Columbia Pictures, 1947
starring: Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders

directed by: Orson Welles

the plot: Sailor Mike O’Hara (Welles) rescues the lovely Elsa Bannister (Hayworth) from a gang of ruffians trying to mug her in the park, so she asks him to work aboard her husband’s yacht during a cruise through the Caribbean. Mike initially refuses, but after some wheedling by her husband Arthur Bannister (Sloane), a renowned defense attorney, Mike agrees to join the crew. As Mike tries to hide and ignore his feelings for Elsa, he begins to suspect that something is amiss in the Bannister household. When Arthur’s partner, Grisby (Anders), meets up with the yacht, Mike is sucked into Grisby’s plans to fake his own death. But there are plots and counter-plots about, and when Grisby’s corpse is found, Mike is pinned with the crime. As Mike struggles to prove his innocence, he discovers that there’s more to Elsa than he suspected.

Why it’s good: “Lady” is a complicated mess, but it’s a treat to watch. Even for a film noir, the plot is too full of twists, turns and triple-crosses. By the time the whole case is laid out during the film’s climax, it’s easy not to care too much about what happened. Through it all, though, Welles weaves a compelling narrative, and his distinctive visual style drives the film. Yet where Welles succeeds in directorial prowess, he totally fails in accent affectation—his Irish brogue is fairly embarrassing, and its necessity to the story is dubious. Rita Hayworth’s Elsa is a fine femme fatale, but has very little to do until the very end of the film. Some of the most fun comes from watching Grisby, Bannister and Elsa bicker aboard the yacht. As Mike looks on, the three trade verbal barbs that are some of the film’s best dialogue, including Mike’s oddly poetic speech about sharks. “Lady” delivers the goods during the last 10 minutes, when Elsa, Bannister and Mike chase each other through a funhouse. It’s a thrilling, disorienting sequence that makes sitting through Welles’ terrible accent totally worthwhile.

Why you should own it: Noir fans might give “Lady” a rent, but only Welles aficionados would probably want to own the film. Sony’s DVD features commentary by Peter Bogdanovich and some vintage advertising clips.