
Special Feature: An Interview with Rita Hayworth [1970] [480i] [1.33:1] [4:01] Here we have a very rare archival black-and-white interview with the actress Rita Hayworth for the French TV programme entitled Pour le cinéma. In this 1970 interview, the actress Rita Hayworth, who looks really good for her age, talks about her involvement with the French film ‘The Road to Salina’ [1970] (French: La Route de Salina) and (Italian: Quando il sole scotta) and amazingly Rita Hayworth speaks sometimes in French and also talks about her collaboration with Orson Welles in the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ and also informs us how the actress really enjoyed working on that film and was also encourage to do some directing of Orson Welles and told him off for over acting in a particular scene. Despite being such a very short interview, it was really interesting to watch. Unfortunately there is no English Subtitles, only French Subtitles, and also I had to really crank the sound up. This interview was originally broadcast on the 5th April, 1970 and produced by the Official National de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française 1972. Material supplied by INA [institut national de l'audiovisuel].
Special Feature: A Discussion with Peter Bogdanovich [2000] [480i] [1.33:1] [00:00] Here we have the renowned filmmaker and author talks about Orson Welles and his film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ This is a highly entertaining interview that has director Peter Bogdanovich sitting down to discuss Orson Welles cult film classic ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI,’ which he describes the film as “a hell of a picture” and also with this interview we get loads of clips from the 1947 film, as well as Peter extolling the virtue of Orson Welles and how he feels he is a genius. Peter Bogdanovich was a close personal friend of Orson Welles so he is certainly one of the top people to discuss the legends work. The director shares all sorts of stories dealing with the history of the film including how it wasn't even on Orson Welles radar until his Broadway play of “Around the World in 80 Days” which was a total flop and also ran out of money and on top of all that Orson ran up massive amount of debts in the process and in the end studio executives tried to thwart Orson Welles career, as they thought he was an upstart, but along came Sam Spiegel in 1945 and helped to broker a deal to get Orson of a Black List and hired him to direct the film ‘The Stranger,’ which to everyone’s surprise was a massive box office hit. But out of the blue Harry Cohn contacted Orson Welles and offered up this film for $50,000 to direct the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ The production was full of problems including Orson Welles not wanting his then wife Rita Hayworth to be in the film and then her sickness pushed the film back for a month. Peter Bogdanovich also goes through all of the main actors and how they got their parts and especially the actor Everett Sloane who plays Arthur Bannister, who originally was one of the Mercury Players Theatre that was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City and Peter asked Orson Welles why was this lawyer had to be a cripple, and Orson felt that because Everett Sloane was a radio actor and did not move very well and he thought it would give the actor a much more interesting physical character. But unfortunately the film itself was totally jinxed, as a couple of the crew members died, lots of people got sick and especially Rita Hayworth, so again unfortunately Orson Welles got behind with the schedule, especially having to shut down production for one month. Peter talks about the scenes in the Hall of Mirrors and the symbolism it represented, which speaks for itself, in that it was very dynamic visually in especially being a totally theatrical thriller visual experience. But Peter also talks about the original cut of the film that was nearly 2 hours 30 minutes long and of course we are only able to view the shortened version that the studio executives totally ruined, which had roughly 60 minutes edited out, which really devastated Orson Welles, because the studio heads brought in a female film editor to edit the film that the studio executives approved of, because at the original longer film preview, the audiences did not like the film one bit. In America, the film got very bad reviews, also at the time no one wanted to talk to Orson Welles about the film, but there was one person in America who was a massive fan of the film and he was Truman Capote [Novelist] who could recite great swaths from the film line by line, but it was here in Europe that the film was a massive box office and cult success, and especially all of the other Orson Welles films. People always asked Orson why he would shoot certain scenes his way, and Orson would always reply that is the way he envisage a scene and also felt it was a much better way to shoot a scene, and Peter felt Orson was ahead of his time, but it also meant that he would always be in trouble, which blighted most of his career. So ends another interesting insight into the life and times of the genius that was Orson Welles and his constant battle he had with his 1947 film. Finally, the director talks about the various post-production problems including a couple of disastrous previews where the studio finally edited an hour out of the film and not following Orson Welles instructions. The director admits that we'll never know how great (or bad) the original version was but he talks about what he feels does work here. Best of all is that he can share a few stories that Orson Welles told him about the film and it's quite clear that he wasn't too thrilled with the end result. Fans of Orson Welles will certainly want to watch the film, especially after watching this interview with Peter Bogdanovich and even more so with the great informative stories and Peter Bogdanovich also gives you a few new thoughts about some of the material towards the film. But to sum up this Peter Bogdnaovich special feature, it was a really interesting to hear the directors views on this film and especially on Orson Welles and well worth viewing.
