orson welles , rita hayworth shortly before lush auburn hair bleached , cut lady shanghai (1946)
the lady shanghai began filming on 2 october 1946, , finished filming on 27 february 1947, studio-ordered retakes continuing through march 1947—but not released in u.s. until 9 june 1948. cohn disliked welles s rough cut, particularly considered confusing plot , lack of close-ups (welles had deliberately avoided these, stylistic device), , not in sympathy welles s brechtian use of irony , black comedy, in farcical courtroom scene. objected appearance of film—welles had aimed documentary-style authenticity shooting 1 of first major hollywood pictures entirely on location (in acapulco, pie de la cuesta, sausalito , san francisco) using long takes, , cohn preferred more tightly-controlled of footage lit , shot in studio. release delayed due cohn ordering extensive editing , reshoots. whereas welles had delivered cut of film on time , under budget, reshoots welles ordered meant film ended on budget third, contributing director s reputation going on budget. once reshoots over, heavy editing ordered cohn took on year complete; veteran editor viola lawrence cut hour welles s rough cut. welles appalled @ musical score , particularly aggrieved cuts climactic confrontation scene in amusement park funhouse @ end of film. intended climactic tour-de-force of editing , production design, scene cut fewer 3 minutes out of intended running time of twenty. many of welles s films on did not have control on final cut, missing footage has not been found , presumed have been destroyed. surviving production stills show elaborate , expensive sets built sequence entirely cut film.
welles cast wife rita hayworth elsa , caused controversy when made cut famous long red hair , bleach blonde role. orson trying new me, harry cohn wanted image—the image gonna make me til 90, rita hayworth recalled. lady shanghai picture. harry cohn when sees it? s ruined you—he cut hair off!
the film considered disaster in america @ time of release, though closing shootout in hall of mirrors has since become 1 of touchstones of film noir. not long after release, welles , hayworth finalized divorce.
a remake of film came close production @ turn of century screenplay written jeff vintar, based both on orson welles script , original pulp novel, produced john woo , terence chang, , starring brendan fraser, wanted michael douglas , catherine zeta-jones co-star. although screenplay considered highly successful, , fraser coming off highly praised gods , monsters, project abandoned when head of sony pictures, amy pascal, decided concentrate on teen films.
filming locations
in addition columbia pictures studios, film partly shot on location in san francisco. features sausalito waterfront , sally stanford s valhalla waterfront bar , cafe, front, interior, , courtroom scene of old kearny street hall of justice, , shots of welles running across portsmouth square, escaping long scene in theater in chinatown, steinhart aquarium in golden gate park, , whitney s playland-at-the-beach amusement park @ ocean beach famous hall of mirrors scene, interiors shot on soundstage.
other scenes filmed in acapulco. yacht zaca, on many scenes take place, owned actor errol flynn, skippered yacht in between takes , can seen in background in 1 scene @ cantina in acapulco.
Comments
Post a Comment