The Lady from Shanghai Page #2

Synopsis: Michael O'Hara, against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister's yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby, Bannister's law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Rosalie, who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby's weird plan to fake his (Grisby's) murder so he can disappear untailed. He wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Rosalie. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how. Bannister (the actual murderer?) defends Michael in court.
Director(s): Orson Welles
Production: Columbia Pictures Corporation
 
IMDB:
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes:
86%
NOT RATED
Year:
1947
87 min
1,256 Views


A little extra reach on a punch,

a set of brass knuckles...

...a stripe on the sleeve,

a badge that says cop on it, a rock...

...in your hand,

or a bankroll in your pocket.

That's an edge, brother.

Without an edge, he ain't no tough guy.

- You hear that, Black Irish?

- It's true.

Well, bear it in mind.

But what makes him

sing prettier than you?

Naturally, someone had to take

Mr. Bannister home.

I told myself I couldn't leave a helpless

man lying unconscious in a saloon.

Well, it was me that was unconscious...

...and he was exactly as helpless

as a sleeping rattlesnake.

Say, it's nice of you, Michael,

to be so nice to me while I'm so drunk.

Lover!

I wasn't sure you'd come.

I'm not staying.

You've got to stay.

Lover!

Gonna be a real nice cruise.

First, the Panama Canal,

then up the Mexican coast.

We need a bosun, Danny-boy.

- Ever done any sailing?

- A bit of it.

I saw you last night at the garage, it was.

Somebody else, Danny-boy, not me.

Don't go. She needs you bad. You stay.

Mike, if you play your cards right,

we can get a job for us both.

I think we'll take it.

And what was I, Mike O'Hara,

doing on a luxury yacht...

...pleasure cruising

in the sunny Caribbean Sea?

But it's clear now,

I was chasing a married woman.

But that's not the way

I wanted to look at it. No.

To be a real prize fathead

like Mike O'Hara...

...you've got to swallow whole all the lies

you can think up to tell yourself.

Our little expedition spent

some weeks in the West Indies...

...dawdling around,

seeing the sights, laying in supplies...

...and getting into more trouble.

Hi, on board the Cercie!

You there...

...why don't you go swimming?

I beg your pardon?

I said, why don't you go swimming?

I didn't bring a swimming suit

along on the job, sir.

You ought to the next time.

There won't be a next time, sir.

I'm quitting.

My trunks will fit you.

You'll find them in the locker in the cabin.

I suppose you're wondering who I am, fella.

- I think I saw you in New York.

- I flew in this morning, by way of Havana.

I'm George Grisby, you know.

Grisby and Bannister.

- Where is everybody? Gone ashore?

- Almost everybody.

- My partner, too, Mr. Bannister?

- That's right.

And the lady?

Mr. Bannister tells me

you once killed a man.

- You are Michael, aren't you?

- That's right.

I'm very interested in murders.

Forgive me if I seem inquisitive,

but where'd it happen?

- At Murcia.

- How'd you do it?

Now, let me guess.

You did it with your hands, didn't you?

Does it ever bother you

when you think about it?

What'd he do to you?

Nothing.

You just killed him for the fun of it?

He was a Franco spy.

There was a war on at the time.

Then it wasn't murder, I suppose?

Tell me, would you do it again?

Would you mind killing another man?

I'd kill another Franco spy.

I was on a pro-Franco committee, fella...

...during the Spanish War.

Would you kill me if I gave you the chance?

I may give you the chance.

Michael!

Before Li went ashore

did he make up some lunch for me?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Is there enough for two?

I'm sure I don't know. Ask Mrs. Bannister.

You ask her.

Would you like a good paste

in the eye, sir?

I wish she'd ask me to go swimming.

She'll ask you.

You wait and see.

Will you help me?

Give me a cigarette.

I'm learning to smoke now.

Ever since that night in the park...

...I've been getting the habit.

Do all rich women play games like this?

Call me Rosalie.

- I didn't think you would do that.

- I didn't either.

You're scared, aren't you?

You're scared.

I'm scared, too.

You think you needed me to help you?

You're not that kind.

If you need anything, you help yourself.

I'm not what you think I am.

I just try to be like that.

Keep on trying. You might make it.

What are we scared of?

So long, kiddies!

Now he knows about us.