Special Feature: Joe Dante Trailer Commentary [2013] [480i] [1.78:1 / 1.33:1] [2:27] Here we have a short critical appreciation of the classic film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ Here also we are introduced to the director Joe Dante and does an audio commentary over the Theatrical Trailer being shown and also talks about the history of behind why Orson Welles wanted to make this film and the intrigue behind-the-scenes of the studio executives trying to frustrate Orson Welles in making this film. But as we come to this audio commentary, Joe Dante hopes that one day hopefully the original negative that ended up on the cutting room floor will be found, but also realises we will never be so lucky to find the missing scenes.
Theatrical Trailer [1947] [1080p] [1.37:1] [1:50] Here we have the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ and is certainly a good presentation.
Special Feature: Image Gallery [2017] [1080p] Here we get to view extensive on-set and Original Promotional Material images. To view all 60 stunning spectacular black-and-white and colour images, you have to press the right hand skip function button on your remote control.
BONUS: Limited edition exclusive printed 40 page booklet with a new essay entitled A BRIGHT, GUILTY WORLD: MAGIC AND MADNESS IN THE LADY FROM SHAGHAI by critic Samm Deighan who is the Associate Editor of the online DiaboliqueMagazine and also hosts the Daughters of Darkness podcast. Samm Deighan is also the editor of Satanic Pandemonium, and has contributed to Fangoria, Paracinema, and Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, among others, and Samm Deighan is currently writing a book on World War II and all aspect of the cult cinema. It also has an article entitled MUTINY ON THE ZACA by William Castle’s memoir entitled STEP RIGHT UP! . . . I’M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA about the details of his involvement in making of the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ as an associate producer. We also get included a nine-page memo from 1947, presented here in full, detailing Orson Welles unhappiness with changes made to his initial, temporary score to Harry Cohn. We also get an article entitled ABOUT THE RESTORATION about the in-depth use of the SONY 2012 4K restoration of ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ film as its source and the people involved with the process that includes comments by Grover Crisp, David Bernstein and Larry Chernoff. Finally, as an added bonus we get to some wonderful black-and-white images from the film.
Finally, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is true film genre classic, but like so many of Orson Welles films, that current evaluation doesn’t save it from the studio executives tampering with the film at the time, especially where Columbia Picture executives butchered the picture from 155 minutes to its current 87 minutes and ignored nearly all of Orson Welles editorial suggestions. Still despite not being allowed to see the amazing longer version, especially on par like his other film projects like ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ [1942], ‘Othello’ [1952], or ‘Touch of Evil’ [1958], is how much brilliance manages to shine through, despite the annoying artistic interference, budgetary constraints, or the comparably immaterial box office failure. There is, and still is, no question about the genius of auteur Orson Welles. The film is sometimes very difficult to understand and sometimes very perplexing, whereas the longer version would have revealed the true genius of Orson Welles masterful directorial touches, still despite the shorter length film, sure makes it well worth the effort, but hopefully in time the negatives of the longer film version will finally be released. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No1. Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
Baffling murders, fascinating plot twists and remarkable camera work all contribute to this spellbinding, time-honoured “film noir” written, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Hired to work on a yacht belonging to the disabled husband of femme fatale Rita Hayworth, Welles plays an innocent man drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue and murder.
The subject of great controversy and scandal upon its initial release, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ shocked 1948 audiences by presenting Rita Hayworth with her flaming red hair cut short and dyed champagne blonde. Fifty years later, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is considered vintage Orson Welles, especially with his famous hall of mirrors climax hailed as one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. Based on the novel “If I Die Before I Wake.”
FILM FACT: Other scenes were filmed in Acapulco. The yacht Zaca, on which many scenes take place, was owned by actor Errol Flynn, who skippered the yacht in between takes and can also be seen in the background in one scene at a cantina in Acapulco.
Cast: Orson Welles (Narrator), Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia, Erskine Sanford, Gus Schilling, Carl Frank, Louis Merrill, Evelyn Ellis and Harry Shannon
Director: Orson Welles
Producer: Orson Welles
Screenplay: Orson Welles, Charles Lederer (uncredited), Fletcher Markle (uncredited) and William Castle (uncredited)
Composers: Heinz Roemheld, Doris Fisher and Allen Roberts (song "Please Don't Kiss Me")
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr., Joseph Walker (uncredited) and Rudolph Maté (uncredited)
Video Resolution: 1080p [Black-and-White]
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 87 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Powerhouse Films
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ [1948] is an imaginative, complicated, unsettling film noir who-dun-it thriller, with fascinating visuals and tilting compositions, luminous and brilliant camerawork by Charles Lawton, Jr., and numerous sub-plots and confounding plot twists. Although the tale of betrayal, lust, greed and murder was filmed in late 1946 and finished in early 1947, it wasn't released until late in 1948 and it failed both at the box-office and as a critical success and sadly there were no Academy Award® nominations, which Orson Welles, was badly let down.
