Hard Light Cinema

🕵️ Part 2/6 of our series U of Noir

Though hacked to pieces by the studio and released to mixed reviews back in 1947, Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai has grown in estimation since its release as Welles chose to max out the style in this film. Filmed in San Francisco and, literally, on Errol Flynn’s yacht, the movie opts to avoid some of the worst noir cliches with Welles attempting a bold Irish accent, athletic cinematography, baroque visuals, and a dream-logic that culminates in the iconic hall of mirrors scene that is imitated in Bi Gan’s Resurrection, the action-packed John Wick 2, and The Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon. An underseen classic, this film demands the big screen and an attentive audience.

— Warner West, Hard Light Cinema