Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Lady from Shanghai 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"I told you, you know nothing about wickedness."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown August 8, 2024

In New York City's Central Park, Irish merchant sailor Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles, in his prime) rescues the beautiful Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth, prime as well) from a group of thieves. After fighting off the her attackers, Michael escorts Elsa to safety, soon learning that she's married to renowned lawyer Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane). Arthur, in turn, offers Michael a job working on his yacht, which he reluctantly accepts. The yacht sets sail from New York to San Francisco with Michael, the Bannisters, Arthur's partner George Grisby (Glenn Anders), and a small crew. During the trip, though, Michael inevitably falls in love with Elsa and discovers she only agreed to marry Arthur after he threatened to expose her past in Shanghai. What follows is a twisting tale of obsession, bribery and murder.

"When I start out to make a fool of myself, there's very little can stop me. If I'd known where it would end, I'd never let anything start... if I'd been in my right mind, that is. But once I'd seen her, once I'd seen her, I was not in my right mind for quite some time."

Click here to read Jeffrey Kauffman's excellent 2014 analysis of the film, of which he writes: "Welles was such a forceful visionary that even [head of Columbia Pictures Harry] Cohn's ordered revisions can't completely stamp out the primal genius that was behind the film." Adding "The Lady from Shanghai is rife with odd framings, Welles' almost patented use of deep focus and some of the most interesting editing of any late '40s noir."

The Lady from Shanghai 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In our original review of the 2014 Blu-ray, disappointment was expressed at some problematic contrast leveling and image depth issues. Many have pointed out that transfer (sourced from a 4K scan of the original negative) was a VC-1 encode; others countered that AVC does not instantly a superior encode make. So here we are, as Sony releases a brand new 4K release of The Lady from Shanghai... which appears to be sourced from the same 4K master as before. There are times that image appears to be too dark, though crush has been eliminated and shadow delineation is more revealing. There are also instances in which the grain field doesn't quite live up to the highest standards, with a few inconsistent sequences and a few others that appear to have been restored a bit too aggressively. All that said, Sony's 4K edition is far and away the best the film has looked, and any disappointments are brief and infrequent. Gradations of gray are velvety and beautiful, black levels are deep and sumptuous, and brighter whites are natural and lovely. Detail is quite excellent as well, barring a handful of misfire shots that bear the mark of small issues (or more likely mere imperfections) with the original cinematography. Edges are clean and generally refined, textures are more exacting than on the now decade-old Blu-ray release, and grain (on the whole) is pleasing and filmic. What softness there is traces back to the photography, and what was intended to be seen is showcased with respect for the eighty-year-old elements. Moreover, the 2160p encode is stable and free of blocking, banding and other anomalies.

The Lady from Shanghai 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The biggest issue with the 2014 Blu-ray was its lack of lossless or uncompressed audio. Sony has delivered on this front as well, granting The Lady from Shanghai a faithful DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that represents a meticulous rejuvenation of the film's original mono mix. Dialogue is clear and intelligible throughout, without anything in the way of prioritization mishaps. Likewise, sound effects (though clearly a product of the era) and the music score and strong and nicely presented in the soundscape, never overpowering or underwhelming. Best of all, there's no distortion, hissing or the like to be found.

The Lady from Shanghai 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Peter Bogdanovich offers a comprehensive commentary about Welles, with plenty of engaging stories, production and career details, and tidbits only someone who knew Welles personally could deliver. An interesting listen for anyone wishing to dig deeper into the man and the film that is and that might have been had the studio not interfered.

• Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich (HD, 21 minutes) - A sit-down with Bogdanovich with little overlap.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

The Lady from Shanghai 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard to tell how much of The Lady from Shanghai's problems should be attributed to Welles' ambitions with the film and how much should be laid at the feet of the studio. Suffice to say, we'll probably never know. What remains after all these years is a fascinating albeit overly complicated maze of a film that reaches for the stars and only comes up short in its fundamentals. Welles is still clearly in full innovation mode, in everything from storytelling to cinematography, and the result is as revealing as it is worthy of conversation and debate. Fortunately, there's not much to debate when it comes to Sony's new 4K UltraHD release of the film. With a striking video transfer, a strong lossless audio track and a solid pair of extras featuring Peter Bogdanovich, The Lady from Shanghai has a chance to find a new audience, garner new appreciation and start new conversations about Welles' career, talents and, perhaps, shortcomings.