Irish sailor Michael O'Hara [Orson Wells] saves a beautiful woman from a robbery in Central Park; she turns out to be Elsa Bannister [Rita Hayworth], wife of the famed defence lawyer Arthur Bannister [Everett Sloane] who offers Michael O'Hara a job on his yacht, which is sailing from New York to San Francisco. During the voyage Michael O'Hara finds himself attracted to Elsa Bannister; at the same time, he becomes enmeshed in a Byzantine web of intrigue between Elsa Bannister, Arthur Bannister, and Arthur's partner George Grisby [Glenn Anders]. During a stop in Acapulco, George Grisby asks Michael O'Hara to pretend to murder him once they reach San Francisco so that he can collect his share of the insurance and run away to create a new life for himself. Michael O'Hara agrees, only to discover that he has been framed for a real murder; the only way out now is to allow none other than Arthur Bannister himself to defend his case in court.
The novel from which the film was adapted, was in fact entitled “If I Die Before I Wake;” in addition to that title, other working titles for the film included ‘Black Irish’ and ‘Take This Woman.’ William Castle, who later found fame as the producer/director of gimmicky horror films such as ‘House on Haunted Hill’ [1959], ‘The Tingler’ [1959] and ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ [1960], already owned the rights to the book. He consequently acted as an associate producer and may have contributed to the script. Woody Allen paid homage to the famous Hall of Mirrors scene in his film ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’ [1993].
Orson Welles' rough cut of the film ran approximately 155 minutes. When it tested poorly with preview audiences, the editor Viola Lawrence, at the request of the studio, cut out over an hour of footage, bringing the film to its current length of 87 minutes. The Chinese opera sequence and the funhouse sequence were originally much more elaborate set-pieces; Welles was particularly proud of the latter and has insisted that it would have been, if anything, more memorable than the climactic shootout in the hall of mirrors. Only a few stills remain to suggest what the funhouse sequence in its entirety might have looked like. However, even more than the cuts Welles objected to the musical score, which consists largely of quotations from the song "Please Don't Kiss Me" which Rita Hayworth sings on the yacht.
Jump cuts in the editing, the almost Brechtian distancing effect of the stylised performances, the doubling of the film frame in the Chinese theatre scene, the deep focus that disorients by giving far backgrounds equal weight with extreme close-ups, the use of optical devices ranging from water tumblers to windshields, especially in the film's most famous set pieces, aquarium glass and multiple mirrors, all of these serve to forefront the experience of watching cinema and to push the envelope of what is expected and permissible on screen.
Whether you like the film or not, you must admit the final scenes are truly brilliant. Not only was it technically impossible Hall of Mirrors scene, where we all say however did he do it is beyond me, but also the suspenseful Chinese theatre segment, the surreal and nightmarish funhouse, and the final scene between Elsa Bannister and Michael O'Hara, in which he performs one of the most coldest and unpunished actions during the Hays code years. And the films immortal final line, “Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying.”
Had this film been left in its original form, I’m certain it would be Orson Welles’s masterpiece (hopefully someday, somehow, the lost footage will pop up, or at least the score will be replaced with the intended one). Whereas ‘Citizen Kane’ manages to be visually beautiful yet still leaves one cold, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ possesses a soul, however a tragic, grotesque one. If a film can feel like an epic in only 88 minutes, imagine what the experience would have been like had it been in 150 minutes. We are never given many answers, like just what did Arthur Bannister have on Elsa Bannister, how was Elsa Bannister connected to the Chinese mafia, etc., but the mystery still keeps this film alive. However, even in its somewhat mutilated form ‘The Lady from Shanghai’ remains a well-acted and stylish example of the film noir. Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders in particular stand out and the film is distinguished by its striking deep-focus and chiaroscuro cinematography and a number of offbeat touches that only a director like Orson Welles could have dreamed up.
Given Orson Welles's reputation as an embattled genius and the fact that much of ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is superb, this is a film you really want to like. And one might, were Orson Welles's performance not so wretched and were the plot not as hard to navigate. All sorts of reasons have been put forward for the film's failure ranging from interference on the behalf of Harry Cohn to indifference on the part of Orson Welles. Whoever is responsible, the fact remains that this is a great film, but sadly let down by the studio’s 100% interference.
