The Lady from Shanghai

BUT, neither would Orson Welles. If you know much about Welles, you know that he constantly butted heads with whatever studio he worked for. In England, Welles was putting on a Shakespeare play (I want to say it's MacBeth, but I don't remember exactly which one), and he called up one of his Hollywood producer "friends." Welles begged the producer for money, and offered to direct a film for them. The producer asked what he was going to direct, and, looking around the phone booth, he saw a woman sitting and reading "If I Die Before I Wake." So, Welles threw that suggestion out there and the producer held him to his word. But they didn't let Welles have free reign with the budget, which frustrated him. So, he intentionally stayed out of contact with the studio, filmed things on location and with longer takes. In this way, he actually finished the film ahead of schedule and under budget. Lots of Orson Welles history is tied up in this rather unsubstantial film. Of course, the hall of mirrors scene at the end has inspired soooooo many movies since. My personal favorite is Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery.

The movie starts out very slow but so do the subtle twists. Gradually you realize this is something you have never seen before and do not quite understand. By the end of the movie (which is absolutely insane) everything about how this movie was developed makes sense. And it is insane. They used to paint Rita Heyworth on the sides of fighter planes and bombers during WW2 - this movie alone proves she was so much more.Wow.