The Lady from Shanghai

Don't attempt to follow the plot - studio boss Harry Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain it to him, and many critics have foundered on it - because Welles simply doesn't care enough to make the narrative seamless. Indeed, the principal pleasure of The Lady from Shanghai is its tongue-in-cheek approach to story-telling. Welles is an Irish sailor who accompanies a beautiful woman (Hayworth, then Mrs Welles) and her husband on a sea cruise, and becomes a pawn in a game of murder. One intriguing reading of the movie is that it's a commentary on Welles' marriage to Hayworth - the impossibility of the 'boy genius' maintaining a relationship with a mature woman - and the scene in the hall of mirrors, where the temptress' face is endlessly reflected back at him, stands as a brilliant expressionist metaphor for sexual unease and its accompanying loss of identity. Complex, courageous, and utterly compelling.

Source : Time Out Film Guide 13

On DVD

Lady From Shanghai, The Aspect ratio: 4:3 Full Frame Sound: Mono