Blu-ray Video Quality – Powerhouse Films has given us a 4K restoration and re-mastered for Blu-ray in a stunning 1080p encoded image, the 1.37:1 aspect ratio transfer is a true thing of beauty. Not a scratch, spot, or speck of dust remains, and yet the film doesn’t look overly processed at all retaining amazing sharpness and the grey scale is very rich with deep blacks and crisp whites that is a pleasure to watch just for the sheer beauty of the photography by Charles Lawton Jr., and the shadow detail is terrific, and the contrast has been applied extremely very well, but this Blu-ray edition is definitely of top quality reference all the way. The only slight visual anomaly is when we have the shoot out in the Hall of Mirrors, here you get to view a strange aspect ratio, where the whole scene has a small black border top and bottom of the screen and was wondering why Orson Welles wanted it to be viewed this way.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Powerhouse Films has given us a really special 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio sound mix that offers the sound design of its era presented without any aural artefacts. Quite a bit of the dialogue was obviously looped, so there is that arid quality that comes with extensive looping of entire scenes, but the dialogue is certainly clearly presented, but I found at times it was out of sync and very off putting and has been mixed with surety with the sound effects, but it is helped along with the interesting Heinz Roemheld’s composers background music.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
4K restoration from the original negative.
Original 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio.
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Audio Commentary with filmmaker and Orson Welles expert Peter Bogdanovich: Here we are introduced to the director Peter Bogdanovich who talks glowingly about the Orson Welles film and is totally wonderfully throughout the whole audio commentary in conjunction with the film that is packed with loads fascinating anecdotes about Orson Welles the director, who spent a lot of time with Orson Welles when compiling his book on the director. Peter Bogdanovich at the start of the film that he first met Orson Welles at the end of 1968, because Peter had written a monograph about Orson Welles for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, New York in 1961, and sent it off to Orson Welles while he was living in Europe at the time. But out of the blue when Orson Welles happen to be in New York at the time telephoned Peter and informed him he was longing to meet him, which Peter informed Orson he was really keen to meet him as well, as he was a massive fan of all his work, so there and then Orson made an appointment to meet him the next day and Peter informs us that it was the best three hours he had ever experienced. In that meeting Orson informs him about his two films he is very proud of and those were ‘The Stranger’ and ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ despite all the logistic problems he encountered and at the time of the release of ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ whenever people met Orson they would avoid talking about the film as much as possible, but when Orson went to Europe they heaped massive praise on all his films he has produced. Orson also talks about another actress that was supposed to appear as the leading lady in the film ‘The Lady From Shanghai,’ but because it was a Harry Cohen film he insisted that Rita Hayworth would be the leading lady as Rita was under contract with Columbia Pictures. Orson Welles also told Peter that the final scene in the Hall of Mirrors was supposed to be completely silent, apart from the crashing of the mirrors with the gun shootout, but Harry Cohen insisted that the theme music had to be heard in the background and also throughout the film, which really annoyed Orson Welles and also comments about the first scenes in Central Park and felt that it was his worst acting scenes and was totally embarrassed when viewed at the film’s preview. Orson informed Peter about the very long memo sent to Harry Cohen that he did not want the continuous theme music played throughout the film and what specific sounds he wanted to be heard in the film and of course Harry Cohen completely ignored Orson Welles instructions. At a certain point of the film Peter talks about certain scenes in the film where the actors are in hammocks, where Peter feels this is a very chilling part in the film where they talk about sharks, which relates to evil people, and feels it is one of the best scenes in the film. By the way if you listen to this audio commentary, listen out for the most hilarious anecdote about Harry Cohen on previewing a film with Fritz Lang and informs him that the film is 16 minutes too long and Fritz Lang asks Harry Cohen how does he know this and what you hear will make you laugh out loud. We find out that the film composer Bernard Herrmann was first used by Orson Welles long before Alfred Hitchcock used him, especially in his Mercury Radio programmes and especially on two of Orson Welles famous films, and Orson wished he had been able to use Bernard Herrmann on the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ Peter talks about the meeting he had with Orson Welles and how he influenced Peter in directing films and was also a great privilege to meet the great and awe inspiring director/actor Orson Welles. Also at the time of the meeting of Orson Welles there was quite an age gap, where Peter was 20 year of age and Orson was 50 years of age, but despite this Peter always felt that Orson had a very young outlook, but unfortunately health wise Orson Welles was not in the best of health and sadly at the age of 70 he passed away, and at the time of the meeting Orson predicted that when he is dead people will start to appreciate him so much more and of course his prediction has come to fruition, especially