← Back to the films
Original illustration: Torn mirror-shaped paper panels frame a yacht, sea, chess knight and anonymous figures beside the title.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

Film noir

The Lady from Shanghai

MysteryStrange Great first watch · Moderate Film noir

An Irish sailor enters the orbit of a glamorous woman and her wealthy husband, then finds desire, employment, and murder folding into one another.

Edited by Monocurator

Year
1948
Director
Orson Welles
Country
United States

What to expect

Orson Welles transforms a noir plot into a world of unstable narration and distorted surfaces, culminating in the famous hall-of-mirrors sequence.

How to ease in

Do not demand immediate clarity from every scheme. Follow who offers Michael a role and notice how each elegant setting makes his position less secure.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes murder, firearms, coercion, disability stereotypes, marital abuse, and disorienting plotting.
Momo's Note May contain spoilers Who is Momo? →
Open the note ↓ Close the note ↑

A mirror multiplies everyone while making it harder to know where to aim. I like that the final image turns the whole plot’s false versions into physical space.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Credits
Cast
Rita Hayworth · Orson Welles · Everett Sloane
Screenplay
Orson Welles
Production
Orson Welles · Columbia Pictures Corp.
Cinematography
Charles Lawton Jr.

Sources for the facts

Where to go next

Want a gentler, shorter, or stranger next film? Ask Momo for something like this →
Momo is on shift. Visit Momo Cinema →

More from 1948 → More by Orson Welles →

Continue through the catalogue →