Back to trending
The Lady from Shanghai

The Lady from Shanghai

Mystery · Crime · Thriller · 1947

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

Movie details

The Lady from Shanghai

“I told you... you know nothing about wickedness”

1947 Mystery · Crime · Thriller 1h 27m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Lady from Shanghai?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

I Am All Girls

I Am All Girls

Drama · 2021

A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.

Stranger on the Third Floor

Stranger on the Third Floor

Crime · 1940

Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.

They Drive by Night

They Drive by Night

Drama · 1940

Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.

Thieves' Highway

Thieves' Highway

Drama · 1949

Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.

Greta

Greta

Mystery · 2019

A young woman returns a lonely widow’s lost purse, leading to an unlikely relationship between the two — until the young woman discovers the widow might not be all that she seems.

The Public Eye

The Public Eye

Crime · 1992

A crime photographer gets involved in a conspiracy.

The Unforgivable

The Unforgivable

Drama · 2021

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Crime · 1956

A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district attorney. The plan is to have Tom plant clues leading to his arrest for killing a female nightclub dancer. Once Tom is found guilty, he is to reveal the setup and humiliate the DA.

Wanda

Wanda

Drama · 1970

After a string of abusive relationships, Wanda abandons her family and seeks solace in the company of a petty criminal.

Master Gardener

Master Gardener

Drama · 2023

Narvel Roth is a meticulous horticulturist who is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate and pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs. Haverhill. When she demands that he take on her wayward and troubled niece, it unlocks dark secrets from a buried violent past.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Orson Welles

Written by

Orson Welles

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth

Elsa Bannister

Orson Welles

Orson Welles

Michael O'Hara

Everett Sloane

Everett Sloane

Arthur Bannister

Glenn Anders

Glenn Anders

George Grisby

Ted de Corsia

Ted de Corsia

Sidney Broome

Erskine Sanford

Erskine Sanford

Judge

Gus Schilling

Gus Schilling

Goldfish

Court is in session

Put The Lady from Shanghai on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.