as a director of some of the most famous films ever released, especially in America from 1985 onwards. Peter also talks about the two directors that Orson Welles really admired and they were Jean Renoir and John Ford, and Orson especially loved the author P.J. Wodehouse and read to Peter some passages out of one of one his favourite books. When we get to the sequence in the Hall of Mirrors it is here that Peter points out the different framed apertures and we find out why Orson decided to have this part of the film in these different aspect ratios, and Peter was also very curious how Orson was able to film the actors in the mirrors without the camera not being viewed in the film. As we come to the end of the film, Peter comments that he feels Orson Welles is a towering genius and one that has inspired other people to go out there and make films also. So ends a really fascinating audio commentary, especially hearing so many interesting anecdotes about Orson Welles and there was sadly a lot more information from Peter that he revealed information on Orson Welles that I was not able include in this write up. I also found Peter Bogdanovich a really interesting person to listen to especially talking about his favourite and genius director Orson Welles who is up there as one of his best and true personal friend and if you want to find out totally fascinating information about the true genius that is Orson Welles, then this audio commentary will reveal all you want to know about this totally fascinating person Orson Welles, who I would of loved to have met and I can definitely assure you that this audio commentary definitely gets my five star rating and definitely not one to miss.
Special Feature: Simon Callow on ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ [2017] [1080] [1.78:1] [21:20] Here we have a brand new filmed appreciation piece by the acclaimed actor and Orson Welles scholar Simon Callow, who is totally passionate about the director and we hear some totally fascinating insight into all aspects about the director and his film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ We are informed by Simon Callow that at the time of Orson Welles personal film in 1947, he was going through a very rough patch in his overall career, but at the same time a previous director pulled out of directing the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI,’ so Orson Welles was brought in to rescue the project. At one point Orson felt he would like to try is hand into making a stage musical in collaboration with Cole Porter on “Around The World In 80 days,” but it all ended up in a total disaster, and it was an almighty flop and Orson owed vast amounts of money to the IRS. But out of the blue Harry Cohen of Columbia Pictures invited Orson Welles to direct the 1947 film, especially as it starred Rita Hayworth of the main leading lady, and the film was taken from the pulp fiction novel entitled “If I Die Before I Wake” by Sherwood King. Because Orson Welles wanted to film in certain locations it made Orson Welles and the crew very ill, all because of lots of logistic problems, but on top of all that the other woes for Orson Welles and the money problems were caused by the interference of the executives in not allowing Orson Welles to make the film how he had envisaged, but despite this, the end of the film in the Hall of Mirrors and that is definitely why Orson Welles is classed as a genius in pulling off such a dramatic end to the film. Simon Callow also points out that in his opinion Orson Welles is a total genius, but was always outwitted by much less intelligent people, and the director Mike Nichols also commented about the genius of Orson Welles, that the people who run the film studios are dumb. But as we come to the this very special feature, Simon Callow sums up that when you are a genius like Orson Welles, that at times he also felt like a genius, but when working in films you need people around you to support you, but unfortunately Orson Welles was a bit of a rebel and a loner who felt he did not need any help and all in all, in reality the studio executives were all in the end totally against Orson with his handling of the film, which unfortunately was his big downfall, which is a crying shame, as if he had been give 100% control, as well being given 100% support by the studio executives, I am sure Orson Welles would of produced another masterpiece as he envisaged, like the majority of his films that if Orson Welles had not had any interference by the studio executives would of produced even more true film masterpieces. Now despite this Simon Callow special is rather short, it certainly packs in a lot of information and is definitely well worth viewing and definitely gets a five star rating.
Special Feature: An Interview with Rita Hayworth [1970] [480i] [1.33:1] [4:01] Here we have a very rare archival black-and-white interview with the actress Rita Hayworth for the French TV programme entitled Pour le cinéma. In this 1970 interview, the actress Rita Hayworth, who looks really good for her age, talks about her involvement with the French film ‘The Road to Salina’ [1970] (French: La Route de Salina) and (Italian: Quando il sole scotta) and amazingly Rita Hayworth speaks sometimes in French and also talks about her collaboration with Orson Welles in the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ and also informs us how the actress really enjoyed working on that film and was also encourage to do some directing of Orson Welles and told him off for over acting in a particular scene. Despite being such a very short interview, it was really interesting to watch. Unfortunately there is no English Subtitles, only French Subtitles, and also I had to really crank the sound up. This interview was originally broadcast on the 5th April, 1970 and produced by the Official National de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française 1972. Material supplied by INA [institut national de l'audiovisuel].