I wish I did.

Bye-bye.

- Michael.

- Yes, sir.

Mr. Grisby has told me something

I'm very sorry to hear.

"But if you kiss me"

Lover, this really concerns you

more than anyone else.

"Don't take your arms away"

According to George here,

Michael is anxious to quit.

- Did you know about that, Lover?

- No, I didn't.

Shut up, George.

- What's the matter, hours too long?

- No, sir.

How about the money?

- I don't care about that.

- Money doesn't interest you?

- Are you independently wealthy?

- I'm independent.

Of money?

Before you write that novel,

you'd better learn something.

You've been travel ling the world

too much to find out about it.

That's good, Arthur.

Well, sir...

...I've always found it

very sanitary to be broke.

- That's good, too, Arthur.

- Shut up, George.

Money cannot bring you health

and happiness, etcetera.

Is that it?

Without money, I'd be flat on my back

in the ward of a county hospital.

Look at this yacht.

It once belonged to Jules Bachrach.

The great Bachrach,

who kept me out of his club...

...because my mother

was a Manchester Greek.

I got him on perjury.

He died bankrupt. And here i am.

Each man has his own idea of happiness,

of course.

But money is what all of us

have in common.

Take Bessie here.

She used to work for Bachrach.

I pay her more, don't I, Bessie?

Yes, Mr. Bannister.

Her salary means happiness.

It means a home...

...three rooms for two families.

Bessie's a grandmother, a widow.

Only one of the boys works.

- Right, Bessie?

- Yes, sir.

Yes, of course it is.

So Bessie goes to church every Sunday

she gets off...

...and prays to God she'll never be too old

to earn the salary I pay her.

You call yourself independent.

Come around and see me

five years from now.

Aye, aye, sir.

Sing it for us again, Lover.

Why do you stand for that, Bessie?

I'm quitting. Why don't you?

You heard him, Mr. Poet.

I need the money.

Talk of money and murder.

I must be insane.

Or else all these people are lunatics.

That's why I can't leave.

That poor little child he married.

Somebody's got to take care of her.

"Don't hold me

"But if you hold me

"Don't take your arms away

"Comes a change of heart

"Please don't love me

"But, if you love me

"Then don't take your lips

"Or your arms, or your love

"away"

So remember, ladies, use Glosso Lusto.

It pleases your hair,

pleases the man you love.

Will you help me?

Love.

Do you believe in love at all,

Mrs. Bannister?

Give me the wheel.

I was taught to think

about love in Chinese.

The way a Frenchman

thinks about "laughter" in French?

The Chinese say,

"It is difficult for love to last long.

"Therefore, one who loves passionately

is cured of love in the end. "

Now that's a hard way of thinking.

There's more to the proverb.

"Human nature is eternal.

"Therefore, one who follows his nature

keeps his original nature...

"... in the end. "

- Lover?

- Yes?

Aren't you glad

I talked Michael into coming along, Lover?

He must have changed his mind about me.

Faith, Mr. Bannister,

I've already told your wife.

I never make up my mind

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Orson Welles

George Orson Welles (; May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre, radio, and film. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three: in theatre, most notably Caesar (1937), a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; in radio, the legendary 1938 broadcast "The War of the Worlds"; and in film, Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made. In his 20s, Welles directed a number of high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of Macbeth with an entirely African American cast, and the political musical The Cradle Will Rock. In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941. Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds performed for his radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring. Although some contemporary sources say these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety. His first film was Citizen Kane (1941), which he co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in as Charles Foster Kane. Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career. He struggled for creative control on his projects early on with the major film studios and later in life with a variety of independent financiers, and his films were either heavily edited or remained unreleased. His distinctive directorial style featured layered and nonlinear narrative forms, uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unusual camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes. He has been praised as "the ultimate auteur".Welles followed up Citizen Kane with 12 other feature films, the most acclaimed of which include The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Touch of Evil (1958), and Chimes at Midnight (1966). Other works of his, such as The Lady from Shanghai (1947) and F for Fake (1973), are also well-regarded. In 2002, Welles was voted the greatest film director of all time in two British Film Institute polls among directors and critics. Known for his baritone voice, Welles was an actor in radio and film, a Shakespearean stage actor, and a magician noted for presenting troop variety shows in the war years. more…

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