Lady From Shanghai

[MartynH]

I watched the film last night and something struck me about what Harry Cohn supposed to have said when he first viewed the film 'I'll give anybody 10,000 dollars if they can explain the plot' I wonder if Welles's narration to clarify things was not in the version that Cohn saw and was added after?

[Tony]

I think it was added later; I always love Welles's narrating, but I sympathize with Cohn's frustration: the more you think about Shanghai, the less sense it makes. It's better to not think about it, just go for the bizarre ride. I wonder though if Cohn was confused by the long cut, or the edited cut.

[mido505]

Clinton Heylin's book DESPITE THE SYSTEM gives the most thorough, and, I believe, the most accurate accounts of Welles' travails during both the shooting and the editing of LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Welles was forced to do a number of rewrites to his original script, BLACK IRISH, in order to please both producer Harry Cohn, and the censor. Rewrites continued well into production, with Orson often changing dialogue on the set in order to keep his cast in a state of constant nervous tension, which greatly contributed to the palpable states of hysteria seen in many of the film's performances. After viewing Welles' 155 minute cut, Harry Cohn ordered draconian edits and extensive reshoots to make LADY FROM SHANGHAI look and sound more like a typical Hollywood product. The revised LADY came in at 86 minutes, losing close to half its running time. According to Heylin, "...the famous anecdote in which Cohn at the end of a preview screening offered a thousand dollars to anyone who could explain the story to him, appears to have come after he ordered the film reedited. As such, Welles' admission to him that it made no sense to him either should surely be viewed as knowingly ironic. The cuts Cohn ordered to Welles' version...simply served to make elements of the story nonsensical." The Welles narration was then added to the butchered 86 minute version to try to tie up the frayed narrative threads.

[MartynH]

It does seem to me that the O'Hara that does the narration is different to the O'Hara we see on the screen. In the narration the character is more jocular and whimsical - 'big boob that I am' - than on the screen.

[Glenn Anders]

To me, MartynH, the narration fits because Mike O'Hara is looking back at his innocence, just as Welles is measuring his years in The Land of the Lotus Eaters. Neither Mike nor Welles is the "broth of a boy" he once was.

Glenn

[MartynH]

Does anybody know what happened to the 155 min cut? There's a lot written about Welles's other original versions but this one seems to have been low on the agenda with Welles fans.

[mido505]

Michael O'hara seems to have been an early version of one of Welles' romantic innocents, a knight errant from an earlier, purer age doomed to perdition in a repulsive modern Machiavellian world of sharks and monsters, like Falstaff and Don Quixote. At the same time, Michael O'hara, the brawling, hard-drinking Irishman who fought on the anti-fascist side of the Spanish Civil war and killed a man in the process, is something of a parody of the typical Hemingway hero, a figure whom Welles would critique further in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. Welles, like Cervantes, both idealizes and pokes fun at his Quixote, who is both noble and befuddled, in equal measure, as he attempts to navigate the amoral, cynical, and vicously nihilistic landscape of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Interestingly, Elsa seems to be a transitional figure who longs for Michael to rescue her from the ugliness of her life, yet is unable to help herself (the Scorpion and the Frog, again) as she leads him down a dank, horrific path that can only end in chaos and death.

To answer your question, MartynH, there is as of yet no evidence of the survival of the 155 minute cut. According to Clinton Heylin, a cutting continuity of that edit does exist, giving us some idea of Welles' original intentions.

[Roger Ryan]

A LADY FROM SHANGHAI script is on file at the University of Michigan's Welles collection. It is dated "Dec. 1946" and everything in it up to the amusement park finale is notated "As Shot" which means it doubles as a cutting continuity for an early cut. I'm not certain this represents the 155 min. edit because it doesn't seem like it would run longer than two hours, but that is just first impressions. Apart from an opening scene in a nightclub featuring Grisby and a very extended New York sequence between Michael and Elsa, it didn't appear that there were huge swaths of material that ended up being eliminated for the released version. Amazingly, virtually everything that was eliminated clarified the characters' motivations and explained the geography of the film in a much better fashion. The Acapulco scenes, in particular, sound a lot more interesting, and coherent, in this early cut. There were more comedic moments involving Erskine Sanford's judge and a longer conversation between Elsa and Michael in the Chinese theatre that answered some of the questions left unanswered in the released version. Of course, most fans know that the fun house climax was longer and more surreal in the early edit. The most inexplicable thing (similar to AMBERSONS I guess) is that many of the smaller edits done for the released version simply eliminated transitional sequences that made the story action easier to follow!

[Jeff Wilson]

I have a fair amount of stuff from SHANGHAI copied; I'll look through it and post some relevant stuff. They did some pretty intense work on the script, it seemed; I have this long document about the courtroom sequence that Arnold Weissberger helped with, going into detail about various legal stuff, and suggesting character stuff.

