Rating: 2/5
When I start out to make a fool of myself, there's very little can stop me
Orson Welles plays Black Irish Michael O’Hara, a man known for… killing a guy? He sees Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) in a passing carriage, and his fixation seals his fate… until it doesn’t? Elsa pulls Michael into her world of mistrust and malaise… well, pretend malaise so that… they can commit crimes?
From there, the plot fractures like the broken glass motif that was definitely intentional. But if you’re one of the revisionist fans of this, the plot isn’t the essential part
Welles dons a godawful Irish accent that, like his filmmaking descendant Kevin Costner, he only does when he remembers. His voice fills all the nooks and crannies where subtext or ambiguity may have forgiven the mishmash the movie becomes. At times, the narration tries to tie the plot together, but like a giallo, it has to keep twisting and lose any semblance of meaning
On-screen, Welles furrows his brow, dons a half-smile, and recites his lines as though they were by Yeats. That is until the movie manages to find a pace, and acting precludes empty posturing
Hayworth has so little a character beyond damsel, but she injects texture in her performance wherever possible. It’s a pity Welles forced her to cut her hair and dye it blonde for the role
If the film has any success, it is in the camerawork — the visual storytelling does everything possible to steer this drunken ship away from the rocks. Along with Viola Lawrence’s economic editing, these pictorial efforts render something approaching coherent, like a collage of elements ripped out and glued together
Don’t let me sell the cinematography short — it is stunning in places and full of trick shots that surprise and fulfill what the rest of the movie cannot. My favorite scenes are in the aquarium and the “wow them in the end” solution of the incredible funhouse sequence leading into the iconic Hall of Mirrors scene. I also enjoyed the shots where it looked like the lens shattered due to impact or bullets
Whether or not you like this will have to do with what you prioritize in a movie experience. If you can turn off and enjoy the visuals, there’s plenty to appreciate in the cinematography and set pieces. But the moment acting, dialogue, story, or pacing enter the conversation, this is a frustrating mess
For some critics, the horseshoe swings this over to an accidental masterpiece. For me, it doesn’t quite make the curve
Stray Thoughts
- The DVD case I rented puts a 3.5-star review on it — the most praise-worthy statement they could find is “vintage Welles.”
- Of course, Scorsese loves this movie — his style is deeply indebted to this, and all of his worst habits are on display here — long takes for the sake of it, endless narration, visual flourishes to mask lack of other ideas
- William Castle had the rights to the adaptation, but Welles manipulated him into an uncredited screenplay role
- The courtroom scene is so silly — it is amusing, but what does it serve? Everyone is laughing and yelling, and the judge is a bumbling idiot, all done for comedic effect. It seems Welles has an ax to grind over divorce lawyers that was more important to him than the coherence of his picture
- Bogdanovich has done a remarkable job at Welles speculative revisionist history. He paints Hayworth as a disturbed woman that Welles did everything he could to help, and Welles as someone who only makes great movies, if only the studios wouldn’t get in the way