Review of The Lady from Shanghai (1947) by Robert K — 01 Mar 2011

I feel bad for Welles, whose film was obviously butchered and truncated; this film moves way too damn fast for its own good. His direction and sense of visual style are as impressive as ever, but Welles' story stops and starts, with a relatively uninteresting first half sloppily thrown together with a second half that gradually becomes more exciting.

Perhaps if we had time to get to know these characters, there might have been more dramatic weight. As it is, all this movie can be is a suggestion of what might have been. Maybe some day all that lost footage will be found and reintegrated to make a more cogent whole.

Also, whatever possessed Orson Welles to be Irish, it was an unfortunate decision.