Lady from Shanghai: August 17, 1946 Draft

[A Sled in Flames]

Hi all,

I'm working on an analytical paper of Lady from Shanghai within the context of Welles's greater career. Does anyone still happen to have a PDF of the LFS draft dated 8/17/46? The old links to it are down. I'd very much like to read it, so I can distinguish what in the finished movie is actually Welles's.

Thanks very much!

[Roger Ryan]

Sorry, I don't have a copy of the August 17th, 1946 draft of SHANGHAI, but you should be aware that this draft has very little in common with what Welles ended up shooting. All of the action still takes place in New York in this draft (is this the one written by William Castle before Welles rewrote it himself?). There is a "cutting continuity" script (dated December, 1946) at the U-M Special Collections library that details the actual footage shot and edited which will give you a much better sense of how the film was eventually altered from how Welles originally envisioned it.

[A Sled in Flames]

Thank you very much for informing me about that continuity script, Roger! Unfortunately, though, I called U-M, and they can't seem to manage to loan me a copy on account of the fact that I'm based in California.

Might I ask, do you remember if that continuity script had the absurd, dream-like, incoherent qualities present in the final film? I'm trying to understand how much Lady's famed strangeness comes from Welles's intentions versus the studio's meddling.

[Roger Ryan]

All of the strangeness is Welles' doing, the studio interference simply resulted in sloppy or non-existent continuity and that lousy score. Much like JOURNEY INTO FEAR (and, later, MR. ARKADIN?), Welles did not intend to use first-person narration but felt obligated to once it became clear that much of the footage was being deleted. This is an example of Welles trying to make the best of a situation when he is being asked to change his film.

The example I always use when discussing Welles' original cut is the scene in Acapulco when Grisby asks O'Hara to commit murder. In the version found in the cutting continuity, Welles gives equal balance to the conversation between the two primary characters and the assorted tourists who are swarming around them, all of whom are discussing money (the scene began with Welles' daughter Christopher playing a spoiled American girl who demands money for an ice cream treat). Welles shot this scene in a series of long tracking shots, not unlike the ballroom sequence in AMBERSONS, which followed Grisby and O'Hara up the hill to the overlook. In the released film, the long takes are cut way down with badly-matched studio process shots (Welles and/or Anders standing in front of rear projection screens) used to cover up the deletions with virtually all of the counter-point tourist interaction eliminated (you can still faintly hear a little of this in the released version with one line, "Oh honey, you know I love you..." still somewhat prominent in the mix).

I suppose some of the "incoherence" you refer to is due to studio meddling. The fever dream approach along with the grotesque characterizations are still intact, but Welles intended the audience to better understand some of the character motivation even if the logic was twisted. More so, the studio edit eliminated small transitional moments that cued the audience in to a change of location or the passage of time. This is what makes the released version so frustrating. All of the big scenes are still present (even if some of the impact or gracefulness has been hampered by re-shoots), but the smaller moments that connected the big ones are gone (this is mostly true of the beginning of the film and during the yacht trip).

The other big change is the importance of the character of Bessie. Welles really intended her to play a much more important role as the servant who stays under the Bannisters' thumbs but, in the end, witnesses the hall of mirrors shoot-out and provides an alibi for O'Hara. I'm not certain if this concluding triumph was even filmed since the fun house sequence was the last to be shot and it's possible the revision plans were already underway (the Dec. 1946 cutting continuity ends with the Chinese Theater scene and I believe there is a note which states that the finale has yet to be shot).

[major pepper]

Hi A Sled in Flames!
Roger Ryan explained very well the things about the deleted scenes. I'm sure it's helpful. I know Richard Wilson talked about the director's cut in at least one book, but I can't remember where I read it. I'm sorry...
If you are still interested, I downloaded the draft you're looking for. I hope it's not too late for your work!
Roger Ryan was right when he said that dialogue were very different between the draft and the released movie.
But you will find precious indications about "that quality of strangeness" in the famous crazy house sequence :
"Michael wakes up to find himeself alone in one of the queerest rooms ever built by man... The floor is raked at an angle of the sheerest vertigo, the walls and ceiling are pure "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"... He rises from the little pallet that's been fixed for him, blinks his eyes, shakes his head and wonders - as we do - where in hell he is. For a fact, Hell itself couldn't be a stranger place to look at..."

[A Sled in Flames]

Dear major pepper,

It's not too late at all! I'd appreciate any and all resources you can share. Do you want me to message you my email address?

[major pepper]

Yes. I will be delighted to send you the draft by mail.
You will find the quotation from Richard Wilson in "Orson Welles at work" by François Thomas and Jean-Pierre Berthomé.
I recommend highly this book because it's very well-documented.