"The Lady from Shanghai" Review

 

by Daniel White

"You need more than luck in Shanghai."

The gorgeous Rita Hayworth knowingly says that line in The Lady from Shanghai, an amazing slice of skullduggery, courtesy of Mr. Orson Welles. After recently sitting through the exquisite-looking yet stale tomfoolery of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, what a pleasure it was to bask in this intentional piece of chicanery. One was a pretentious mess that aimed for the ethereal and missed. The other? An earthy AND poetic near-masterpiece that soars to the heavens.

Why the comparison between the two? Because both featured two of Hollywood's succulent sex goddesses from the Golden Age, Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth. The difference? The screenplays, with Orson Welles (among others) penning an extraordinary piece of writing. It's a nutty, lyrical joyride that the gifted, no longer boy genius takes us on. Does any of it make sense? Absolutely not! Does it matter? Hardly.

Displaying a pronounced Irish brogue, Orson plays Michael O'Hara, a worldly yet gullible seaman who allows himself to be hoodwinked by the alluring Elsa Bannister (Hayworth). Drawn into the nasty, fetid world she inhabits with her husband, lawyer Arthur (Everett Sloane), and his twisted partner Grisby (an incredibly greasy turn by the great Glenn Anders), "Black Irish" Mike is soon in way over his head.

A phony accent for Welles, a counterfeit bleached blonde hairdo for Hayworth, whose trademark red locks have been removed (sending studio head Harry Cohn into paralytic spasms). The Lady from Shanghai is all about fakery, falseness. Lies, subterfuge, missteps and misconceptions. Both on the silver screen and off... Their marriage ending, the estranged couple make for a fascinating cinematic duo, with Welles revealing an ugly side to one of America's favorite pin-up gals. How brave (desperate?) Hayworth was, to allow her soon to be ex-husband to expose her in this graphic manner. Mortally wounded, slithering across the floor of the illusive fun house, pleading with the demoralized O'Hara not to leave her alone while she dies... It's a transformative, defining scene in film history. Rita Hayworth felt trapped in the glossy, hypersexual image that Cohn (and her adoring audience) ensnared her in. For one poignant, telling moment, Orson Welles freed her.

Directed by an uncredited Welles, The Lady from Shanghai is a Columbia Pictures production with the always dependable Jean Louis clothing our stunning star. The Lady from Shanghai is available on YouTube.