Review of The Lady from Shanghai (1947) by Mary H — 02 Jun 2008

"The Lady From Shanghai".

Orson Welles plays Irish long shoreman, Michael O'Hara. He meets Elsa Bannister, played by Rita Hayworth on the street and falls in love with her. That is until he finds out that she's married.

All of a sudden, her crippled up husband shows up to ask him to crew his yaght. Most people would have walked away from that as quickly as they could, but for some strange reason, Michael, goes on board.

You can tell that this movie was written by Orson Welles. His Michael O'Hara seems to be very worldly and smart with his Irish brogue. He has some insightful comments about Elsa and her Husband, but he still manages to get himself mixed up with these people and a twisted murder plot that most people would have avoided.

Perhaps it was Elsa's beauty. Rita Hayworth is so beautiful in this movie. Both lead characters have been around the world and have been around the block a few times. This seems to be what attracts them to each other. Although the Elsa character isn't exactly a femme fatale, and Michael keeps a certain amount of distance. He's still attracted to her.

This film is well known for the hall of mirrors shoot out scenes, but there are some other interesting background characters and enough going on for me to recommend this movie. This DVD is part of the Rita Hayworth box set collection and is a very nice DVD to have in your collection.