“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!!!
😉 😀
"You Jivin' Me, Turkey?" 
Never saw this one. I’ll have to put it on my Netflix queue.
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It’s Fun, Dude. Even Though, I Don’t Think It Was Meant To Be Fun. I Think ORSON Took The Project Very Seriously. But, In The End, Fun Was My Favorite Describing Word.
It’s Not Better Than “Citizen Kane” Just More Fun. “Touch Of Evil” Is Still My Fave Fave WELLES Film. Period AND Fo SHO. 🙂
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I love it, as always! 🙂
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Spanx, Ms. Jaz! I Know I Can Always Count On Your Kind Words To Help Me Limp-Along A Bit Better Than I Was Prior To Reading Them. 😉
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LOL you help me limp along to Bradley!
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I’ve only seen one Orson Welles I think…and I can’t remember which one…but I know it wasn’t this one…I should check this out.
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He’s An Acquired Taste, Ms. Misty. But This One Doesn’t Take A Purest To Firmly Grasp. If You’re Not Into “Citizen Kane” Then I’d Totally Suggest “The Lady From Shanghai” and “Touch Of Evil” Both Of Which Are Much More Fun Than “…Kane” hehehe
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I think “Touch of Evil” was the one I watched!! Is there an explosion? Wow, that was a vague question I know, lol.
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Yes Ma’am. It Opens The Flick. So That’s Totally Possible It’s The One You Saw. 🙂
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If you like Welles, check out one of his great soliloquies at the end of “Compulsion.” There’s a lot of great ones in his filmography, but it’s one of my favorites. Great post, Brad.
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I Can Totally Do That…
…Provided You Loan It To Me hahaha
I’m Slightly Strapped For Cash At The Moment, So I Won’t Be Able To Buy Any DVDs/Blu-rays For A Bit. 😉
Thank You For The Compliment On The Piece, Dude.
You Know I Always Love Hearing Your Opinion On These Things.
You May Be A BFF, But You’re Also THE GUY I KNOW Whom Has Actually Seen A Lot Of These Flicks hahaha
Thanks Again, DUde.
-B.
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