Special Feature: A Discussion with Peter Bogdanovich [2000] [480i] [1.33:1] [00:00] Here we have the renowned filmmaker and author talks about Orson Welles and his film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ This is a highly entertaining interview that has director Peter Bogdanovich sitting down to discuss Orson Welles cult film classic ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI,’ which he describes the film as “a hell of a picture” and also with this interview we get loads of clips from the 1947 film, as well as Peter extolling the virtue of Orson Welles and how he feels he is a genius. Peter Bogdanovich was a close personal friend of Orson Welles so he is certainly one of the top people to discuss the legends work. The director shares all sorts of stories dealing with the history of the film including how it wasn't even on Orson Welles radar until his Broadway play of “Around the World in 80 Days” which was a total flop and also ran out of money and on top of all that Orson ran up massive amount of debts in the process and in the end studio executives tried to thwart Orson Welles career, as they thought he was an upstart, but along came Sam Spiegel in 1945 and helped to broker a deal to get Orson of a Black List and hired him to direct the film ‘The Stranger,’ which to everyone’s surprise was a massive box office hit. But out of the blue Harry Cohn contacted Orson Welles and offered up this film for $50,000 to direct the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ The production was full of problems including Orson Welles not wanting his then wife Rita Hayworth to be in the film and then her sickness pushed the film back for a month. Peter Bogdanovich also goes through all of the main actors and how they got their parts and especially the actor Everett Sloane who plays Arthur Bannister, who originally was one of the Mercury Players Theatre that was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City and Peter asked Orson Welles why was this lawyer had to be a cripple, and Orson felt that because Everett Sloane was a radio actor and did not move very well and he thought it would give the actor a much more interesting physical character. But unfortunately the film itself was totally jinxed, as a couple of the crew members died, lots of people got sick and especially Rita Hayworth, so again unfortunately Orson Welles got behind with the schedule, especially having to shut down production for one month. Peter talks about the scenes in the Hall of Mirrors and the symbolism it represented, which speaks for itself, in that it was very dynamic visually in especially being a totally theatrical thriller visual experience. But Peter also talks about the original cut of the film that was nearly 2 hours 30 minutes long and of course we are only able to view the shortened version that the studio executives totally ruined, which had roughly 60 minutes edited out, which really devastated Orson Welles, because the studio heads brought in a female film editor to edit the film that the studio executives approved of, because at the original longer film preview, the audiences did not like the film one bit. In America, the film got very bad reviews, also at the time no one wanted to talk to Orson Welles about the film, but there was one person in America who was a massive fan of the film and he was Truman Capote [Novelist] who could recite great swaths from the film line by line, but it was here in Europe that the film was a massive box office and cult success, and especially all of the other Orson Welles films. People always asked Orson why he would shoot certain scenes his way, and Orson would always reply that is the way he envisage a scene and also felt it was a much better way to shoot a scene, and Peter felt Orson was ahead of his time, but it also meant that he would always be in trouble, which blighted most of his career. So ends another interesting insight into the life and times of the genius that was Orson Welles and his constant battle he had with his 1947 film. Finally, the director talks about the various post-production problems including a couple of disastrous previews where the studio finally edited an hour out of the film and not following Orson Welles instructions. The director admits that we'll never know how great (or bad) the original version was but he talks about what he feels does work here. Best of all is that he can share a few stories that Orson Welles told him about the film and it's quite clear that he wasn't too thrilled with the end result. Fans of Orson Welles will certainly want to watch the film, especially after watching this interview with Peter Bogdanovich and even more so with the great informative stories and Peter Bogdanovich also gives you a few new thoughts about some of the material towards the film. But to sum up this Peter Bogdnaovich special feature, it was a really interesting to hear the directors views on this film and especially on Orson Welles and well worth viewing.
Special Feature: Joe Dante Trailer Commentary [2013] [480i] [1.78:1 / 1.33:1] [2:27] Here we have a short critical appreciation of the classic film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.’ Here also we are introduced to the director Joe Dante and does an audio commentary over the Theatrical Trailer being shown and also talks about the history of behind why Orson Welles wanted to make this film and the intrigue behind-the-scenes of the studio executives trying to frustrate Orson Welles in making this film. But as we come to this audio commentary, Joe Dante hopes that one day hopefully the original negative that ended up on the cutting room floor will be found, but also realises we will never be so lucky to find the missing scenes.
Theatrical Trailer [1947] [1080p] [1.37:1] [1:50] Here we have the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ and is certainly a good presentation.
