Lady From Shanghai

"Maybe I'll live so long that I'll forget her. Maybe I'll die trying."

So says Orson Welles' Michael O'Hara at the end of The Lady From Shanghai. This after a movie with several twists, turns and double crosses and a brilliantly shot final in an amusement park fun house. I quote it here because its such a great line and it sums up O'Hara's character so well. But here I am rambling about the end when I should start at the beginning.

We first meet O'Hara as he walks through a park and sees the beautiful Elsa (played by the beautiful (and here blond) Rita Hayworth). A meeting that inspires him to inform us the movie watcher "that's how I found her and from that moment I did not use my head, except to think about her." The film plays out with O'Hara being hired as a deck hand on the yacht of Elsa's husband.

Various characters from Elsa to Arthur (Elsa's husband) to Arthur's business partner approach O'Hara and participate in various mind games and hints at plot dealings. O'Hara is by no means an idiot and sees through most of the manipulation but his soft spot for Elsa is also apparent. The plot unfolds effectively including a fairly ridiculous court room scene where Arthur questions himself on the stand (something I'd only seen done on cartoons and bad 80s sitcoms before).

Welles does a great job here with the exception of his crazy over the top Irish accent which is pretty laughable. Rita Hayworth is well suited to her role and looks gorgeous every moment she is on screen. Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders each plays a delightfully eccentric role.

Now let's return to the ending. A brilliant show down in a fun house hall of mirrors. With principal characters being reflected in multiple mirrors and a shoot out that is an amazing blend of shattered glass and confusion. And then the film ends where this review began on a brilliant end note as our protagonist walks away.