"Create your own visual style… let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others." - Orson Welles
General Info:
- Directed by and starring Orson Welles who has his own unique style
- Has a macabre and pulpy style
- Made in 1948
- Columbia executives, after bad previews, handed editing over to Viola Lawrence
- Picture riddled with evidence of the studio interference. Some artfully composed shots and intercut with random close-ups of Hayworth and other characters
- The film is said to be 75% raw Welles
- The film was taken out of Welles' hands before a proper soundtrack was composed so Columbia's composer Heinz Roemheld created one that went against Welles' complaints because he felt it didn't suit the picture very well. It was essentially one song repeated over and over just different sections depending on the mood of the scene.
- Originally the footage came to 2 hour and 30 minutes and had to be cut to 1 hour 30 minutes which is why many of the sequences felt like they have exposition missing which makes it hard to follow
- Welles only actually started making the film to return a favour to Columbia Pictures president Henry Cohn because he had helped Welles with the final funding for 'Around the World in Eighty Days'. Welles knew Cohn because Hayworth was his biggest star and Welles was married to her.
- When Welles presented his version of the film to the executives it received a disappointing reception. This led to extensive reshoots from assistant directors. Welles has actually completed the film under budget and on time but the reshoots led to a late finish and going over budget so Welles' achievement wasn't recognised.
- Because of this studio interference there are a lot of scenes within the film that are difficult to discern. Whether light or dark humour is meant and often there are characters delivering dialogue at the same time making what's actually being said very difficult to hear.
- Previous titles for the film included 'Black Irish' and 'Girl from Shanghai'
- At the time Orson Welles was blacklisted in Hollywood due to a spurt of box office failure
- Orson had Rita Hayworth's hair dyed blonde and cut for the role. The studio wasn't happy with this because her long red hair had become her signature look
- Hot locations in the film made filming very difficult and many of the cast and crew contracted illnesses while filming
- During filming Welles got very little sleep and took amphetamines to keep his weight down
- Filming took place about 10 months after Hayworth and Welles' divorce
- Based on a book
The stylistic aspects of this film, particularly its famous mirror sequence, influenced films such as 'John Wick' (2014), 'Enter the Dragon' (1976) and 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (1973).
Influences of Film Noir:
- Femme Fatale
- Troubled Protagonist with dubious morals
- Protagonist ends up completely out of control of his situation due to femme fatale
- Shot in Black and White - Made during the 1940's era of Film Noir hence the more downbeat tone post-war
- There is a very slow nature to the film for the first 45 minutes then everything happens all at once for the following 45 minutes. This is also a trend of the Noir Era
- Deep Shadow
Orson Welles as an Auteur
Mother died when he was eight and his father when he was twelve.
A lot of his influence came from the classic staging of Shakespeare. He also liked looking at historical elements like Shakespeare. He was staging Shakespeare at the age of four. He was very interested in theatre and often the positioning in his films reflects the way he would stage a theatre production.
The space in his films is huge because Welles' persona is huge. The dialogue and sound also reflect this.
Like to star in his own film.
Mother died when he was eight and his father when he was twelve.
A lot of his influence came from the classic staging of Shakespeare. He also liked looking at historical elements like Shakespeare. He was staging Shakespeare at the age of four. He was very interested in theatre and often the positioning in his films reflects the way he would stage a theatre production.
The space in his films is huge because Welles' persona is huge. The dialogue and sound also reflect this.
Like to star in his own film.
Welles has been described as having an "overfondness of the baroque" (Andre Bazin) and exotic visuals. This is recognisable in 'Citizen Kane' with the setting of Xanadu and in 'The Lady from Shanghai' in the mirror sequence as well as all the relative exotic locations.
"Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others." - Orson Welles
"Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others." - Orson Welles
Has a tendency to use deep focus/ deep space composition in such a way as we learn as much from the images on screen as the dialogue. The levels of character and what's happening in the background are important. This can be seen in 'The Lady from Shanghai' when O'Hara is running from the court but this is in the background compared to where Elsa is stood. This shows the power over him she has. He also tended to use this deep focus to show the ceiling. This went out of fashion during the 1960s.
"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn." - Orson Welles
Welles also likes to use dynamic choreography in his films. This can be seen in 'The Lady from Shanghai' throughout the large fight sequence at the end of the film.
Welles uses low-key, high-contrast lighting and chiaroscuro. This is very prevalent during the sequence at night in the exotic town where O'Hara wrestles with himself over whether he should be with Elsa or not. This is also often use to show the moral between good and bad; light and dark.
Often Welles uses the classic blonde female archetype. On this character he will use softer lighting to reflect the softer stereotyping of women.
Most Favoured Themes:
Isolation
Corruption
Downfall of the Protagonist
Most Favoured Mise-en-Scene:
Smoke
Mirrors
Stairs
As an auteur Welles takes influences from the expressionist aesthetic of the early Noir films such as 'Doctor Calagari'. He also thought that compromising and corroborating with the studios was beneath him.
One of the more personal aspects that fed into the finished film was Welles' distaste of lawyers. This seen in the courtroom scene where the whole thing is satirical with it being chaotic with all the audience participation, the jury laughing and the judge being a bumbling fool. There is also a shot that cuts directly from the judge playing chess to the courtroom that shows how it's all a game and creates a very unjust presentation of the justice system which runs in parallel to Welles' personal views.
When Orson created 'The Lady From Shanghai' he had just come off a blacklist of films that flopped at the box office.
Useful Clip To Reference (The Mirror Maze):
"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn." - Orson Welles
Welles also likes to use dynamic choreography in his films. This can be seen in 'The Lady from Shanghai' throughout the large fight sequence at the end of the film.
Welles uses low-key, high-contrast lighting and chiaroscuro. This is very prevalent during the sequence at night in the exotic town where O'Hara wrestles with himself over whether he should be with Elsa or not. This is also often use to show the moral between good and bad; light and dark.
Often Welles uses the classic blonde female archetype. On this character he will use softer lighting to reflect the softer stereotyping of women.
Most Favoured Themes:
Isolation
Corruption
Downfall of the Protagonist
Most Favoured Mise-en-Scene:
Smoke
Mirrors
Stairs
As an auteur Welles takes influences from the expressionist aesthetic of the early Noir films such as 'Doctor Calagari'. He also thought that compromising and corroborating with the studios was beneath him.
One of the more personal aspects that fed into the finished film was Welles' distaste of lawyers. This seen in the courtroom scene where the whole thing is satirical with it being chaotic with all the audience participation, the jury laughing and the judge being a bumbling fool. There is also a shot that cuts directly from the judge playing chess to the courtroom that shows how it's all a game and creates a very unjust presentation of the justice system which runs in parallel to Welles' personal views.
When Orson created 'The Lady From Shanghai' he had just come off a blacklist of films that flopped at the box office.
Useful Clip To Reference (The Mirror Maze):
Key Characters:
Rita Hayworth as Elsa Bannister
Orson Welles as Michael O'Hara
Everett Sloane as Arthur Bannister
Glenn Anders as George Grisby
Ted de Corsia as Sidney Broome
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