Special Feature: Image Gallery [2017] [1080p] Here we get to view extensive on-set and Original Promotional Material images. To view all 60 stunning spectacular black-and-white and colour images, you have to press the right hand skip function button on your remote control.
BONUS: Limited edition exclusive printed 40 page booklet with a new essay entitled A BRIGHT, GUILTY WORLD: MAGIC AND MADNESS IN THE LADY FROM SHAGHAI by critic Samm Deighan who is the Associate Editor of the online DiaboliqueMagazine and also hosts the Daughters of Darkness podcast. Samm Deighan is also the editor of Satanic Pandemonium, and has contributed to Fangoria, Paracinema, and Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, among others, and Samm Deighan is currently writing a book on World War II and all aspect of the cult cinema. It also has an article entitled MUTINY ON THE ZACA by William Castle’s memoir entitled STEP RIGHT UP! . . . I’M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA about the details of his involvement in making of the film ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ as an associate producer. We also get included a nine-page memo from 1947, presented here in full, detailing Orson Welles unhappiness with changes made to his initial, temporary score to Harry Cohn. We also get an article entitled ABOUT THE RESTORATION about the in-depth use of the SONY 2012 4K restoration of ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ film as its source and the people involved with the process that includes comments by Grover Crisp, David Bernstein and Larry Chernoff. Finally, as an added bonus we get to some wonderful black-and-white images from the film.
Finally, ‘THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI’ is true film genre classic, but like so many of Orson Welles films, that current evaluation doesn’t save it from the studio executives tampering with the film at the time, especially where Columbia Picture executives butchered the picture from 155 minutes to its current 87 minutes and ignored nearly all of Orson Welles editorial suggestions. Still despite not being allowed to see the amazing longer version, especially on par like his other film projects like ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ [1942], ‘Othello’ [1952], or ‘Touch of Evil’ [1958], is how much brilliance manages to shine through, despite the annoying artistic interference, budgetary constraints, or the comparably immaterial box office failure. There is, and still is, no question about the genius of auteur Orson Welles. The film is sometimes very difficult to understand and sometimes very perplexing, whereas the longer version would have revealed the true genius of Orson Welles masterful directorial touches, still despite the shorter length film, sure makes it well worth the effort, but hopefully in time the negatives of the longer film version will finally be released. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No1. Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
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Jack Ransom
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Lady from Shanghai
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2021Verified Purchase
*3 and a half out of 5*
Iconic director Orson Welles’ writes, directs and stars in this noir tale. The Lady from Shanghai follows seaman Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles), whom after becoming fascinated by the mysterious and beautiful Mrs. Bannister (Rita Hayworth) joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mixed up in a complex murder plot.
Definitely one of the most entertaining noirs on my watchlist. Being helmed by Charles Foster Kane himself and starring the magnetic Rita Hayworth who delivered a star turning performance in Gilda the year prior. The technical elements are strong and the film has the performances to match. It’s just unfortunate that the story itself is lacklustre in its thrills and hindered by its choppy and jumpy pacing.
Though the exotic locations and heavy emphasis on at sea adventures to make it standout from other genre features. The narrative itself isn’t really affected by this too much and the many noir traits that you will have seen before. Unfortunately this does hinder its surprises and thrills, though the intensity and the lighter and romantic inflicted moments. The film transitions into a courtroom drama section which does halt the pacing, despite its energetic atmosphere, before ending on a truly standout finale sequence.
Said sequence is easily the highlight of the film. Set in a hallucinogenic and nightmarish fairground attraction hall of mirrors, this finale is an explosive glass covered showcase of fantastic grippy editing, superb cinematography and a haunting pre-end title parting shot. There are several excellent shots throughout and creative lighting and shadow techniques, with another highlight being the hypnotic aquarium backdrop for a key scene between Michael and Elsa. There is some quick cutting scene transitions that are a little jarring, and as mentioned at the start the structure and flow of the film isn’t smooth, with noticeable jumping and choppiness.
Welles’ Irish accent is a little jarring at first and is slightly iffy throughout the duration of the film. His concerned yet good natured approach, hides a rebellious edge that could arise from beneath the surface and a rage that does break through occasionally. Rita Hayworth brings that magnetic screen presence once again, but with a less optimistic and charismatic portrayal. This bleaker and dramatic heavy role allows Hayworth to bring a different presence, though the femme fatale cliches are all on display. The supporting roles are charismatically performed, but they aren’t particularly interesting.
The Lady from Shanghai is a solid film noir and features some standout moments and a fantastic finale sequence. The technical elements and performances are strong, but the overall thrills and story uniqueness unfortunately don’t live up to several other genre instalments.
