The Lady from Shanghai

Summary

“It’s easy. You just pull the trigger.”

Sony Pictures has given Orson Welles’s enjoyably strange 1947 film noir The Lady from Shanghai a 4K UHD makeover. This film has had several releases on Blu-ray in the last decade, so it is worth talking about the differences between them for a moment. Sony had previously released the film on Blu-ray in 2014 with a VC-1 encode, before returning to the film again with their Mill Creek release featuring an MPEG-4 AVC encode. The film was then released again this year by Kino Lorber (once again with an MPEG-4 AVC encode.) I had the Mill Creek release in my library, but I have gathered information that said the first release with the VC-1 encode was only decent. The Mill Creek release actually looked quite good and was based upon the same 4K transfer that is the basis for this UHD release. I watched the 4K UHD the other night and was happy with the work that Sony had put into the presentation.

The Lady from Shanghai is an interesting film. Clocking in at 87 minutes, the film had been truncated heavily from Orson Welles’s original cut which ran roughly an hour longer. As was the case with The Magnificent Ambersons, the original cut from Welles was more than likely destroyed by the studio after they made their changes. Welles had terrible luck in his dealings with studios after making his masterpiece Citizen Kane. What was left of The Lady from Shanghai was a moderately successful and decently reviewed film noir that starred Welles alongside his then-wife Rita Hayworth. She had cut her hair short and dyed it blond for the role, which was another point of contention with the studios. Welles and Hayworth’s marriage was bumpy, and by the time the film was released they had already been divorced. Watching the film, there is a lot to enjoy, and film buffs can only speculate as to what it would have been like before it was chopped down.

In Central Park, Irishman Mikey O’Hana (Orson Welles) asks for a cigarette from a beautiful shorthaired blonde (Rita Hayworth) when she passes by on a carriage in the park. When her cab driver is knocked out and she is attacked by a group of men, Mike intercedes and saves her from the brutes. Mike takes her out of the park in the carriage, before leaving the carriage on a road with hopes of not being arrested for stealing it. The blonde is named Elsa and her husband is Mr. Arthur Bannister, a famous criminal lawyer. Elsa offers Mike a job if he’s a sailor. She promises to make it worth his while. The next day, Mike is approached by Bannister, who walks with two canes, about the job aboard his ship. They have drinks at a pub and Bannister gets drunk. Mike returns Bannister to his boat named the Circe. Mike takes the job on Bannister’s boat when Elsa insists. Bannister’s partner Grisby (Glenn Anders) arrives at the Circe on a smaller boat while Elsa tans on the nearby rocks. Grisby is fairly abrasive. He asks Mike about a murder that Mike had committed of a Franco spy in his past. Grisby is a strange character and he explains that he was actually on a pro-Franco committee when Mike had fought on the other side. Grisby also tells Mike that Elsa will ask him “to swim” in time. That day, on the lower deck, Mike and Elsa kiss. The strange yachting expedition continues with tensions between all involved. In Acapulco, Grisby makes Mike a peculiar offer. He asks Mike if he would take $5000 to kill him. The complex plot unfolds from there.

The Lady from Shanghai was right up my alley. I am a sucker for film noir, and the stranger the plot machinations the better. Based on a novel by Sherwood King, the script by Orson Welles manages to make sense of a number of plot points, while also allowing solid character exposition. The film is a globe-trotting affair with sequences that take place in New York (probably on a soundstage,) in Acapulco, and finally in San Francisco. The location work is very well managed and lends a lot to the film. Welles worked with Directors of Photography Charles Lawton, Rudolph Matei, and Joseph Walker on the picture, and it is strikingly shot. The film is best known for a hall of mirrors sequence in the finale that is really well done and predates similar scenes in films such as Enter the Dragon. Welles was always very clever in his staging of shots so the film still looks very modern in many moments. The Lady from Shanghai is a weird little movie that takes some interesting detours. Rita Hayworth even sings a song at one point in the film.

The film benefits from some excellent casting. Welles himself hams it up as Irish brogue Mikey O’Hana. I am not sure that I was completely convinced by his Irish accent, but he still was pretty charming in the role. Rita Hayworth is a perfect choice for the role of Elsa. Hayworth was stunningly beautiful whether she had long dark locks, or short blonde hair. Her presence elevates every scene she is in. The supporting cast is made up of interesting character actors such as Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, and Ted de Corsia who all bring a lot of flavor to the proceedings. Overall, its a pretty stacked cast.

While we will never know exactly what Welles’s vision for this film could have been, what is left to enjoy in The Lady from Shanghai is still substantial. I definitely am glad to have this film in my collection on 4K.

Video

Sony’s new 4K video transfer of The Lady from Shanghai is pretty superb. Black and white films achieve their best density levels in 4K, and this is no exception. The grain is beautifully resolved, with excellent clarity and depth. Welles was an excellent director, and the film’s noir cinematography still pops onscreen all these years later. I don’t think this could be improved any further. The big question is if this jump forward in quality is worth the double dip over the prior Mill Creek Blu-ray. I would definitely purchase this 4K over Sony’s first edition, which used a VC-1 encode, but the Mill Creek version was sourced from the same excellent 4K transfer and was presented in an MPEG-AVC codec. For myself, I love to own films in the best version possible, and I can’t imagine the film looking any better than it does here. Fans of the picture are going to be in love with this 4K image for certain, and I am glad to have this work in my library on 4K. 

Audio

Sony has provided a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that sounds pretty good. As a mono mix front speakers are used for the entire mix. Clarity is solid. I did not detect any dropouts or overbearing hiss. There were no real issues to report here.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary – Peter Bogdanovich was a true authority on Orson Welles’s work and the man himself. I can’t imagine a better choice to perform this audio commentary.
• Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich – Orson Welles was Peter Bogdanovich’s hero and mentor. He knew the man well and can speak eloquently on all of his work. This is a solid piece where he gives good background information regarding the film’s production and truncation by the studio.
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

The Lady from Shanghai is not a perfect film, but it is a very interesting picture. I love film noir, and this film appealed to me with its intricate plotting and numerous strange diversions. We will likely never see Orson Welles’s original cut of the film (which ran roughly an hour longer,) but what is left of the picture is still a lot of fun to watch. Rita Hayworth is great in blonde bombshell mode, and the supporting cast of characters are all solid. While Welles probably looked at the film as another failure in a long line of films where the studio interfered, I still found the picture extremely enjoyable. The 4K release by Sony looks great and features two very well done supplements with the late great Peter Bogdanovich. I would definitely recommend checking this one out!

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.