“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“
…May Not Be Exactly What ORSON WELLES Had Envisioned…
(((His Original-Cut Was About 155-Minutes, The Studio Release-Cut Was About 87-Minutes)))
…But You Can Totally Still See Plenty Of His Vision.
I Will Say It’s Loaded With Intrigue…
…Murder…
…Plot Twists…
…Exceptional, Quirk’ish Acting…
…And Quirk’ish’ly Exceptional Directing.
The Film Stars…
RITA HAYWORTH as “Elsa Bannister“/“Rosalie“
(((HAYWORTH Was Actually Still Married To WELLES At The Time This Flick Was Made)))
ORSON WELLES as “Michael O’Hara“
(((WELLES Also Wrote The Screenplay, Produced AND Directed)))
&
EVERETT SLOANE as “Arthur Bannister“
(((SLOANE Was Also A Performer With WELLES' "Mercury Players")))
*** *** ***
Michael O’Hara, against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister’s yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby, Bannister’s law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Rosalie, who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby’s weird plan to fake his (Grisby’s) murder so he can disappear untailed. He wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Rosalie. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how. Bannister (the actual murderer?) defends Michael in court. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com> (Via The IMDB ((http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040525/plotsummary)))
*** *** ***
“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“
…Is Now Over 65-Years-Old.
Yet, It Remains As Wildly Fun As It Ever Has.
As Others Have Said Of This Film…
…It Is TOTALLY Classic ORSON WELLES.
Kinda Hard Not To Be Since He Wrote, Starred-In, Produced, And Directed It.
“CITIZEN KANE“
…Is The Flick Most People Remember When Thinking About ORSON WELLES.
Of That, There Can Be No Debate.
But, Sometimes I’d Much Rather Kick-It-Back And Watch…
“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“
Period.
It’s A Lot More Fun, That’s A BIG Fo SHO.
When I Watch “CITIZEN KANE” I Say…
"Well, Now I've Seen It. I Can Totally Understand Why It's Such An Important Flick. I Might Watch It Again At Some Point."
When I See “THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI” I Say…
"Did I Just See What I Think I Just Saw?! I'm Gonna Have To Watch This One Again!"
See The Difference?
Trust Me, Watch Them Both.
Then You’ll Totally Get My Jive, My Peeps.
And It’s Worth It!
It’s So VERY Worth It!
No Foolies, Kids.
Sooo…
…If You Like Quality Murder-Mystery-Noir-Thrillers…
…And ORSON WELLES‘ Unique Filmmaker Qualities…
…I Say Give This One A Go.
“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“
…May Very Well Be Right Up Your Proverbial Alley, My Peeps.
You Really Should Trust Me On This One.
Give It A Go, Fo SHO Fo SHO!
M’Kay?!?
MMM’KAY!!!
