{"id":572,"date":"2014-02-15T15:21:40","date_gmt":"2014-02-15T19:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572"},"modified":"2026-03-02T02:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T06:33:07","slug":"the-lady-from-shanghai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572","title":{"rendered":"The Lady from Shanghai"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ladyfromshanghai\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles’ “The Lady from Shanghai” to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the reviews I’ve read on it are heavy on context: Welles and Rita Hayworth were in the midst of a divorce be because of his philandering, Welles was considered “finished” in Hollywood after the movie failed at the box office. \u00a0But for once I’ll take a movie on it’s face: I did not care about the characters, I thought the plot overcomplicated, and\u00a0I did not find Welles at all convincing as a romantic lead or a tough guy.<\/p>\n

Supporting actors Glen Anders and Everett Sloane are terrific; Rita Hayworth is luminous though simple (she lip-synchs wonderfully). \u00a0 Since it’s a murder mystery from the same era, I kept thinking about how the film would have been different if Alfred Hitchcock directed it. \u00a0 More shock, more icy energy, less of the romantic triangle.<\/p>\n

Welles’ vaunted visual effects such as sea creatures magnified in aquarium tanks, and the famous “hall of mirrors” finale, didn’t do much for me, especially when paired with the relatively conventional and boring courtroom scenes. \u00a0 Welles’ Irish brogue was unconvincing, even distracting, and I found his delivery to be “stagey”, even when delivering the most off-hand of lines.<\/p>\n

It’s not a complete clunker, the cinematography during the yachting scenes is fluid in a way you don’t expect from a film made in 1948, and supporting performances are good – Glen Anders, as the half-crazy business partner adds some energy. \u00a0When the closing credits rolled though, I felt I had shanghai’d MYSELF by committing the time to see this movie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles’ “The Lady from Shanghai” to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the reviews I’ve read on it are heavy on context: Welles and Rita Hayworth were in …<\/p>\n

Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,5,113,1,112],"tags":[149,114,115],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-40s","category-actors","category-noir","category-uncategorized","category-welles","tag-noir","tag-orson-welles","tag-rita-hayworth"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles' "The Lady from Shanghai" to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles' "The Lady from Shanghai" to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roy Zornow\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Roy Zornow\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\"},\"headline\":\"The Lady from Shanghai\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572\"},\"wordCount\":285,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Noir\",\"Orson Welles\",\"Rita Hayworth\"],\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"40's\",\"1\":\"actors\",\"2\":\"Noir\",\"4\":\"Welles\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572\",\"name\":\"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/02\\\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?p=572#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Lady from Shanghai\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"eKrap - Roy Zornow\",\"description\":\"Krapping out diamonds since 2007\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e\",\"name\":\"Roy Zornow\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/royzsmiledec10.jpg\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/royzsmiledec10.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/royzsmiledec10.jpg\",\"width\":629,\"height\":556,\"caption\":\"Roy Zornow\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/royzsmiledec10.jpg\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.usergoals.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/royzornow\\\/\",\"admin\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ekrap.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow","og_description":"Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles' \"The Lady from Shanghai\" to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the","og_url":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572","og_site_name":"eKrap - Roy Zornow","article_published_time":"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Roy Zornow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow","twitter_description":"Despite all mirrors, sharp angles and Expressionistic undertones, I found Orson Welles' \"The Lady from Shanghai\" to be lurching and vague. \u00a0 Most of the","twitter_image":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Roy Zornow","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572"},"author":{"name":"Roy Zornow","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e"},"headline":"The Lady from Shanghai","datePublished":"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572"},"wordCount":285,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg","keywords":["Noir","Orson Welles","Rita Hayworth"],"articleSection":{"0":"40's","1":"actors","2":"Noir","4":"Welles"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572","url":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572","name":"The Lady from Shanghai - eKrap - Roy Zornow","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg","datePublished":"2014-02-15T19:21:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T06:33:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ladyfromshanghai.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?p=572#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Lady from Shanghai"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/","name":"eKrap - Roy Zornow","description":"Krapping out diamonds since 2007","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c026b4f19b8d2a3a4a9e37269af97c4e","name":"Roy Zornow","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/royzsmiledec10.jpg","url":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/royzsmiledec10.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/royzsmiledec10.jpg","width":629,"height":556,"caption":"Roy Zornow"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/ekrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/royzsmiledec10.jpg"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.usergoals.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/royzornow\/","admin"],"url":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=572"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1013,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572\/revisions\/1013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ekrap.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}