Review of The Lady from Shanghai (1947) by Visitorq S — 10 Nov 2010

Technically the film is a masterpiece as Welles was seemingly so far ahead of everyone else when it came to making films when this was released. I think up to 1950 he was even ahead of Hitchcock. His cinematography is almost always fresh and vibrant and he places his camera and creates shots that others just didn't bother with.

I know he owes a lot to Gregg Toland, but Toland didn't work on this so obviously Welles had an eye himself. Where the film and Welles lacks is in story. What the hell was going on in this film I still don't really know.

The narrative is disjointed and confusing. According to Peter Travers (watched on TCM) Welles was making commentary on Hollywood and his marriage to Hayworth. That's nice and all but what if the viewer has no prior knowledge of any of this? Shouldn't the film stand alone AND make commentary? Just a poor story.

And the Irish brogue? Ugh. On the flip side to that Rita Hayworth is just amazing to look at, and for her to be a blonde? Man oh man!