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The Lady from Shanghai
 
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The Lady from Shanghai

Rita Hayworth (Actor), Orson Welles (Actor), Orson Welles (Director) | Format: DVD
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Orson Welles more or less conned studio boss Harry Cohn over the phone into making this movie by grabbing the title from a nearby paperback. In any case, The Lady from Shanghai is one of Welles's most fascinating works, a bizarre tale of an Irish sailor (Welles) who accompanies a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her handicapped husband (Everett Sloane) on a cruise and becomes involved in a murder plot. But never mind all that (the aforementioned legend also claims that Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him). The film is really a dream of Welles's driving preoccupations on- and offscreen at the time: the elusiveness of identity, the mystique of things lost, and most of all the director's faltering marriage to Hayworth. In the tradition of male filmmakers who indirectly tell the story of their love affairs with leading ladies, Welles tells his own, photographing Hayworth as a deconstructed star, an obvious cinematic creation, thus reflecting, perhaps, a never-satisfied yearning that leads us back to the mystery of Citizen Kane. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Minor Orson Welles film, meaning still worth a look Aug 8 2003
Format:DVD
This starts off veryyy slowly. Welles' narration in a strong irish accent kicks in as soon as the credits drop and is at first pretty painful. Luckily, it doesn't take long to accept it. The last half hour of the movie is great, as are bits of the first hour. Stick with it, I almost gave up on it, as it does pay off at the end. A weak 4 out of 5 stars, but definitely worth a look. I bought mine cheap and used so I'm not complaining. The camera-work, especially at the end, makes the movie. Even though the story is pretty typical Hollywood fare, Welles' direction is anything but.
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Twisted Oct 15 2003
Format:DVD
Things are not what they seem is a dead on description of this film!

You're never really sure what is going on, which is the point of course! Set-up? Could be, but will the viewer ever really know?

Welles' gives the film-loving world another cinematic gem, with plenty of twists and turns, and bits of comic genius to keep the viewer enthralled!

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Not Welles' best but still very good Aug 27 2003
Format:DVD
This film is memorable for a couple of extraordinary scenes as well as Welles working with his wife, Rita Hayworth. Did this guy have a fortunate young life or what!
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Most recent customer reviews
"Are you looking for a good paste in the eye?"
No, not Welles' best film. It couldn't be, since "The Lady From Shanghai" was actually a chance for Welles to get back in good with the studio system, a.k.a. Read more
Published on July 2 2004 by J. COSBY
"Innocent is a big word--Stupid is more like it"
Stupidity--not innocence, not heroism, not any virtue at all--is the major theme of *The Lady from Shanghai*. Read more
Published on Nov 9 2003 by Coram
Fun-filled parody of film noir
An often bewildering parody of film noir in particular and Hollywood conventions in general, Columbia relegated "The Lady from Shanghai" to B-movie status due to... Read more
Published on Oct 18 2003 by Eddie Konczal
Brilliant.
Rita Hayworth is ravishingly beautiful, and Orson Welles is looking nice as well. Other people complain about the story being convoluted, and how they didn't really 'get it'. Read more
Published on July 27 2003 by algabal
Very strange, but thoroughly engrossing
You might get a little impatient with this film, but it is worth seeing, and worth seeing again. Like the somewhat more coherent "Touch of Evil," Welles directs this film as if it... Read more
Published on Jun 28 2003 by John Stodder
EVEN BUTCHERED, WELLE'S GENIUS SHINES THROUGH!
Orson Welles was a man ahead of his time. Today he may very well have been placed on the pedestal reserved for the likes of David Lynch or David Cronenberg. Read more
Published on Mar 10 2003 by Nix Pix
Watch out for those sharks!
I had seen this film a couple of times and never really warmed up to it, but I thought I'd give the DVD a try. After 3 viewings I think I finally got it. Read more
Published on July 19 2002 by Harvey M. Canter
Just perfect!
Welles wrote, directed and starred (along with his then wife Rita Hayworth) in this mind-blowing 1948 film noir. Read more
Published on May 13 2002 by Shadow Woman
Horrible!
So you think you've discovered a lost Orson Welles gem.
Think again! This is the most horrible, nonsensical piece of... ever committed to celluloid. Read more
Published on Mar 11 2002
A far better film than "Citizen Kane"
I never thought much of "Citizen Kane" but this film really grabbed me. A film noir mystery of one intrigue piled on top of another, it is completely satisfying. Read more
Published on Feb 8 2002 by Jmark2001
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