The Lady from Shanghai is a 1947 film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, his then-estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King.
The story begins with Michael O'Hara (Welles) meeting the beautiful blonde Elsa (Hayworth) as she rides a horse-drawn coach in Central Park. Shortly thereafter, three hooligans waylay the coach. Michael is able to rescue her, after whic...
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The Lady from Shanghai is a 1947 film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, his then-estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King.
The story begins with Michael O'Hara (Welles) meeting the beautiful blonde Elsa (Hayworth) as she rides a horse-drawn coach in Central Park. Shortly thereafter, three hooligans waylay the coach. Michael is able to rescue her, after which he escorts her home. Michael reveals he is a seaman, and learns Elsa and her husband, the famous, handicapped criminal defense attorney Arthur Bannister (Sloane), are newly arrived in New York City from Shanghai. They are on their way to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. Michael, who is attracted to Elsa, despite misgivings, is persuaded to sign on as an able seaman aboard Bannister's yacht.
After setting sail, they are joined on the boat by Bannister's law partner, George Grisby (Anders), who proposes that Michael "murder" him in a plot...
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