Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai is an American film noir produced, directed by and stars the iconic Welles. The 1947 movie also stars screen legend Rita Hayworth (who he was married to at the time), Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders. The movie is based on the novel If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King.
Welles stars as Michael O’Hara an Irish sailor, whose fancy is tickled by Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth, Gilda, Miss Sadie Thompson) one night while wandering around in Central Park. He gets introduced to her husband, Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane, Jigsaw, Journey into Fear) and is asked to join them on a cruise from San Franisco to the Panama Canal. He reluctantly accepts. Arthur starts noticing that there is an attraction between O’Hara and Elsa. Meanwhile George Grisby (Glenn Anders, M, Tarzan’s Peril), also on the cruise, asks O’Hara to get involved in a fake death scenario for $5000 which he would use to run away with Elsa. Grisby, who was to be the person who faked his own death, winds up murdered for real, and O’Hara is implicated. O’Hara , while on trial, escapes and then the fun really begins!
The Lady from Shanghai to me is nothing short of a masterpiece. I can watch it a few times each year! It is truly a fantastic film with an outstanding cast and superb storyline. O’Hara’s interaction with The Bannister and Grisby is priceless as he soon discovers all three of them are oddballs! Another great, unforgettable scene in this picture is the shootout in the hall of mirrors, which is basically a maze of mirrors where you see yourself in all kinds of angles, taking place at an amusement park during the climax. For those who have seen the film, you know what I am talking about, but if you haven’t, I will say no more other than watch this movie!
Sony has released The Lady from Shanghai on 4K UHD. The 2160p image looks marvelous overall with deep black levels, and crisp, bright whites, and a balanced grey scale. The image looks smooth and clean all the way through, with film grain being present throughout the video presentation. I will say that the image, while clean and smooth, does look a bit too dark, which to me was the biggest difference between this release and the other releases of this movie. But The Lady of Shanghai is a dark Noir so maybe the darker image is how it was to be intended!
The Lady from Shanghai’s UHD disc applies a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that features the original mono mix. Dialogue is crystal clear and robust throughout the presentation. Sound effects, such as action noises and the musical score by Heinz Roemheld are perfectly clear without any noises being too overly aggressive or too aggressive. No audio issues such as crackling or hissing is anywhere to be found. English subtitles are available.
The release has a pair of extras, which is the audio commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich. A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and also a theatrical trailer are also part of the supplemental package. These have been ported over from the previous Blu-ray releases. The Tim Lucas commentary track from the Kino Lorber Blu-ray is not part of the extras so if you are a fan of his, you should hold on to that release. There are other supplements also on previous Blu-ray and DVD releases not found on the Sony UHD disc, so depending on how important those are to you, you might want to keep those previous releases too.
I cannot emphasize how much I love The Lady from Shanghai. The cast is wonderful with great performances by all, and with solid direction. From start to finish I found this movie captivating and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to review this. The image, while darker, is the best the movie has ever looked, with great sound quality and a couple of extras make this a highly recommended package!
The Lady from Shanghai (4K, UHD)
Director – Orson Welles
Cast- Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – Sony
Number of Discs –1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 8/13/2024