Sunday, April 19, 2015

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948)

HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE
(Post 17 of 50)


This Orson Welles's late 40's film noir is definitely not his most accessible film. The plot involves Irishman Michael O'Hara (Welles) who falls hard for a tasty blonde who is married to a jealous husband and gets caught up in a game of deception and blackmail. The film is full of plot twists and includes a memorable finale set inside a hall of mirrors of an abandoned amusement park. Orson's wife of the time Rita Hayworth is quite good in an unusual and challenging role for her.

And the Elisha Cook Jr. supporting player award goes to…Everett Sloane. Sloane is best know as Kane's worshipful associate Bernstein in Citizen Kane. With that character in mind, it is interesting to see him in The Lady from Shanghai as Hayworth's jealous lawyer husband who grows to detest and tries to set up Michael O' Hara. He plays a brilliant attorney with bad legs and and unfortunately beautiful wife. It's film noir and those dames will always lead to your downfall.
  

2 comments:

  1. That finale is really awesome. It is exciting and it is a perfect analogy to the plot twists of the story. You just never know where you have people.

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  2. As with seemingly all of the Welles films, it has grown in stature over time.

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