When The Whole World Reached Out For One Sweet Breathe Of Hollywood Glamour When It Counted-In Honor Of The Commemoration of 100th Birthday Of Rita Hayworth- A Different Look At The Women Question –Once Again, On Jumping Through Hoops- Rita Hayworth’s “The Lady From Shanghai”- Hey, She Ain’t No Lady

When The Whole World Reached Out For One Sweet Breathe Of Hollywood Glamour When It Counted-In Honor Of The Commemoration of 100^th Birthday Of Rita Hayworth- A Different Look At The Women Question –Once Again, On Jumping Through Hoops- Rita Hayworth’s “The Lady From Shanghai”- Hey, She Ain’t No Lady

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for The Lady From Shanghai.

DVD Review

The Lady From Shanghai, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Columbia Pictures, 1948

Recently I reviewed Rita Hayworth’s classic femme fatale performance in Gilda in this space after some delay from the time of watching, on doctor’s advice, until such time as my blood pressure when down enough to safety do the film justice. At the end of that review I nevertheless had to cut it short because I could definitely feel that old pressure rising again. But I am okay now and can review a later Hayworth femme fatale effort, The Lady From Shanghia. Old Rita still has them (and me) jumping through hoops but I am not worrying about my blood pressure on this one.

Let me repeat some of that previous Gilda review to make sure that we are all on the same page here:

“….But enough of introductory justification, let us get to the heart of the matter- a film review of 1940s “hot” (you can see where I am going with this already) film star Rita Hayworth in her most famous film, the film noir classic, Gilda, and the men, the legions of men in the film and in the audience, including this writer, whom she had (or could have had in my case) jumping through hoops (and much more).

Now the last time that devilishly sweet-smiling, buttery-voiced, long-legged, big-haired, been around the block and is still standing, femme fatale Rita’s name came up for this writer was when her photograph, just her big blow-up photo nothing more, was used to cover (literally) actor Tim Robbins’ escape route in the film, The Shawshank Redemption. Of course, that flash got me to thinking about the film Gilda and there you have it. So naturally I had to see the thing, again. I have had to wait until now though to write this little commentary until my doctor said that I my blood pressure went down a little.”

And seeing Gilda of course let to this review. Know that the points made in the quoted commentary still stands here, except that she, Rita that is, is a blonde femme fatale this time. And know not all femme fatales are born equal. Some like Gilda are capable of good and some like the lady from Shanghai here are not.


Here are the high points of the plot quickly. Down and out seaman “Black Irish” O’ Hara (Orson Welles) hits New York looking for… something. And he finds it without much trouble, although in the end it will be nothing but trouble. Enter Elsa (Rita Hayworth) who just happens to be slumming on a horse and buggy ride in Central Park and who, as fate would have it, a not uncommon fate at least in Central Park, is waylaid by some hooligans. Black Irish comes to the rescue and is immediately smitten. Black Irish, please, please she is poison, even I can tell that. But, no, old Blackie is bound and determined to pursue this deadly course, also a not uncommon occurrence when one is smitten.

Of course problem number one is that said Elsa is married, married to a great criminal lawyer, Arthur Bannister (played by Everett Sloane) with some serious physical disabilities and a perverse mental make-up that has old Elsa fed up. Problem number two is that Elsa and said hubby are going on a long sea voyage via the Panama Canal to their home port ‘Frisco on their yacht. Hey, Blackie, you’re a sailor why don’t you come along as a crew member. Okay Blackie, second chance, please, please don’t do it. Damn, he signs on. From there you know he is a goner.

Why? Well, up front old Arthur has a partner, Grisby, who is also under Elsa’s spell, at least enough to try to assist her in getting rid of the old goat by any means necessary. I don’t have to draw you a diagram on that proposition. The rest of the plot centers on making Blackie the fall guy for the murder of old Arthur. But as such things do, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry. Old Grisby winds up dead, Blackie winds up framed for murder and, naturally, Arthur feels duty-bound to defend him. Of course such a defense has a double-edge as Blackie will soon enough find out. And will find out soon enough as well that not all femme fatales are on the level when the heat is turned up. Love will only take you so far though, and then justice, rough justice anyway has to come into play. Still, if you ask Blackie in the sober light of day whether he would do it again, hell, you know the answer. Black Irish is just another of old Rita’s hoopsters. Stand in line brother.

Okay, now for the finale. How does this film, this great director Orson Welles’ film, compare with Gilda? Well…let’s say I’m partial to redheads, if I have a choice. And I am partial to “good” femme fatales with a little heart, as well. Especially if they can dance, strum a guitar, sing (okay, lip synch) and give that look (you know that look, right?) like old Rita did in Gilda. But, I am a man of the ocean so maybe, just maybe, I would sign on for that cruise. Hey, I never said I wasn’t just another Rita hoopster. But this time my blood pressure is okay at the end.