[Tony]

That would be fascinating, Jeff. Weissberger is one of my Welles heroes.

[DexyMan]

Can one copy pages scripts from Michigan or is it the same situation as the Lilly Collection?

[Jeff Wilson]

Michigan will adhere to the same standards as the Lilly, I would assume, in that they'll limit copies of scripts to a fair use percentage. No archive will copy an entire script, for copyright reasons. But Indiana does have in its regular library the TAKE THIS WOMAN version of the script as a bound book, which can be copied by anyone, along with the HEART OF DARKNESS script in microform. You just have to stand there and feed the machine and turn the pages.

[Jeff Wilson]

The script for TAKE THIS WOMAN was submitted as usual to Joseph Breen to make sure it wasn't too naughty, and here's what he sent back:

"Page 9: There should be no indication of an attempted rape in this scene with the girl and the men.

Page 27: We ask that Bannister be not shown very drunk and he should not be shown as passing out cold on the following page. In this connection, we also refer you to page 31.

Page 35: We presume the costume of Elsa will be quite adequate.

Page 37: Please refer to your Foreign Department regarding these references to Franco.

Page 43: We ask that the action of kissing be started by Elsa rather than by Michael since Michael is the sympathetic lead of the story and Elsa is a married woman.

Further, since Elsa is clad only in a bathing suit, great care will have to be taken with this scene.

Page 45: Please omit the brandy.

Page 67: While we recognize that drinking seems necessary for characterization, we ask that actual drinking be kept to the minimum and and that none of the characters be shown as drunken.

Page 92: The action of Grisby wiping the fingerprints from the gun is unacceptable as a detail of crime which could easily be imitated.

Page 117: It will be unacceptable to show a racing form on the judge's bench, since such characterization seems to reflect on the justice of the court.

Page 137: We would like to know what the reaction of Michael is to Elsa's answer, "Yes." There should be no inference, of course, of any illicit sex between these two people.

Page 144: The expression, "burn" will be deleted by the political censor boards.

Page 156: The expression "My God", is unacceptable.

Page 161: Please change the expression "pit of hell".

Page 163-64: The action of Michael giving the gun to Elsa, encouraging her to commit suicide, along with the ensuing suicide, could not be approved.

We will be happy to read a new script in which these difficulties have been overcome, and report further."

[Jeff Wilson]

As mentioned in the previous post, one of the changes Welles was forced to make was to the original ending, in which Michael encourages Elsa to shoot herself. Here's how the scene played out after "Harry" Bannister's death in the hall of mirrors, from the BLACK IRISH script:

CLOSE SHOT ELSA
She stares for a long silence, seeing a great deal of Bannister or seeing nothing of him--it's impossible to say which. The she looks quickly to Michael.

CLOSE SHOT MICHAEL
His face is a mask.

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

ELSA: I couldn't help it.

Michael grabs her--tears the gun out of her fingers,--and throws her away from him...she stumbles and falls,--lies on the floor weeping.

ELSA (cont'd): I couldn't help it, Michael....

Michael says nothing, shows nothing.

ELSA (cont'd): (with great pathos) I couldn't let him say those things in front of you.

MICHAEL (very quietly): There wouldn't be much point in killing him if he was lying.

CLOSE UP ELSA
A wretched figure huddled against the tin wall.

ELSA: Oh, Michael! -- Michael!

MED.SHOT
Michael turns away to the dead Bannister. Her look follows his.

ELSA (O.S.): (shouting) You've got the gun!

MED. CLOSE SHOT ELSA

ELSA (cont'd): Shoot me if you think it's true, what he told you!--I don't want to live!

CLOSE UP MICHAEL
Michael picks up the gun. Looks at it thoughtfully.

OVER SHOULDER MICHAEL - FAVORING ELSA

MICHAEL: Do you really want to die?

She turns the tearful face of martyrdom toward the muzzle of the gun.

REVERSE ANGLE, FAVORING MICHAEL

MICHAEL (continued): There is another bullet, you know --

CLOSEUP ELSA
Elsa jumps to her feet, with a yell like a fishwife's.

ELSA: No! He said --

CLOSEUP MICHAEL

MICHAEL: (gently) He was lyin' about that. If you missed the fourth shot, he might have saved himself. He gambled on your losing count. Sure, it was one of his tricks. He did it with mirrors.

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA
Elsa wears quite a different face again. She's thinking furiously about that bullet...

MICHAEL (continued): (repeating the question, words sharp as razors) Are you sure you want to die?

Now she's very frightened....

