I'm starting to sense a trend with Orson Welles movies. The Lady from Shanghai is a movie that ended up being edited beyond Welles' control, thus the version we see is not really the version Welles made. And his movies grow in stature over time, but were mostly met to mixed reviews when they were released.
I'm not exactly sure those mixed reviews were wrong though. Citizen Kane, that was well-received at the time and deservedly so. But it seems like more modern critics are giving Welles credit for being innovative or creative with how he shoots a movie without actually factoring in that the movie still has to be good.
The Lady from Shanghai is a film noir. I'm a sucker for film noir. Although I must give out the disclaimer that for being a film noir, this is a very strange one. I can't think of another film noir that has the main character on trial for murder halfway into the film. Usually, yes they are framed for murder, but that's the endgame. Or rather that's the plot that kicks it off.
Okay so I think the biggest problem of this movie is probably that the main character is dumb as dirt. Like film noir operates with the main lead falling for a woman and that causes him to do things he shouldn't do. At least that's one way a film noir can go. But, and I can't possibly explain the whole plot, but O'Hara is convinced to fake murder a guy, and then this guy will disappear, and because there's no body, he won't be arrested.
This is incredibly dumb. I don't care how much money you pay me, I am not going to pretend to kill some dude and have the police think I'm a murderer. Not to mention that it seems like a set-up and of course it is. The stupidity one has to have to go along with this plot is ridiculous. And then the plot just becomes bananas after that, to the point where I can't possibly explain it.
Welles is okay, but unfortunately saddled himself with an Irish accent, and it's not really something that sounds natural or convincing to me at least. It probably doesn't help that Welles doesn't look Irish at all, like it just sounds weird when an Irish accent is coming out of his mouth. Rita Hayworth is appropriate for the femme fetale role, alluring and mysterious. Glenn Anders as the guy who wants O'Hara to fake kill him, is actually pretty annoying in this movie, with one of the worst cases of 1940s acting that you'll see. It's hard to explain, but basically watch any modern day parody of a film noir, and it's pretty much exactly his acting
The reason to watch this movie, however, is easily the final showdown. You've seen a variation of this scene before I imagine. It's a Hall of Mirrors scene. I have no idea how he filmed this with 1946 technology, but it looks amazing. Just truly inventive filmmaking for its time and I'd be inclined to think this scene alone is why its reputation has rose over time. Hell, this looks awesome if it was made today.
Really though, you're here to see how good the movie is, not how well it was filmed. Sometimes those two things are correlated. And while the Hall of Mirrors scene absolutely holds up, the plot does not and you're going to spend most of the movie confused. Maybe that's your cup of tea. But there's that Hall of Mirrors sequence. It's worth the price of watching this movie by itself to be honest.
2.5/4 stars
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