The Lady From Shanghai (1947) ***1/2

Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai (1947) is one bizarre noir—part love triangle, part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, and always a bit confusing. Rita Hayworth, devastatingly beautiful, gives quite a good performance here, in a drastically different role from her sultry star turn in the previous year's Gilda (review).

The overdubbing lends a very surreal quality to the film and the atonal/disjointed filmmaking (a Welles trademark throughout his career—whether intentional or through studio meddling) makes it a sometimes frustrating but unique experience. Welles' brogue is also distracting and often unconvincing. My biggest gripe about TLFS though is a film/television trope that drives me crazy—where characters say the name of other characters (usually directly to them) incessantly (seriously, you could play a drinking game for the number of times Hayworth says "Michael" to Welles alone). 

It's clear that the released version of TLFS is truncated. Despite reservations, there's a good deal to appreciate, including the intrigue, the humor, and especially the cinematography—the famous funhouse/hall of mirrors sequence during the finale—an influence on 1973's Enter The Dragon (review)—is a showstopper, with bold technical flair.

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