MICHAEL (cont'd): I was, you know -- In the courtroom -- I was sure -- when I saw you lookin' at his pills, askin' me with your eyes to kill myself. That moment I was on to you. I knew the truth, then --

CLOSEUP MICHAEL

MICHAEL: (cont'd) -- And I didn't care to live, knowin' it. You told me I must learn a bit of wickedness to defend myself. Well, I l've learnt more than a bit.

TWO SHOT
The gun is now aimed at her than merely pointing...

ELSA (quick and brittle): If you kill me they'll get you for both murders --

MICHAEL: They got me for one, already.

He sounds very dangerous and the gun looks dangerous. Elsa is sure now that she hasn't long to live.

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

MICHAEL: I can't hide in an empty crazy house for ever, and you're hidin in one of your own. Sure, I don't blame you for wantin' to die.

CLOSEUP ELSA

ELSA: Don't talk like that! We'll get away. I've got money.

MICHAEL

MICHAEL: Money? Sure, it won't get ou away from yourself, Mrs. Bannister! And ifI were you, ma'am, it's myself I'd be runnin' from. Not from the cops, or from a little bit of a gun, or all the devils in the black pit of hell.

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

MICHAEL: (cont'd) Y'know, there's a girl inside here -- would run if she could....Poor Rosaleen. She never had a chance.

TWO SHOT (CONT'D)
Michael is looking at Elsa now as if he saw something behind her face that makes the gun unnecessary.

CLOSEUP ELSA

ELSA (her voice reaching for a hold on his sympathy): What about Rosaleen?

TIGHT TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

MICHAEL: Against you she never had a chance...Rosaleen couldn't defend herself. (suddenly) Here, I'll giver her somethin'!

He hands the gun to Elsa.

MICHAEL (cont'd): I have a friend calls that an edge.

CLOSEUP ELSA
Amazed, she holds the pistol, staring down at it.

MICHAEL (O.S): Now, Rosaleen has an edge. She's a tough guy.

Like a snake striking, the gun is pointed as Michael.

ELSA: You fool!

CLOSEUP MICHAEL

MICHAEL (with a long look at her): Maybe...

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

ELSA: You killed harry! I'll prove you killed him! They'll believe me. Now call the cops! -- (no answer) Go on, call the cops!

MED. SHOT
In another entrance of the maze, Bessie appears.

CLOSESHOT - BESSIE

BESSIE (expressionless, to Elsa): I already did.

MEDIUM SHOT

MICHAEL (briskly) Be sure they know where to come -- and who to get.

BESSIE: I'll tell 'em.

MICHAEL: (to Elsa) You forgot about Bessie.

CLOSEUP MICHAEL

MICHAEL: She heard you -- didn't you, Bessie?

BESSIE: I heard everything.

Bessie exits quietly and quickly.

MICHAEL (cont'd): Your husband would have called her a Grade A witness.

CLOSEUP - ELSA
CLOSEUP - MICHAEL

MICHAEL (CONT'D): You really shouldn't have killed him. You murdered the wrong man today, Mrs. Bannister. You're goin' to need a good lawyer.

TWO SHOT MICHAEL AND ELSA

MICHAEL (CONT'D): ...Remember now, it wasn't you I gave the gun to.

He looks at her.

MICHAEL (CONT'D): The gun's for Rosaleen. She knows what to do with it.

He turns away from her and CAMERA FOLLOWS HIM as he walks down the hallway of mirrors, his reflections echoing his exit. He stops for a momentat Bannister's corpse.

MICHAEL (CONT'D): Like the sharks eatin' each other -- There isn't one of you left....

MEDIUM SHOT
Very deliberately and very carefully she raises the gun, taking aim at his back. Then, all at once, her arm drops. He turns...She has lowered the gun before he turns!

CLOSEUP - MICHAEL
He doesn't realize what nearly happened. She manages a kind of smile.

CLOSEUP - ELSA

ELSA: Good-bye, my knight errant....Give my love to the sunset....

MEDIUM SHOT
He looks at her for one more second and then leaves.

EXT. CRAZY HOUSE
CAMERA follows Michael as he crosses the mid-way. The dawn is coming up over the horizon. It shows grayly in his face. Michael takes out a cigarette and strikes a match.

CLOSE SHOT MICHAEL
The sound of a shot! Michael hears it, his eyes shadowed in pain...He drops the match and throws away the cigarette.

[Alan Brody]

Wow, great stuff Jeff, thanks alot for posting it. It's a good thing those original scripts still exist so we can have a better idea of what Welles was really trying to express. So Rosaleen was the good Elsa trapped inside the wicked Elsa. I never would have guessed that. If you look up Rosaleen in the Wikipedia, it mentions that the name is actually a symbolic name for Ireland itself. I don't know if there's anything to that in terms of Welles's original intentions, but it's interesting. It's also amazing how strict and prudish that censorship board was. Not exactly free speech in Hollywood in those days.