The Lady from Shanghai
?Directed by Orson Welles?
?Written by Sherwood King, Orson Welles?
The review:
Orson Welles does an Irish accent and takes the noir film to a bunch of sunny locals for an interesting night at the cinema.* Everyone really dug into their characters, none more so than Glenn Anders, who played his part with a sweaty dedication. There were also twists a plenty, and some dramatic visuals as befits the dude who made Citizen Kane.**
The verdict: Good
Cost: Free via TV Time app on Roku TV (But get ready to see the same commercials repeated.)
Where watched: at home
Consider also watching all of the Filmspotting 40’s Noir Marathon movies:
- The Letter
- This Gun for Hire
- Laura
- Detour
- The Lady from Shanghai
- White Heat (which I haven’t watched yet, but will!)
- Link to the Filmspotting Marthons page is here
Further sentences:
*So much sun and fun! (But that underbelly of darkness followed them, don’t worry) I loved that we seemed to be getting location shots, rather than sound stage shots.
**”This movie is awesome!” I cackled aloud near the end.
Questions:
- What did you think of the treatment of all the people of color who wandered through this film?
- What are your favorite Rita Heyworth and Orson Welles movies?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn told Orson Welles he would never again hire one man to produce, direct and act because he could never fire him.
Also this:
In the aquarium scene, the tanks were shot separately, enlarged, and matted in to make the sea creatures appear more monstrous and loom closer to the actors.
Other reviews of The Lady from Shanghai:
- Josh Larsen, “Larsen on Film”
- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
