Summary: The Lady From Shanghai

The Lady from Shanghai (1946) has all of the elements that encompass a great film noir. For the purposes of this short paper, I will focus strictly on one prominent scene in the film and the elements that comprise it. The scene I have chosen is the crazy house scene, one of the final scenes in the film. Michael awakes from his drugged stupor and realizes he is in a crazy house. His mind whirls as he begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together, realizing that Elsa was in fact the murderer and had planned to frame him all along. As we hear these thoughts whirl around in his mind, his surroundings seem to mimic his confused feelings. He stumbles through the crazy house and large clown faces randomly appear, seeming to mock and threaten him.
Ominous geometrical shadows loom over and around him, reiterating the gravity of it all. He falls down a whirly slide as the chaotic music continues and we get the sense that he is a man who has had no control of his circumstances. The camera angles are jarred and crooked and the lighting is dismal, adding to the suspense and tension of the scene. Finally, he is standing in the mirror house and Elsa appears at the door.
A blank look on her face sends chills up our spine as we realize the woman we once thought was simply sad and lonely has actually become cold and conniving. Elsa hates her controlling husband and his heartless ways, but her cold countenance reveals she has become like the very thing she hated. Mr. Bannister arrives and his stumbling, handicapped reflection is multiplied in the mirrors. It is as if the room is full of both of their reflections, as if to portray that they can’t escape who they have become. Their deception, greed and secrecy have caught up with them and they are becoming “sharks, mad with their own blood, chewing away at themselves.” There is a close-up shot of Mr. Bannisters face as he says the telling words “I am pretty tired of both of us.” Their shootout ensues and sounds of shattered glass signifies the shattering of their sad lives as the loud music bangs. Michael drags Elsa’s limp body out of the mirror hall and leaves her to die. As he walks away, the gravity of the situation hits him. Succumbing to the fact that he was deceived by the woman he thought he loved, he utters the somber words “Maybe I’ll live so long that I’ll forget her. Maybe I’ll die
trying.” In this one scene, we can see multiple instances of noir. The femme fatal who succumbs to her evil ways. The crooked lawyer whose greed and deception catch up to him. The somber theme of two greedy criminals who end up beating themselves in their own game. The naive chap who realizes he has been framed. The poignant last line of a man who loses the woman he once loved. And finally, the shadowed lighting, eerie music and askew camera angles that help to create suspense. I would absolutely recommend this movie to my classmates. In this paper, I only discussed one scene, but the entire movie is filled with suspense and intrigue. The characters are complex and it is fascinating to watch them develop throughout the film. The relationships are complex and the ending is one that is full of surprises. This film has it all - intrigue, suspense, beautiful sets and scenery, intriguing characters and a gripping plot.