Iconic director Orson Welles’ writes, directs and stars in this noir tale. The Lady from Shanghai follows seaman Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles), whom after becoming fascinated by the mysterious and beautiful Mrs. Bannister (Rita Hayworth) joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mixed up in a complex murder plot.
Definitely one of the most entertaining noirs on my watchlist. Being helmed by Charles Foster Kane himself and starring the magnetic Rita Hayworth who delivered a star turning performance in Gilda the year prior. The technical elements are strong and the film has the performances to match. It’s just unfortunate that the story itself is lacklustre in its thrills and hindered by its choppy and jumpy pacing.
Though the exotic locations and heavy emphasis on at sea adventures to make it standout from other genre features. The narrative itself isn’t really affected by this too much and the many noir traits that you will have seen before. Unfortunately this does hinder its surprises and thrills, though the intensity and the lighter and romantic inflicted moments. The film transitions into a courtroom drama section which does halt the pacing, despite its energetic atmosphere, before ending on a truly standout finale sequence.
Said sequence is easily the highlight of the film. Set in a hallucinogenic and nightmarish fairground attraction hall of mirrors, this finale is an explosive glass covered showcase of fantastic grippy editing, superb cinematography and a haunting pre-end title parting shot. There are several excellent shots throughout and creative lighting and shadow techniques, with another highlight being the hypnotic aquarium backdrop for a key scene between Michael and Elsa. There is some quick cutting scene transitions that are a little jarring, and as mentioned at the start the structure and flow of the film isn’t smooth, with noticeable jumping and choppiness.
Welles’ Irish accent is a little jarring at first and is slightly iffy throughout the duration of the film. His concerned yet good natured approach, hides a rebellious edge that could arise from beneath the surface and a rage that does break through occasionally. Rita Hayworth brings that magnetic screen presence once again, but with a less optimistic and charismatic portrayal. This bleaker and dramatic heavy role allows Hayworth to bring a different presence, though the femme fatale cliches are all on display. The supporting roles are charismatically performed, but they aren’t particularly interesting.
The Lady from Shanghai is a solid film noir and features some standout moments and a fantastic finale sequence. The technical elements and performances are strong, but the overall thrills and story uniqueness unfortunately don’t live up to several other genre instalments.
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Wendell G.
5.0 out of 5 stars
What I want to know is...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2021Verified Purchase
...is it worth up grading an existing copy or a copy worth buying. So many reviews are people showing off being film critics. I want to know if the product meets my expectations. i have bought a film that look S*** because they don't talk about the product
Yes. Crisp transfer, a great watch.
The film? I fell in love with Rita Hayworth with this movie. The only disappointment is it is in monochrome and I am a sucker for red heads.
Get past Welles 'Oi-rish' accent and it is another of his master pieces.
It's worth buying for the final 'fun-park' ending alone.
Yes. Crisp transfer, a great watch.
The film? I fell in love with Rita Hayworth with this movie. The only disappointment is it is in monochrome and I am a sucker for red heads.
Get past Welles 'Oi-rish' accent and it is another of his master pieces.
It's worth buying for the final 'fun-park' ending alone.
J. Storey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Try this underated Orson Welles film.you wont be disapointed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 27, 2018Verified Purchase
Not many film fans will say this was a classic Orson Welles film.I would strongly disagree
The camera shots on location (I believe Alcapulco) on Errol Flynns sailing vessel) are wonderful.
agreed the film is hard to follow! but persevere with it and find gold.the aquarium shots
the classic funfair (many times copied never bettered.)Ava Garner-The master Orson Welles
then married to Ava Gardner both give great peformances/I agree orson shouldnt have put on the Irish accent!
So to sum up give it a serious try,im sure you will get something hauntingly good to remember in years to come
The camera shots on location (I believe Alcapulco) on Errol Flynns sailing vessel) are wonderful.
agreed the film is hard to follow! but persevere with it and find gold.the aquarium shots
the classic funfair (many times copied never bettered.)Ava Garner-The master Orson Welles
then married to Ava Gardner both give great peformances/I agree orson shouldnt have put on the Irish accent!
So to sum up give it a serious try,im sure you will get something hauntingly good to remember in years to come
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CHRISTOPHER TRUMAN
5.0 out of 5 stars
TANTALISING AND COMPLEX: The Beauty and the Beast
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2021Verified Purchase
A scary expose of period manners now and a brutal period America and a quasi-Sapphic sub-plot; The Lady was a courtezan, a croupier hooker in tough Shanghai who became a bought bride with her own sexuality.
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